The Legacy of the Most Unpredictable Ninja
by RekkingPride
Summary: After checking up on a strange rift in space and time, Naruto ended up in a foreign land where new allies and enemies await. However, his wish to bring peace to his home still resonated...so he will do everything he can to return home, no matter what! 3 Crossovers mixed right, with a 4th on the way. A new narrative with believable characters! Strong!Naruto and mostly in-character!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Highschool Dxd, or any other of the manga/anime stuff that is in this story! I am just having fun making them do stuff.**

 **Edit: Rather slow beginning but picks up pretty quick.**

 ** _Notice! This chapter has been updated to fix all of the grammar mistakes when it was first made! This is what my writing looks like now, apologies for any who had to read this to get to the good stuff before. :P_**

 ** _Also, the same treatment will be given to chapters 2-4 as well for the sake of those who want to read decent quality writing. :D_**

 ** _So a fair warning to new readers; the chapters after the re-written ones are not as well written as this. This is my writing while in the midst of writing my 34th chapter. So please bare with the pain of the grammar until I get rid of the worst offenders. :3_**

* * *

It was quiet.

It was a quiet filled with trepidation.

Uzumaki Naruto didn't like that quiet one bit.

At least that was what the young man concluded as he sat down to gather natural energy, especially when it regarded something that he deeply cared about.

Konohagakure.

Last he saw it, it was not much more than a large crater on the ground. A barren wasteland, really.

An empty area that once contained his home...

The final clash with the leader of the Akatsuki was a very long and difficult battle, one that held very high stakes for both sides of the conflict. Naruto simply couldn't fail to defeat Pain. Everyone depended on him to win! He couldn't fail. He wouldn't _fail!_

Eventually, after a long fight where the kyuubi almost broke out of it's seal due to the pain of losing another precious comrade, he emerged victorious. Defeating the last Path of Pain with the last bit of energy he had left in him, earning Konoha's safety.

...Except his fight didn't end there. Only the physical portion, the easier part.

No matter how he looked at it, the blond was emotionally battered after fighting Pain. His home was destroyed, his loved ones either badly wounded or dead, his sensei...his master _..._

 _Ero-sennin..._

He had to face the man that was responsible for all of his recent anguish and pain, to face him. For far more reasons then he cared to admit.

For closure.

For answers.

To end this. _All_ of this. Once and for all.

A part of him was afraid though, what would be do when he faced the man? How would be react?

After speaking to his father in his mindscape, he had to find out whether he could actually end the cycle that he spoke of...the cycle that helped to create this situation in the first place.

Could he let go of the prospect of revenge when he met face-to-face with the man responsible for his suffering?

So when he finally met the man he will come to know as Nagato, he very simply, almost lost it.

This was him, the man who took away Ero-Sennin, Kakashi-sensei, hurt his friends, destroyed his village, made him watch as another of his precious comrades fell to his ruthless attacks…!

 **Unforgiveable!**

But he somehow managed to rein himself in in order to listen to Nagato's story. To hear what pain he endured that made a student of Ero-Sennin turn into…this.

He was glad that he listened, Nagato's tragic story helped give him the resolve to truly follow in his predecessor's footsteps.

Naruto had no idea if he had the chops to do it, but now he was determined to follow through with his master's and father's wishes.

The blond would take up his father's dream…his mentor's dream…and bring peace to this world!

Oh, he still wanted to be Hokage, and nothing was going to change that. But after seeing the aftereffects of what this... _cycle_...could do to people...

A quicksilver image of the Uchiha crest flashed across his mind at that moment, hardening his already rock-solid determination.

After seeing what hate could do to the person he considered a sibling...

"That's right..." the young man murmured, determination steeling his voice. "It's up to me now. I have to do my best to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. For everyone's sake."

He would bring world peace, or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto!

At least, that was the plan.

* * *

After Nagato used the _Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu_ (Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Jutsu) to revive all of the people he has recently killed after he attacked Konoha, Konan took his body to be buried.

And so here the shinobi was, gathering natural energy so that he could gather senjutsu chakra.

So Naruto quickly entered Sage Mode, using it to help him sense whether all the inhabitants of Konoha were alive or not.

To his immense relief, he sensed the chakra of his many friends and comrades. Meaning that...

A happy grin split apart his face, relief loosing the tension from his frame. "They're all alive...they're all ok! Nagato did it!"

He couldn't help but fist pump, cheering loudly, celebrating by himself as he forced himself upright.

More than that, he could sense Kakashi-sensei moving towards him, closing the distance between them with great speed.

In a pretty damn good mood, Naruto moved to meet him, unable to wait for what he hoped was a hero's welcome back home.

Then he stopped in his tracks, toad-like eyes turned to another section of the forest, wary.

Something to his right sensed...off.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto questioned out loud, unsure of what he was sensing. "And where did it come from...? I don't remember sensing this when I went Sage Mode last time..."

The blond just stared at that area, weighing in on how he should respond to this feeling.

Honestly, after what he had just experienced, he wasn't exactly keen on anything that could possibly do damage to his already damaged village. And this 'feeling' could just do that kind of damage.

Or rather, he had no idea what it could do. And he'd much rather check it out and be doubly sure that what he was sensing wouldn't cause trouble than regret checking it later.

So he did.

Naruto turned on the spot and raced towards the...'sensation', zeroing in on it with his incredible sensing abilities. Moving at incredible speeds thanks to his senjutsu-enhanced body, regardless of his tired state.

He was sure that, whatever it was, he could deal with it.

That assurance was very much dashed by the time that he reached the aberration that caught his notice.

In a small, insignificant piece of the forest, there was something that was really, _really_ wrong.

He was staring at it, studying it, suspicious of what it exactly was or where it came from.

He couldn't really describe it, but if he had to call it anything...he supposed he would call it a 'fluctuation'. As the very air that was emanating this sensation was _shifting_ , as if space itself was _rending_.

It was weird.

Naruto already knew that Kakashi-sensei was coming towards him, so just in case this...thing proved to be dangerous, the shinobi arbitrarily decided to check it out.

Just a few moments ago, his teacher was dead. He was _dead_.

He refused to place him, or anyone from Konoha for that matter, in danger. Especially after this recent ordeal.

 _Bad mistake._

The second that Naruto moved to touch the _aberration_ , his hand was gripped by it, almost like he was caught in a vice-grip. But the part that actually made him begin to panic was the fact that it began to _pull_.

"What the!? Hey! Let go of my hand damn it!" Naruto cried out, as it slowly began to pull the blond in despite all of his senjutsu-enhanced strength.

He grit his teeth, smashing his feet onto the floor to slow down his forced movement, and even began sticking his feet to the ground with chakra.

It wasn't enough, as instead of slowing him down, all his actions accomplished to do was drag the ground with him.

The shinobi tried to think of a way out of this predicament, but since his hand was unavailable, he couldn't use hand signs to utilize his _K_ _age Bunshin no Jutsu_ to help him out. Let alone a _K_ _awarimi no Jutsu_.

His hands were tied, metaphorically and literally in a way.

...That sucked.

"Shit!" Naruto couldn't help but curse as his entire body began to get swallowed up whole, enveloping him as his sight began to darken at the edges of his vision.

One of the last things that he would hear from the Elemental Nations in a _long_ time was Kakashi-sensei's surprised shout.

* * *

Naruto was falling.

He was falling very, _very_ fast. The air that was rushing past him could attest to that much.

The blond tried to slow down his descent by flailing his arms, but instead all he did was force his body to twirl around more erratically.

So he was obviously way too disoriented to make even think about using a jutsu to get out of this, and he couldn't even tell what was happening either, since the world was spinning around him so fast that he felt like he would vomit.

He almost wished that he threw up instead of feeling the pain of crashing into the-

 ***Splash***

...water.

The body of liquid he landed in was sent splashing everywhere, going sky-high from his impact and crashing against the area around it. Overflowing a little bit thanks to the tiny tidal wave he created.

Needless to say, the shinobi finally reached the end of his free-fall, and he was overwhelmingly thankful that he had his Sage Mode on.

Otherwise the fall could have ended up being a whole lot worse, and by that, he meant he would have ended up as a pancake.

Not pretty.

It took a few seconds for Naruto to poke his head up from the water, blinking rapidly in order to re-calibrate himself to being upright again. Before quickly taking a quick look around him to find out where he was.

Trees.

Pavement.

Shell-shocked human beings.

...Was he still in Konoha? Or at least near the Land of Fire?

Toad-like eyes shut themselves from the world as the blond cursed under his breath, annoyed that he was sent on a ride into some weird area. Why couldn't he get a break?

"There's no way that I'm missing my hero's welcome dattebayo..." Naruto stated with resolve, his focus on his surroundings as he tried to find out where he was.

...

"That can't be right."

Naruto snapped his eyes open and forced himself up, refusing to believe what his incredible senses were telling him.

There was just no way.

It was _impossible_.

Yet his senjutsu abilities couldn't just be _wrong_...right?

The simple fact was that, outside of the still blubbering people he terrified, Naruto sensed a _lot_ of people close by.

So much so that he felt like they could have made their own village, really.

But that wasn't the issue, the problem was something else entirely.

He couldn't sense their chakra.

Correction; he couldn't sense _anything's_ chakra.

All humans had chakra, even if they weren't shinobi, they _had it_. Yet...for some reason...these people didn't.

He should know! Ero-Sennin made extra sure to jam that information down his throat.

Bless his pervy soul.

Anyways, Naruto couldn't sense a drop of chakra in anyone, which should be impossible because humans needed it to stay alive! It was tied to their life force, right!?

So the blond quickly moved towards the shore, forgetting all about the pain of falling from who-knows-where and-

Wait.

"Shit!" the young man cried out, snapping his head towards the sky as he tried to find out if that... _aberration_ was still there.

Wherever he was in the Elemental Nations, as strange as it was, that 'thing' could at least be used to return back to Konoha, right?

Except he couldn't. Not anymore.

To his dismay he couldn't sense that 'thing' at all anymore, it was quite simply; gone. Like it never existed in the first place.

Well...there went that idea.

How the hell was he supposed to get home then!?

Ok...he had to relax here, and he had to think; what could have happened to make that rift in the first place? Maybe he could try and make one himself?

Basically; what happened today that didn't happen on every other day?

...

"Oh...!" the shinobi realized in a 'eureka' moment, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand.

People who were dead were brought back to life! _That_ didn't usually happen, right?

So all he had to do to re-open that rift was re-do that jutsu!

And to do that, all he needed was a pair of Rinnegan eyes!

Naruto nodded with a confident smile, those were very easy to obtain after all! And since that was the case, he would get back home without much trouble-

" _As if!"_ Naruto roared out, slamming his head into the ground with so much strength that it created little spider cracks.

He completely ignored the ordinary folks that he horrified by his actions, far too distracted with his own problems to care at that moment.

"...Damn it Nagato..." Naruto groaned out from his spot on the ground, with faux tears flowing down his cheeks at his predicament.

His sempai under Ero-sennin pretty much screwed him without realizing it, though it was also probably his fault as well.

...Probably.

Did a jutsu that brought people back to life have such weird side effects? Or was it something else that he just wasn't seeing?

He had no clue, and unfortunately for him, he didn't have any jutsu that could do something as ridiculously impressive as bringing people back to life.

Ok then, plan B.

He would get back home...by _foot_.

The old-fashioned way it was then.

Naruto finally forced himself up from the ground and immediately moved to resume his search, intent on finding out where he was so that he could have some idea of what he had to do to get home.

The people that he accidentally terrified just watched the young man go, their collective eyes wide as he began to grumble to himself.

No one would believe them when they told anyone else their story, so instead; a new folklore began on the very spot that the orange-loving boy landed on based on what the people there saw.

The lake of the human falling star.

It was a stupid legend, and everyone soon forgot about it.

* * *

When Naruto finally saw the end of the tree lines, which itself signified the end of the park, -though he had no idea it was a park- he grinned.

Finally, he could see what he was dealing with.

So he the blond did just that and walked out of the park, eyes scanning to check the area.

Ah...

"What the fuck is _that_!?" Naruto exclaimed out in shock, completely caught off guard by the rows upon rows of massive buildings that touched the sky.

That wasn't the only reason why he reacted as he did, as the very people themselves that were occupying the area were wearing some of the most bizarre clothing he has ever seen!

...Well sure, he wasn't the go-to guy to find out what the latest fashion was, but he was sure that this was bizarre for the Elemental Nations in general.

Yeah...it was really strange.

No chakra.

Massive buildings, of which he's never seen before.

Bizarre clothing, of which he's never seen before as well.

A sinking feeling began to enter his stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs.

 _Where was he?_

Because...he was at least pretty sure...

That he wasn't anywhere near home anymore.

And that realization stopped him cold, his expression going blank for a few seconds.

...

...

Just as quickly as he went blank though, the young shinobi snapped out of it and coughed, a smirk interlacing his features.

"Fine." the shinobi said with that very same smirk. "If life wants to throw me for a loop, then I'll let it give it a shot. But I won't give up quite _that_ easily."

That was right. He's faced bigger challenges than this, and he has come out on top! He wouldn't get crushed by this, definitely not!

With that determination in his hands, he glanced about himself, his confidence shaking slightly as another problem just hit him.

Great. He had confidence. So what now?

How the hell was he gonna get back home?

Uh...

"Oh!" Naruto piped up, answering his own question.

Information!

He needed info, and fast.

To that end, the blond quickly shuffled out so that speak to someone, hoping that whoever he spoke to could help him out.

The first one that he locked on to was heading straight for him, moving at decent speeds while moving a wheel inside a metallic object on wheels.

Figuring that it was the only way to get his attention, the blond ran in front of the -presumably- mechanical vehicle and waved his hands wildly.

 _That_ definitely got the man's attention.

 ***Screeeee***

The harsh sound of rubber sliding against concrete echoed around him, with the vehicle slowing down significantly before it could reach him.

Beaming, Naruto walked up to the man, a question at the tip of his tongue.

" _What the hell are you doing, you crazy brat!?_ Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed!?"

So said the elderly man, apoplectic at the fact that a young man wearing a tattered orange jumpsuit ran in front of his car and nearly got ran over.

But the spiky-haired teen completely ignored that, instead opting to ask his questions in a manner that reminded the normal human of a machine gun.

"Hey jii-chan! I got a few questions for ya! Do you know where I am? Do you have any shinobi around here? What about a village leader? Or rather; do you have a map, cause that could actually be helpful. Wait! Before you answer that, can I first ask why you're using this thing? Couldn't you move faster running? I mean, yeah, you're pretty old, but I think you could use the exercise jii-chan..."

The elderly man heard exactly _none_ of the questions that the blond was spitting out, instead, all he heard was 'jii-chan'.

"Listen you rude brat..." the normal human growled, annoyed at the teenager with terrible fashion sense. "Move the hell out of the way or I will get the cops on your ass! Am I understood!?"

This shook Naruto out of his not-so-subtle admiration of the car, as his impatience pushed him to begin inspecting the not-too-common sight of a vehicle. Especially since it was never really used for transportation back at the Elemental Nations.

Actually, now that he thought about it, maybe he should avoid drawing attention to himself...

...Except he didn't realize that he was doing just that by both; stopping the elderly man by running in front of a car, and continuing to molest the car in front of him.

When the elderly man growled in anger again, Naruto took that as his cue to leave before he drew more attention to himself.

So after walking away and letting the man go, the shinobi quickly decided that he needed to get information from another source than other humans. As it was obvious that he was gonna make an idiot out of himself at this rate.

He _would_ get back home. He had many promises to keep, as well as many people who were counting on him to bring peace to the Elemental Nations.

More than that...he still had to become the Hokage!

"That's right..." Naruto resolved, clenching his fist and sending it to the sky. "I always keep my word...that's my _nindo_! And I will never give that up!"

And with that proclamation, the blond brought his hands together to make a cross-shaped hand seal...

He would learn more about this place, one way or another.

* * *

...At least that's what he said _two months ago!_

"Gah...just thinking about it pisses me off..." Naruto complained lowly, his shoulders hunching over in his failure at getting back home.

Yes, roughly two months has passed since the blond first entered this strange land. With no way home in sight.

On the bright side, he did manage to find out where he exactly was.

To summarize; he was on an island nation called Japan, which was located on the Pacific Ocean near the main landmass of Asia. A continent that-

Naruto slapped the front of his forehead, groaning at the fact that he almost did it again.

Damn clones were too zealous with their search, and he accidentally got the same information several times over with different clones. Which meant that _that_ specific line was stuck in his head whenever he thought about the word 'Japan'...which was located on th-

Several pedestrians were shocked and a little worried about the strange young man that was currently bonking his head on the wall of a building.

It took a few more bonks to get back to topic.

When the blond managed to stop, he continued on as if he wasn't just slamming his head against a wall.

Anyways, while the clones were getting information, Naruto himself decided to be useful and try to get some money, he couldn't live off of an empty pocket after all.

He did some odd jobs here and there, which eventually forced him to create a new team of clones to _henge_ into different people to get more money. As he very simply wasn't making enough with jobs that had bosses that didn't ask too many questions.

The plan worked beautifully and he eventually got himself a decent-sized home for his new base of operations.

...Through means that probably weren't entirely 'legal'...but at least he bought the damn thing. So no harm, no foul, right?

At the very least, he didn't have to spend time in the parks anymore, the police kept kicking him out of the place.

He had no idea that sleeping there would cause people problems, it was called a 'public area', wasn't it?

Damn. He was still bitter about that.

He felt lied to, next time they shouldn't call it 'public' if that was really the case!

Anyways, he also got new clothes to better fit in with the people around him, orange jumpsuits just weren't in fashion.

A shame, really. No one could appreciate his tastes.

They'd catch on though, he was sure of it.

Nevertheless, he now usually sported a plain black t-shirt, a sleeveless burnt-orange hoodie with a personalized red swirl at the back, dark blue jeans with a black belt, and a pair of white and blue sneakers.

He tended to wear finger-less black gloves to complete his set-up, just in case.

Naruto was still Naruto. And Naruto sometimes got into some trouble, usually with some punks here and there.

Outside of some small scuffles though, he pretty much stayed low, and it seemed like he would stay that way.

...At least that was the case, until recently.

Unfortunately, while taking orders, a policeman entered the little restaurant where a clone of his was working as a waiter.

...While not wearing a _henge,_ much to the blond's simmering annoyance.

That was the beginning of the end of his relatively free and peaceful life, made worse when he realized weeks later, that he never questioned the events that were about to take place properly.

But that was, obviously, something for later.

The policeman apparently noticed how young his clone looked, and mentioned that he should be at school right now, pushing him to go despite any and all protests.

At the time, his clone was horrified that he would be forced to spend money to go to school when he was working already, let alone the prospect of going to school at all.

But, very simply, the policeman would have none of it. If he was caught again then he would get fined, and if he got fined then he would get a record.

Which meant that he would be in the system, and _that_ definitely couldn't happen.

So after grimly realizing that the cops in the area now probably have a rough idea of how he looked like after that, and that there was no way that he could permanently have a _henge_ up whenever he left home without messing up once or twice...he decided to just go to the most dreaded of all institutions.

Kuoh Academy was the closest high school available and Naruto wasn't too picky, so he applied to go and was eventually accepted after forging some papers.

And that was why the shinobi was heading back home, having woke up a little early to quit some of those odd jobs that he had before.

...He was heading back home to change into his new school uniform, preparing himself for his first day.

The blond almost vomited at the thought, already more than a little sick about the fact that he was going at _all_.

"...Why does this shit happen to me?" the teen wondered aloud, stuffing his hands into his pocket petulantly.

It was a genuine question, with no real answer.

As was the usual.

* * *

Of course, after switching clothes to his -stuffy!- school clothing, he began to make his trek towards his new _and_ legal torture session.

And, as per the usual for him, another problem became immediately apparent to him when he neared the horrible institution.

Throughout the two months that he has been stuck in Japan, he has discovered a great many things that this _world_ held secret. Especially from the unknowing human beings that casually lived their days in relative safe ignorance.

It was probably better for everyone that way, without any energy sources in their bodies, there was no real way of fighting back against other beings that _did_ have such powers.

Yes. There were _other_ beings that existed besides the humans, staying hidden from them as much as he was.

He discovered this fact completely by accident, mostly by accidentally entering zones where normal humans seemed to avoid unconsciously.

It probably had something to do with the barrier-like thing that they put into place when such fights began, of which he, in typical fashion, kept getting caught up in during his two month free roam.

He still had no idea how he managed to remain anonymous after the first few brawls he got caught up in...

He only knew of two groups so far; the people with the white wings and the people with black wings, which apparently hated one another.

After hearing their hateful and biting insults aimed at one another, he eventually learned what they were called; 'angels' and 'fallen angels' respectively.

Now, he didn't know why exactly they were fighting, but he was sure there _was_ a reason.

Probably.

Nevertheless, the entire thing was bizarre, but at least it was good to know.

There would be no unhealthy surprises for Uzumaki Naruto, thank you very much!

Now, the problem with the school he was about to enter in, was the fact that the very area seemed to be _teeming_ with foreign energy.

Foreign energy that he was _not_ familiar with.

Basically, there were more than just regular humans in Kuoh Academy.

But he already enrolled by this point, and if he tried to back out now after he was already enlisted in the school roll, then he would without a doubt attract attention to himself.

Naruto clenched his fist, determination firing up his eyes as he made his decision while waiting to make his entrance.

Since he couldn't force a clone to take his classes, for the obvious reason that any damage it took would make it pop, he would just have to attend this school normally for a little bit and remain anonymous.

The blond's ear perked up slightly when he heard his new teacher call his name from behind the door he was leaning on, giving him flashbacks of all of the times that Iruka-sensei roared out his name in anger.

Ah...good times.

Now, Naruto, with his new academy uniform unbuttoned with an orange shirt under it, knocked onto the door to announce his entrance. Just like that book on Japanese etiquette told him to do.

Ah, how proud baa-chan would be.

Same could definitely be said for Sai, for that matter.

"Enter please, Uzumaki Naruto!" the teacher repeated from inside the classroom, tone impatient after having to call twice.

Naruto just grinned in response. It was about time for him to make an entrance, one that would give everyone a good impression of him from the beginning.

If he was going to do this 'school' thing again, then he was not gonna have a repeat of his Ninja Academy years, definitely not!

So with that ambition in mind, the shinobi slid the door open and entered the classroom, making sure to take note of his soon-to-be classmates' expressions.

Most of them were completely indifferent so far, some girls gave him shy smiles and some of the boys gave him challenging stares for whatever reason.

Weird. He didn't even do anything yet...

The young man moved to stand in front of the chalkboard, preparing to give his introduction to what would be his class for the foreseeable future.

Welp, he'd better make sure that everyone knew _exactly_ what he was about.

"Yo!" Naruto shouted without hesitation, an upbeat tone to his voice. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, my friends, those who are friendly to me, and those who I consider precious to me! I hope we can all be good friends, and if not, I will just beat you up so we could become good friends later dattebayo!"

To end his declaration, he made sure to give everyone a thumbs up and a winning smile. Blinding everyone there with his happy demeanor.

Though their reaction was not what he expected, as everyone present gave him incredulous looks, while outright gaping at him for his unknowingly provocative speech.

...Did he say something weird?

The teacher eventually got over his own shock and coughed into his hand to get everyone's attention. "That was...nice, Uzumaki-san, now can you please take the seat next to Nonaka-san near the window?"

The shinobi just blinked at the teacher's total lack of enthusiasm but eventually shrugged it off and walked to the classmate he was directed to. Figuring that there were simply some people that he couldn't get a rise out of.

He'd break him in, he was sure of it.

The girl he was directed to go to was wearing the typical female uniform of Kuoh Academy and was quite the pretty girl.

It wasn't even something he noted out of admiration, it was simply a fact.

She had neck-length light blue hair with a braid on the right side of her face and a white headband to keep her hair in order, despite the fact that she had an 'ahoge' on the crown of her head.

Her vivid yellow eyes, framed by the soft features on her face, locked onto him as he was making his way towards her.

The girl, Nonaka was her name, nodded to him in acknowledgement as he sat down to her left near the window.

First impression; a good person.

Awesome.

Despite this positive development, he still had to actually _listen_ to a lecture by his new teacher, meaning that he had to do his best to not fall asleep from the lesson that was being thrust to him.

He failed utterly.

* * *

Naruto woke with a start with some drool on his chin, his eyes snapping to check his surroundings, only managing to take in the empty classroom that he was occupying.

...Oh shoot.

The blond forced himself up, a little confused and disgruntled, until he realized that he wasn't alone in the small room.

Blue eyes moved to the right, catching the calm and collected gaze of his new class neighbor.

"Wuh...what happened? Where is everyone?" Naruto asked, his words slurred as he tried to wake himself up, he forgot how ridiculously boring school was but he was sure that not even Iruka-sensei was _that_ bad before.

It was like watching paint dry with how entertaining it was to listen to the teacher's lecture. How long did he have to do this again?

"The period ended Uzumaki-san, just now. Before he left, our teacher asked me to give you a little bit of a tour around the school since this was your first time here at Kuoh Academy." Nonaka stated simply, that calm air of her's firmly in place.

Wait, the period ended?

How long was he asleep exactly!?

Wait, more importantly, he couldn't have this girl just follow him wherever, he had his own ways of finding out more about places, and he didn't need a babysitter.

Namely; clones. But he obviously couldn't do something like that near her.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I can find my way around just fine." Naruto explained with a cheesy grin on his face, confident as always.

He hoped that his words would convince the strangely stoic girl that he was fine, but his hopes were dashed by her next statement.

"I am the class representative, this is my duty, not a favor for you Uzumaki-san, and I am adamant about completing my duties." Nonaka stated with her intense gaze staring him down.

Naruto stared back, if only out of pure stubbornness, but he eventually gave in regardless.

There was no point in arguing against something so small, he'd just let her have her cookie, and then do what he had to do afterwards.

What did he have to lose? He would just be killing an hour, nothing important.

"Ok, ok, you win Nonaka-san, please lead the way dattebayo." Naruto relented easily, offering a small smile in order to hopefully lower her tension.

It didn't work, as Nonaka just stared at him for a few spare seconds before she turned around and grabbed her bag to leave.

The blond watched her go, sweat-dropping at her attitude, but followed after her regardless.

So Nonaka followed through with what she was assigned to do; taking him around Kuoh Academy to see all that the high school had to offer. Introducing him to all of the facilities and important areas.

Naruto had to admit, he was impressed at the sheer _size_ of the place, even though it was ostensibly just a high school so far. Though apparently there were other parts of the Academy that extended beyond high school, though he wasn't sure.

The entire tour took only about a half-an-hour due to her quick and efficient introductions to everything they saw, causing him to suspect that she wasn't that much happier to be there herself than he was.

It didn't really offend him or anything though, he has gone through much worse and learned to not take things so personally as a young adult.

Heh, he was sure that his twelve year old self would demand what her problem was with him though.

"Uzumaki-san."

Naruto blinked, forcing himself to come back to reality as he realized that he must have been musing to himself for a while, since Nonaka was just staring at him, waiting for an answer to whatever she had just said.

He took a quick look around and realized that they were at the rooftop of the building, with a beautiful view of the rest of the academy grounds available to them.

Actually, why were they even up here? Was this a part of the tour?

Naruto then turned back to Nonaka, who was still waiting.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking about something. Can you repeat...uh...whatever you just said?"

Nonaka sighed, but did as was asked and repeated herself. "I _said_ ; is this is a good place to stop the tour, Uzumaki-san?"

On much firmer ground now that he knew what was asked, he grinned and nodded. "Yep! Thanks for showing me around the school, Nonaka-san! It was a real help! I'll see you around in class, alright?"

The shinobi was already in the midst of turning around as he was speaking, preparing to head out and escape from the confines of the school.

He's had more than enough today.

"Wait."

As demanded, the blond did indeed wait, freezing himself from opening the door to enter the stairs to enter the building again.

"...There is something that I wish to ask of you, Uzumaki-san." the young woman stated as much as asked, not exactly giving much room to deny what she was asking of him.

Naruto turned around and looked at Nonaka, his own blue eyes connecting with her yellow ones, a hidden intensity hidden within their depths.

Why was she looking at him like that...?

"What are you...Uzumaki Naruto?" Nonaka questioned, no, _demanded_ with a new sharpness in her eyes and face.

The shinobi took a step away from the teen, sensing some semblance of hostility from her, shocked at what she was asking.

Indeed, her body took on a more aggressive tone as she spread her legs apart and clenched her fists, almost as if she was ready to fight with him at a moment's notice.

"...I'm sorry, can you repeat the question Nonaka-san, I must have misheard you." Naruto tried to clarify with a new-found nervousness, trying to reassure himself that the girl in front of him had no idea about the fact that he wasn't a 'normal' human.

Nonaka was completely human, of that he had no doubt, so it was impossible for her to learn of his abilities...right?

But what if some humans could? Did he do something that gave him away? And who else possibly knew of his unique power?

This wasn't good...this wasn't good at _all_.

"Don't play stupid Uzumaki-san, you seem to be human...but the reported energy that you've been giving off suggests otherwise, and an unknown variable cannot be tolerated during this point in time." Nonaka said with growing antagonism, voice firm.

As she was speaking, a green aura began to envelop around her arms, a sword appearing from the energy, as well as a pair of metallic gauntlets that formed around her arms.

"I will ask you one more time...Uzumaki Naruto...what are you?" Nonaka finished, her newly formed blade pointing at Naruto.

Naruto just stared at her, the blade she just created was aimed at him with ease and confidence, with the poise befitting of a warrior.

He made a mistake. He spent so much time focusing on non-human threats that he completely ignored the powerful humans that hid among the weak humans.

This blunder can only be described by Naruto in one word.

"...Fuck."

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys! RekkingPride here with my first ever fanfiction! Yay for me!**

 **Now, there used to be a wall of text here, but walls of texts aren't nice. I've learned a lot from this fanfiction, and I'd like to think that I now know a thing or two about how to write.**

 **So instead of leaving that wall of text here, I'm just gonna go and on a limb and thank all of my readers so far. It's because of all of your follows, favorites, and reviews that I've been able to get as far as I have. Both in writing and in this story. I never imagined that I'd go so far as to write 30+ chapters, let alone think so deeply about what awesome adventures my readers could get to see.**

 **So just as much as this is my doing, give yourselves a pat on the back for helping me out.**

 **Thank you. All of you.**

 **Now for a hopeful request, let me ask; is the chapter much better than before? As I could still use that criticism to improve! :D**

 **-RekkingPride**


	2. Chapter 2

_**This chapter has been updated to fix grammar mistakes!**_

* * *

As Naruto stared at Nonaka's blade, he had to remind himself of something vitally important.

Something that he would definitely forget if he didn't remind himself constantly.

It was a simple fact that most people wouldn't really think too much about, and something that Naruto was forced to think about ever since he realized that he wasn't anywhere near the Elemental Nations anymore.

He was, without a doubt, a ninjutsu specialist.

Now most people would think that this wasn't vital information, that this was more of a bit of trivia rather than anything truly important.

Well they would be wrong.

Ninjutsu, in it's purest form, was a ninja art that was geared towards the destruction of the enemy.

It was, in every shape and form, all based on destroying the enemy by overpowering or overwhelming them.

Ninjutsu was rarely, if ever, truly subtle or quiet.

The fact that Kakashi-sensei's 'assassination' ninjutsu was a lightning attack that was as plain as Naruto's orange clothing should be more than enough evidence of _that._

But more importantly; why does any of this matter?

Well, that's because Naruto _really_ didn't want to gather attention to himself.

Ninjutsu would make him stand out like a sore thumb, drawing attention to himself thanks to ninjutsu's destructive capacity...and stuff.

That basically meant; no _rasengans_ or any of their variants were allowed, or even too many clones, since too many copies of one person were bound to draw people's attention.

Even while learning more about the world, he only had so many copies roaming the streets, while giving them different looks.

He also had no idea how sensing among the supernatural worked either, so gathering natural energy for Sage Mode would be both; time consuming and eye-catching.

Thus that left Naruto with one thing left.

Taijutsu.

Now, while taijutsu wasn't Naruto's specialty, he wasn't a slouch in it anymore. He could now hold his own against Kakashi-sensei in taijutsu, and he was fast enough to be a match for him as well.

So that meant he was at least an A-rank in those categories.

It would have do for now.

After Naruto was done with his mental checklist, he turned back to Nonaka and answered her. "This may be difficult to believe, but I _am_ a human. Though, I don't know who you are or why you are pointing your sword at me...you should know that I don't attack someone unless they threaten someone that I care about. That, or I am attacked myself."

He then lifted his chin, defiant. "Basically, I won't threaten the normal students here. I give you my word on that, and I never go back on my word."

To be blunt, the blond really couldn't back down to her right now.

No, he had to show her that he couldn't be bullied around.

...Then again, he also didn't want to antagonize her either...

Well, hopefully he found a decent middle ground.

Meanwhile, the human female continued to stare at the blond, pondering his words.

...Was he really a human?

No, that couldn't be true, right? Humans didn't contain strange and foreign energy signals.

Unless...it was a Sacred Gear?

No, if that was the case then the sensor that tipped the higher ups of her faction would have made note of it. This was new. Foreign.

That meant that the being in front of her could very much be a new supernatural entity.

And if that was the case, then were there more beings like him? Hidden from view to her faction and mostly unknown.

A _dangerous_ possibility.

But more than that, did the 'human' known as Uzumaki Naruto pose a threat to the humans in the area?

Nonaka's thoughts raced around this... _person's_ strange energy and its possible implications. As was her duty in this academy.

The Hero Tribe sent her to this academy as a 'watcher', which gave her two important responsibilities; to watch over the confirmed devils in the area while keeping a lookout for stray devils, and eliminating them if required.

As was her duty as a 'hero'.

...That being said, she has recently received two more objectives by her faction's leadership.

To find and determine whether the new foreign energy that a sensor of theirs has picked up near Kuoh Town was hostile to humanity or not, and to keep an eye out for the last descendant of the original Lucifer.

The Hero Tribe's duty must be fulfilled for the sake of humanity, which it has safeguarded for two thousand years as the best line of defense against the supernatural.

The organization was said to have been founded by the God of the Bible and has since spread across the world to continue their mission in secrecy, none of the supernatural factions were aware of their presence, but they _were_ aware of the heroes that they created throughout history.

They were where humans with Sacred Gears were supposed to go if they wanted to fight instead of live normal lives.

Things have changed however...

The introduction of the devil's evil piece system has made recruiting new blood difficult, as many devils have snatched up any human with talent or a Sacred Gear like collectibles.

The Hero Tribe, thus, had to keep better vigilance over the devils and the other supernatural factions to prevent their fellow humans from being reincarnated into what they saw as a slavery system.

A sentiment that Nonaka nominally agreed with.

Now, with this strange power in this ostensible human, there was another point of concern to the heroes of this world, one that, given their already difficult circumstances, they couldn't let pass.

Which was why the young woman continued her intense stare, finally moving her sword away from his face after a few more tense moments. A green aura appearing on her arm once more, which took her armor and sword away from her.

"I will trust your word for now, Uzumaki-san. But if you give me a reason to doubt your sincerity...then I, Nonaka Yuki of the Hero Tribe will end you." Nonaka Yuki stated with utmost certainty.

After all, she was well-trained, and she was sure that she could deal with whatever this boy could throw at her.

Her warning to him was not really for her own benefit either, but more for the ordinary humans around them.

For the sake of humanity.

That was the duty of a hero after all.

Naruto could have cried in relief, happy that he didn't have to show his hand in a school filled with supernatural beings. He could go back home and regroup from this unexpected wake up call.

"Understood, Nonaka-san, I promise you that I won't cause any trouble here! In fact, I was forced into Kuoh because a police officer said I was too young to be working. So I'm not here of my own free will, ya know?" Naruto stated, in the hopes that she would see that he had no ulterior motives.

Nonaka didn't bother to respond as she turned around to leave the rooftop, heading towards her next class since school was still ongoing. She just needed to make sure that Uzumaki wasn't a threat before he could be allowed to leave the premises.

Moreover, how stupid did she take her for? There wasn't any kind of law in Japan that dictated that teenagers _had_ to go to high school.

Either he was lying, or he was tricked.

Though, she was pretty confident that he was lying.

Meanwhile, as the blond watched the young woman leave, he couldn't help but believe that he seriously needed to get back to his house in order to figure out how to approach this new problem.

Apparently there were also strong humans among the other strange creatures that inhabited this world, giving him _more_ to worry about.

He just couldn't catch a break here could he?

The worst part was that...if this girl knew about him, then it was possible that other groups knew about him too.

The blond quickly left the rooftop in order to leave the academy and get back home, where he wouldn't feel like everyone was waiting for him to blow his cover.

It was suffocating for someone like him to constantly be aware, forced to be on edge all of the damn time, and keep himself from standing out too much.

It just wasn't what he was used to. Even if it _was_ necessary...he still didn't like it one bit.

He, very simply, needed to wind down a bit in a place that he could feel like himself without being constantly watched.

Hopefully this would be the last 'incident' with this world's supernatural that he would have for a while.

* * *

Naruto quickly jogged at an 'average' human pace towards the front of the academy, getting ready to leave, up until he muttered a curse under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, he ran head first from one problem into another, this time in the form of one of those strange beings that he still didn't really know about...yet.

The girl in front of him was a teenager with black hair that has been shortened and shaped to a bob-cut style, with piercing violet eyes that were framed by a pair of glasses focusing on him as he approached.

She wore the typical Kuoh Academy female uniform and had a petite figure, usually befitting one of her age.

She went by the name of Shitori Sona; the student council president of this academy, and quite possibly a supernatural being that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

"...Uzumaki Naruto...the transfer student." Sona stated matter-of-factly, giving Naruto a sudden chill from her tone.

It was the tone he was somewhat familiar with now, the tone of an upcoming lecture.

But before Naruto could make an attempt to escape, the student council president continued. "The transfer student that _should_ be in class in order to continue his education, rather than roaming around the school, skipping class, and sleeping during lectures."

By this point, Sona's glasses took in the reflection of light, which gave her a natural glare without having to make the expression for it.

He had to admit, that was pretty cool.

"Listen I had a good reason for it..." Naruto began, before getting cut off by Sona again.

"I'm sure you have your reasons, Uzumaki-san, but attaining an education is your most important goal right now. It is what you should be focusing on so that you could become a good and prosperous citizen. This is for your future." Sona claimed with conviction.

Naruto was momentarily stunned at the complete faith that she held in her statement, thrown off by it a bit.

Admittedly, he wasn't sure what he should expect from these so called 'supernatural' beings. Were they just like humans, where some were good and some were bad?

Or maybe they all fell into some sort of personality category? But so far, if he used her as a benchmark, maybe they all weren't so different from humans at all?

He hoped so, that way, if push came to shove, then he could possibly reach an agreement with some of these people so that he didn't become their target.

At least, that was a possible plan for the future.

"Thank you for your concern, Shitori-san. But I...uh...I have to take care of my younger sister at home! So I have to leave school early." Naruto lied through his teeth.

He was never a good liar to begin with, but this one was so bad that even he had to admit it.

Well, maybe he can just have a clone _henge_ into Naruko or something, in case suspicions arose later...

The president raised an eyebrow, before a small smile grew on her face. "Very well, Uzumaki-san, but keep up with your studies from here on out."

Sona, apparently, approved of his actions, if her more supportive attitude was of any indication.

To her, it was good that he wanted to go home and take care of a sibling, so she didn't want to stop him, but she also didn't want to encourage his lax behavior in regards to his studies.

She, perhaps, had a soft spot for elder siblings, who rushed to take care of their younger siblings.

Now...if only her _own_ elder sister wasn't so embarrassing, then maybe...

"Thank you, Shitori-san! I'll see ya later, alright?" Naruto said loudly, desperate to make sure that he wouldn't be caught lying by getting out of there as soon as possible.

He once more began to run at what he considered to be an average human speed, but what he considered average actually appeared to Sona as speeds that only the fastest human runner in the world; Usain Bolt, could achieve.

Sona was, of course, shocked to see an ordinary teenage boy run so fast.

Either the boy was a naturally gifted runner or...perhaps he was something exceptional among his fellow humans?

Regardless, that burst of impressive talent got her to ponder whether he could be a potential candidate for her Peerage, as she had quite a few opening left to fill.

She decided to look into the matter later, but first, she had to have a conversation with her best friend; Rias, about potential candidates for their Peerages, and how best to divide the spoils between them.

Fair was fair after all.

"Looks like Kuoh Academy truly is a place where potential congregates, right, Tsubaki?" Sona asked, at first to what seemed like no one in particular.

Though it turned out not to be the case, as one of her closest friends, her _q_ _ueen;_ Shinra Tsubaki, appeared to the right side of the bespectacled girl without prompt.

Tsubaki was a well-endowed young woman with straight-black hair that reached her knees, along with heterochromic eyes with her left eye and right eye being violet and light brown respectively. Her own glasses glinted in the light mysteriously as she regarded her _k_ _ing_ and responded.

"Yes, Uzumaki Naruto would indeed be an excellent addition to your Peerage, Sona-kaichou. He seems to be a better prospect than Hyoudou Issei at the very least."

The student council president narrowed her eyes faintly, oh yes...the young man that Rias had her eye on, the one with the suspected Sacred Gear.

Neither of them really knew what the boy held within him, and Sona disliked taking chances, especially when she considered that Hyoudou already had quite the reputation throughout the school already.

It wasn't a good reputation.

Which was why, so far, Uzumaki was the better choice for her.

But first...

"Come, Tsubaki, we should be on our way, Rias is expecting us." Sona stated, turning around and heading towards the direction of the Occult Research Club building.

They had much to discuss.

* * *

Naruto was jogging his way back home, despite his impatience.

After the run in with Nonaka Yuki, he _really_ didn't want to run the risk of tipping off his abilities to her, lest he incur the girl's suspicion and make a new enemy in the visage of this so called 'Hero Tribe'.

Also, he had to find a place to train in order to prepare himself for what seemed like a probable conflict.

Since he was busy gathering information on the world and the supernatural, he never really registered that he needed to train...what with how noticeable that action would be.

It seemed stupid as a matter of fact, why would he ruin his anonymity by training every now and again when he wasn't in any danger?

...That, and he had no clue where he could find a place to train.

But now, of course, there was at least one faction that knew that he wasn't...'normal', so he needed to get himself back into shape. Just in case.

The only problem that he really had was that he was quite a bit slower; physically, and in reaction speed, than when he fought Pain.

...He was regretting his decision now.

That being said, it wasn't like he was weak or anything, he was more than positive that he was stronger and faster than most of these supernatural beings.

It was more of a...long-term problem than anything else.

So, the best thing for him to do would be to find a nice forest near Kuoh Town, and use fuinjutsu to hide his energy signal.

Fuinjutsu...

Fuinjutsu was something that he recently dabbled in, seeing as he had the tools necessary for it, and he practically had nothing better to do with his free time.

The fuinjutsu scrolls which ero-sennin gave him for his training, which were left in a seal, always accessible to him, if he wanted it.

Never touched while he was back at Konoha, far too concerned with real tangible power and strength than the mysterious art that his master was so advanced in.

His perverted old man of a master forced him to keep it as a precaution, hoping that the blond would, one day, try and do something with it.

Naruto laughed it off at the time, but it turned out that the old pervert was a hell of a lot smarter than he gave him credit for.

The shinobi twitched, becoming more somber at the thought.

But then he shook his head, deciding to exit from that train of thought, knowing nothing good would come from it.

First and foremost, he had to focus on finding a place to train.

...But before he even did _that_...

He needed a nap, as well as a nice feast of ramen to cool his nerves.

One could not train on an empty stomach after all.

* * *

Night was rapidly approaching when Naruto woke up from his nap.

As soon as he was lucid enough, the young man immediately began to gather all of his supplies and tools, aware that he should probably make the best of his training.

Ero-sennin gave him quite a bit of paper slips to practice fuinjutsu on, giving him plenty to practice on if he so wanted.

He has actually learned about fuinjutsu before, so he knew the basics; like how to make a paper bomb for instance.

Though, muffling energy signals were definitely a bit more complicated than that. And something that he, only recently, managed to nail down.

Basically, he wasn't a master by any means, but he had a decent grasp on what to do.

Naruto barely dabbled in fuinjutsu back in his world, but now, in this world, it suddenly became much more important to learn about.

Especially when he remembered all of the incredible things that fuinjutsu could legitimately accomplish, which inspired him to actually, _really_ , give it a shot.

It was rough at first, but he thought that he was doing alright, all things considered.

Though he doubt that he'd ever become good enough to use fuinjutsu to head back home or anything...so _that_ idea was out of the question.

Naruto was still thinking about his actions throughout the last two months as he was putting on his casual clothes and walked outside, prepared to start his search.

Since, by this point, it was quite dark, he decided to forgo his usual practice of fitting in and just began to jump across the rooftops at breakneck speeds.

Thankfully, as he was moving, and after doing some brainstorming, the blond quickly remembered that there was a forest-like area at the northwestern part of Kuoh Town, having passed by it when he entered the town in the first place.

Perfect.

Changing course slightly, the shinobi soared through the many buildings of the human settlement reaching his destination in a matter of seconds.

When he actually arrived, he quickly gave the forest around him a once over, determining whether it would work for him.

"...Not bad, nowhere near as impressive as Konoha's forests, but I doubt that _any_ forest in this world can top that." Naruto said with a grin, as he decided to drop his supplies on the ground to begin.

He needed to actually draw the seals that would suppress energy signals, one that would work for a decent enough area for his training.

Thankfully, he had plenty of practice with his two month time frame.

As soon as Naruto finished drawing those very seals, the blond twitched, cut off from his work as he felt... _something_.

It was a spike of energy from a way's away, supernatural energy, which he has gotten used to thanks to his two month stay in this world.

At first, the shinobi didn't recognize it, but he _did_ sense that, whatever it was, it was further up north in the forest.

For a few moments, he stayed like this, trying to grasp at this feeling.

Then it clicked in his head, an image of bat-like wings on an individual's back appearing in the forefront of his mind.

He didn't know what it was called, but he _did_ know which group this feeling belonged to.

One of those weird supernatural creatures; _devils_.

So...magic? Maybe? He wasn't sure.

Regardless, Naruto grabbed his supplies again and resealed them, taking them with him as he began sprinting to the source of the energy, frowning visibly.

Whatever was out there, he had to check it out before he could begin any training, besides, he was curious.

Considering the spike of energy, maybe there was a fight sparking out ahead or something, which could actually be a good stress reliever for him to watch now that he thought about it...

Naruto eventually ended his musings when he came upon a peculiar sight once he reached his destination; a battlefield.

A battlefield that was recently made thanks to the people that were occupying this piece of the forest.

And right in the middle of it were two females, who were very much surrounded.

Standing back-to-back against one another, those two girls were amidst a virtual sea of creatures of all shapes and sizes. Which were _obviously_ here with deadly intentions.

Among them, the shorter one was a short girl with childish features, with _very_ risque clothing...if it could be called that anyways.

She wore what looked like a black leather top that only covered her up to her ribs and two black straps crisscrossing to make an 'X' over her stomach.

She also wore pink and white striped stockings, as well as a pair of, quite visible, black underwear.

Her long silver hair, which reached to the middle of her back, was flailing around as she jerked her head around her, and her purple eyes were glistening sharply at the dangerous situation that she found herself in.

Naruto frowned, narrowing his eyes, studying her closer as he noticed something framing the crown of her head.

...

Wait, were those _horns?_

Naruto couldn't help but do a double-take at the sight of the little horns on the girl's head, but quickly snapped himself out of it.

Now _really_ wasn't the time to stare.

So, taking chance that was given to him in the apparent lull in the fighting, the blond focused his attention on the other figure who, he assumed, to be the silverette's partner.

The other girl was far more, physically at least, likely to be around the blond's age, and thankfully didn't make him feel like he was committing a crime by staring.

She had vibrant red hair, which was partially pulled into two separate pigtails that were held together with a pair of long black strings, with the rest of her hair flowing freely down to her waist, framing her pink eyes.

In terms of physique, she was practically the polar opposite of the other girl; as she had quite the voluptuous body, which was contained in a pink top that was hanging on her shoulders, and a frilly blue skirt to complete her ensemble.

All in all, the duo was quite the interesting pair. One that most wouldn't see everyday.

And they were _both_ clearly under great distress, since they were up against multiple monsters on all sides.

Naruto stared at the two of them for a moment, stuck in indecision.

If he wanted...he could just leave and pretend that this never happened, after, all they weren't his problem anyway, hell, he didn't even know if they were good people or not, so maybe helping them could be a bad thing?

He was supposed to lay low, so helping random people would just garner him attention from unnecessary people, and he has no guarantee that they were even worth the effort.

The smart thing to do here...was to turn away and pretend that he didn't see anything.

...Yeah, the smart thing.

...

Sighing, the blond swiftly took out a hidden kunai under his right sleeve, already knowing that he never was good at doing the 'smart thing'.

If things got rough for him for helping out others, then so be it.

Much rather that, than bear with the guilt of abandoned people in need to monsters.

Without making a sound, the shinobi charged in, intent on getting those girls out alive and unharmed.

The first of the monsters that took notice of the blond was an ugly half-human/half-fish monstrosity, which barely managed to notice him as it turned around, making an attempt at roaring out to grab the attention of the other beasts.

It was far too slow.

With eyes so sharp that it was unbefitting on the face of a teenaged boy, Naruto swiftly swung his fist at the stomach of the beast, knocking all of the air in the monster's body.

With that done, he quickly and efficiently stabbed his kunai through the monster's throat, ending it's life before it ever got the chance to warn it's comrades.

Unsurprisingly, the shinobi wasn't too concerned about mindless monsters, as he felt nothing but blood lust from them.

Not waste any time, he moved onto the next one; a man that had a pincer for a mouth and sharp claws for hands.

A combo that was pretty damn gross if you asked him, but hey, it wasn't about to matter in about a second, as the shinobi finally decided to announce his presence to ally and foe alike in a true Naruto-like fashion.

"I hope you bastards didn't try and start the party without _me!?_ " Naruto shouted in exuberance as the bug-man quickly turned around, only to be met with steel for it's trouble, as the kunai dug deep into it's -probable- brain.

The bug-beast fell like a stone, with Naruto charging towards his next victim.

As soon as blond's declaration rang out, it stopped the fighting that was about to start anew for a split-second, long enough so that everyone there could acknowledge the newcomer in slight shock

That shock vanished for the monstrous creatures when they saw that two of their comrades were down, and who exactly was responsible.

Two monsters quickly flew into a frenzy and charged the blond, getting him to start a new round of clever -in his mind- quips, before he noticed that the third and final monster was about take advantage of the girls' momentary distraction.

"Oi, don't gawk at me! Look out!" Naruto shouted to them, breaking both of them out of their reverie.

In alarm at the incoming attacks, they both moved to dodge the final monster's assault, but the red-head was too slow, and was stabbed by one of the monster's sharp legs right through her shoulder.

"Mio-sama!" the little silver-haired girl cried out, charging forward to engage the final monster, her face twisting in worry. "Hang in there!"

Right at that moment, Naruto realized that, while holding back was important, this was not the time for doing so, as those two were now barely holding out.

So, with practiced ease, he dodged both the flying goblin's nose dive, and the standing pit bull's hard fist, before channeling wind chakra through his kunai...

In a blink, the shinobi moved to the side of both monsters, sliding, in order to line them both up for a shot.

Without hesitation, he threw the kunai at speeds neither of the beasts could react to, and cleanly pierced both the pit bull and flying goblin through their chests.

Both beasts fell in short order.

Though Naruto didn't actually see them fall, as he was already moving to back up the kid, confident enough in his skills to know that they were down.

As the blond ran towards the final monster, which was preoccupied with the scantily-dressed girl, he brought out the kunai hidden in his shirt's left sleeve and channeled wind chakra through it as well.

Ducked under the body of the strange hybrid of a spider and a woman, he sliced off each one of it's legs before the monster even realized what had happened.

When 'she' did however, it screamed out in pain and stumbled back on her stumps, giving the scantily-clad girl the opening that she needed.

The silverette then brought her small fist out and smashed her fist at the spider-woman's body, sending it _through_ a tree, practically taking it down and killing the monster instantly.

And, just like that, the little battle was over.

Naruto wasn't focused on that however, as he moved to the red-headed girl which had received the stab wound, face tight with slight worry.

He wasn't a medic by any means, but thankfully, he did have a basic knowledge of some basics, thanks to being around Baa-chan and Sakura-chan.

Taking a cursory glance, he quickly figured that the wound wasn't bad, it was superficial.

Still, she was unconscious, though he doubted that it had much to do with the attack itself.

As he was checking her out, he quickly noticed the dark bags there were under her eyes, making his lips flatten.

The girl was exhausted.

If she was already at the brink before she actually got stabbed, then that could have probably made her collapse thanks to sudden the pain, shocking her system enough to knock her out cold.

In short, she needed rest, desperately.

While this was happening, the silverette cautiously moved to the blond man's side, anxiously waiting for whatever he had to say.

The two of them were in a bad spot, so while she didn't trust him completely, he _did_ prove to, at least, want them alive. Something that she couldn't say that a lot of people wanted.

More than that, he helped them fight off a lot of stray devils when it would have been easier to just stay out of the whole affair altogether.

Plus, if she really thought about it, she doubted she could really do anything to stop him anyway, since the skills he used to take out the insane devils were outside of her abilities.

...Unless she used her trump card, but she wasn't willing to risk it with Mio-sama in such a state.

"The girl is fine, just tired, the wound ain't too serious either, so she will be alright as long as she gets some rest and cleans up the wound." Naruto finally spoke up with a small smile of reassurance.

The girl let out a sigh of relief at the news and nodded her thanks, moving to her young charge in order to pick her up with her strength.

In the process of this, she was going to thank their savior properly, before she froze up.

Naruto frowned at the silverette's sudden reaction, becoming wary of another attack. "What's wrong? Are there more of them?"

"No, no...it isn't that." the girl with the 'horns' replied, her eyebrows scrunching as she pondered on their bad position.

The reason that she was locking up was simple, the both of them were moving around during the middle of the night for good reason, unfortunately, as their last refuge was found out by the very stray devils that were hunting them down.

No doubt, to them, they were probably just like two tasty snacks to be devoured.

If they returned to their last refuge now...then she had no doubt that they would be attacked by even more stray devils, especially the ones that were instinctively looking to raise their own strength.

Her young charge was half-human, and the unique smell that she had thanks to her...ancestry, helped attract stray devils from quite the distance away to her, in the hopes that they could eat what they viewed as a delicacy.

Not only that, but the red-head was also unconscious...

Before she could fall into despair due to their situation, an idea sprang to mind idea, which could probably buy them some reprieve; a temporary home.

A safe place to rest.

Internally preparing herself, she quickly turned to their blond savior and pitched her idea. hopeful. "...My young charge is wounded and unconscious, while I am tired from the day's fight. Taking that into account, I'd like to ask you whether you could offer us a temporary home where we could recuperate. In return for this favor...I wouldn't mind doing whatever you want for payment."

Even as she was speaking, she was cringing at the possible degrading things that she may have to endure, well aware that offering herself up like that could very well remove the young man's inhibitions.

But...it was fine, as long as it was for her charge's sake.

She was her guardian, and even if she rarely conversed with her, she was _still_ someone that she would guard, no matter what.

Which was why she was locking eyes intensely with the blond, showing him her grim determination.

Naruto didn't say anything at first, the only cues being that he raised his arm up slowly into the air, hanging there, as if he was raising his hand for the teacher to call him.

Then he suddenly swiped his arm back down, slamming his hand down onto the silverette's skull.

 _Hard._

The girl yelped as she faceplanted onto the ground with a comical bump upside her head, recovering after a spare second as she looked up at the blond with teary eyes.

He didn't look amused.

The shinobi, for his part, was very upset at the thought that someone would think that he was heartless enough to take advantage of the situation.

Among the duo; the red-head was out cold, and needed rest, while her...'guardian' was exhausted, leaving both incredibly vulnerable in the middle of the forest where they could get attacked again.

For all intents and purposes, he was going to offer them a place to stay anyway...

Plans to lay low and avoid garnering attention to himself be damned when he saw good people in such a desperate situation.

Despite his anger however, he couldn't help but be impressed by the silverette's actions, as she obviously hated what she was doing, but still did it anyway for her friend.

Who wouldn't respect something like that?

"...Why don't you try asking nicely next time, hm?" Naruto questioned, his eyes now reflecting how many points she had won with him.

The girl in question blinked in shock, before trying again, hoping against hope. "Uh...um...will you please give us a place to stay so that my friend here can get better, please?"

"Sure!" Naruto replied cheerfully, nearly making the girl faceplant with how easy it was. "Now...introductions! Something simple. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Your turn!"

"Huh? Oh...! Well, my name is Naruse Maria, and the unconscious girl here is my charge; Naruse Mio." the now dubbed Maria said, a growing smile splitting her face.

Naruto blinked at that, the red-head was Maria's _charge_?

Huh...

This world kept getting weirder and weirder.

Shaking his head, the shinobi scooped up the unconscious Mio and turned to the direction of his home, walking towards it with Maria following in tow, nonchalant about his current situation.

It wasn't like helping two random people that were involved in the supernatural would get the world's attention anyway, right? So no harm done.

"Oh, by the way, Mio-sama is the daughter of the previous Maou Lucifer, so please make sure she is safe. I'm counting on you Naruto-sama!" Maria piped up cheerfully, moving up to the blond and walking side-by-side to him.

Naruto suddenly froze, only just registering what she had said.

...

...Eh?

...

 **EEEEEEHHHHHHH!?**

* * *

Yellow eyes locked onto the screen of her cell phone, which was ringing, the caller id identifying who it was.

Things have changed dramatically since earlier that day, and required her to contact the Hero Tribe's leader so that he could be aware of the exact circumstances, at least before she could proceed with anything.

In the northwestern area of Kuoh Town, there was a forest area that was perfect for someone who didn't want to be found to do some exercises.

Keeping in shape was paramount for her career as a hero.

Yet, as she was in that forest, she very quickly found that she wasn't alone in the area.

Before she could even start back then, something quickly caught her attention, distracting her from her training.

It was noise, a _lot_ of noise.

Specifically, it was the extraordinarily familiar sound of battle that caught her ear.

Opting to go and check out what was going on, she sped towards the source of the sound while trying not to alert the combatants to her presence, cautious.

What she would run into was a scene of a battle, one where two females were holding their own against a small group of stray devils.

Before she could even do anything productive, a certain blond would enter the fray, turning the tide of the fight and saving the two girls.

She was barely able to hear what they were conversing about, but she managed to catch enough to quickly determine that the red-head among them was, in fact, one of her targets.

And her other target; the blond troublemaker himself, had just thrown his lot in with them.

This was, simply the worst possible scenario.

 _Two_ of her targets were now seemingly allied with one another for whatever reason.

And of all of the possible scenarios that could have occurred over the, internally dubbed, 'unknown variable'...the absolute worst has occurred.

It was one thing to deal with the first Maou Lucifer's final daughter and her guardian, as their abilities were, she figured, not too impressive when all things were considered.

But Uzumaki Naruto on the other hand...

She knew that he had a massive source of power, but she thought that he never really got the chance to learn how to use it properly.

So, initially, he didn't really seem like a threat

At least, before she saw the thorough slaughter that the blond had engineered against the stray devils.

He was, without a doubt, someone to be wary of.

Ostensibly though, if his rush to help the two devils were of any indication, he was probably aware of their relations. Which could only mean that the blond _was_ aware of the supernatural by the time that she talked to him.

This thesis was backed up by his complete lack of surprise by the sight of the many stray devils, as well as his confidence in dealing with them.

Thankfully, Uzumaki's focus on the battle most definitely allowed her to study him, so she had to thank her good fortune.

Because now...she could, mostly, determine how powerful the teenaged boy really was. If that incident was an accurate representation of his skills at least.

Still, what _really_ bothered her...

Even as she was thinking it, her yellow eyes were hardening.

Uzumaki Naruto had broke his word.

He claimed that he wouldn't do anything to harm the normal students in the Academy? Well, now that he's thrown his lot in with those devils, he's effectively done just that.

Devils and humans had never got along. Especially since devils have always tried to control humans for their own gains.

She had no doubt that the two devils in Kuoh Academy were the same.

More than that, she was a warrior with a sense of honor, and Uzumaki had _broke_ that sacred honor. Willingly and irrevocably.

He was trash to her now.

...But he was still very powerful trash, so, for that reason alone, she was contacting her superior.

Her musings ended when someone on the other line picked up the phone and answered.

"Yuki-kun. Anything to report?"

Straight and to the point, good.

"There have been complications with the new targets you gave me. The former Maou's daughter has allied herself with the 'unknown variable' that you told me about...and that variable has turned out to be very strong." Nonaka Yuki stated with a frown, obviously displeased at the turn of events.

The voice on the other end paused, taking in this information, before responding.

"I see...well then, I'll ask you one question, Yuki-kun. If he's truly that powerful, then I'd prefer it if you didn't face this...'unknown variable' by yourself. However, if you think you can, I'll give you the go ahead. So, can you do it?" the masculine voice on the other line asked, serious.

Yuki took a moment to ponder that; both of the devils were weakened after their fight, which left them as nothing more than burdens rather than reliable comrades.

That only left Uzumaki...

He was fast, faster than her no doubt, but from what she saw, it wasn't by much.

She had fought with speed-types before, and she had no doubt that Uzumaki Naruto was a speed-type. More than that, he was a short-range fighter, and heavily depended on those two strange knives that he utilized.

She now knew how he fought, while Uzumaki had no idea how _she_ fought...

The young hero clenched her fist, remembering her duty. Her training.

She was a _soldier_ and she would do her duty.

"I can do it." Yuki claimed with conviction, prepared to eliminate Uzumaki Naruto if he gave her a reason to doubt his word.

"Very well, you have my permission to continue forward." the masculine voice stated in a firm voice. "Your main objective is Uzumaki Naruto, since the daughter of the Original Lucifer is being hunted down by the fervent supporters of the recently made government in the Underworld, so best to focus on watching her. She will probably die in time, but this...'unknown variable' _must_ be dealt with, understood?"

Yuki nodded in understanding, recalling what she has heard about the situation in the Underworld.

Apparently, only recently has the previous Lucifer actually been caught and executed by the Underworld's government after he escaped from his defeat at the hands of Sirzechs Gremory and his comrades.

Now, while the current Yondai Maou don't support the zealots, they really couldn't do much about it, even if they tried to force the issue.

The group was pretty popular with those that wanted to completely prevent any possible counter revolution from occurring.

Many devils who have found themselves at the receiving end of the Original Lucifer's heavy hand in the past now had a perfect scapegoat in his daughter, and, despite how relatively unknown she was, they continued searching for her.

Of course, outlawing such a disorganized group would only draw angry mobs without actually stopping it from continuing it's work, business as usual.

So they didn't, and the Hero Tribe only recently got their hands on such information, but it was definitely valuable in determining who was the more important target.

"I won't fail." was all Yuki said, before hanging up the phone.

* * *

 **AN: Not much to say, except, this is the rewrite of the second chapter. :P**

 **Nothing really changed, mostly grammar, so it isn't really important if you read it or anything. Just makes getting into the story nicer. :3**

 **-RekkingPride**


	3. Chapter 3

_**This chapter has been updated to fix grammar mistakes!**_

* * *

To an outside observer, the chess game between Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, both of whom were among the most popular girls in Kuoh Academy, was just a friendly game between friends.

In most cases, if you saw two childhood friends play chess, then you'd be right, this time however, they just so happened to be giving each other death glares as their natural competitiveness took over.

It didn't help that they were the respective leaders of their own...'clubs', which were used to hide their devil activities from normal human eyes.

The Peerages of both of the _kings_ were present as well, displaying varying degrees of amusement at their usually mature leaders acting like children, squabbling with one another.

Though, at the moment, Sona was looking on in thinly veiled amusement as she watched her friend try to find a way to protect her king piece without losing her last rook. "So, how is your investigation going along? The one about your potential new Peerage member, Rias?"

Blue-green eyes shifted from the board to the violet ones of the student council president in annoyance, her lack of available moves on the chess board was getting to her.

The bespectacled girl quirked an eyebrow, patiently waiting for a response as she gave her rival a chance to concentrate on her next move.

"It's rather difficult to discern currently, Sona. But that's alright, since I have already asked Koneko-chan here to use her strong nose to check his scent, in the hopes that it could give us a clue to what his Sacred Gear actually is." Rias eventually claimed, a noticeably growing smile lighting up her face.

Sona noticed Rias' growing happiness and couldn't stop her curiosity from growing along with it, wondering what Rias' resident _rook_ found out.

Yet, despite her growing interest, she didn't want to 'lose' by admitting as much to her rival.

So she held her tongue and concentrated on the chess game, her violet eyes crinkling in slight annoyance.

Thankfully, Tsubaki; her _queen_ , noticed her reticence and decided to do the honors herself, saving her from her admittedly childish dilemma.

"What did Koneko-san find exactly, Rias-sama?" Tsubaki asked, earning a pout from the young Gremory, disappointed that Sona herself didn't admit to her curiosity.

Beside her, Rias' _queen_ began to giggle at her _k_ _ing's_ antics.

She really was too cute sometimes.

"Ara ara, Rias, are you upset that Tsubaki-san asked you and Sona-chan didn't?" asked Himejima Akeno with a sly smile, the second most popular girl in Kuoh Academy.

Rias glared at her _q_ _ueen_ through the side of her eye, before ignoring her question entirely, which in turn, just made Akeno break out into a new round of giggles.

The red-head shifted her attention to her _rook_ ; Toujou Koneko, and motioned her to come to her.

Toujou Koneko stepped up to her _k_ _ing_ , ready to give her report on the person that she has now dubbed as; 'the pervert'. "...Buchou asked me to use my enhanced sense of smell to check what Sacred Gear the pervert had...the other day. I...managed to get close to him yesterday while the pervert...was away running from the swimming club...again."

Even as she was speaking, the end of her lips were twisting downwards, expressing her displeasure without words.

Now...most people would think that she was only a _little_ upset over Hyoudou Issei's actions, but anyone who knew her also knew that even the smallest amount emotion out of the usually stoic girl was very indicative of her mood.

In short, she was less than enthused by the perverted boy's actions.

"Please continue, Koneko-chan." Rias encouraged, her growing grin hinting to how much she was going to enjoy her friend's reaction.

Koneko nodded and continued. "...When I got close to the pervert, I managed to catch his scent, which I recognized as..."

She hesitated there, unsure if she was sure in her assessment or not.

Still, she soldiered on regardless.

"A dragon." Koneko finished, while maintaining her standard monotone voice.

Completely unlike her though, Rias, for her part, responded with a full-blown victorious grin thanks to the information's implications.

And, if the widening of a pair of violet eyes were any indication, then those implications were big news indeed.

Dragons were legendary creatures of immense power and prestige, so much so in fact, that the Sacred Gears that were based off of them were all quite powerful.

More than that, very precious few Sacred Gears could smell like a dragon, which helped narrow down the possibilities...

Rias may have just hit the jackpot.

Sona couldn't help but cursed internally, more than a little putout that she didn't put more effort in finding out what that boy carried.

That being said, it wasn't like she would have tried to pull him into her Peerage or anything, but, at the very least, she could have bargained with her friend/rival for the right to recruit the young man.

Despite how childish it sounded, there _was_ a reason for her frustration.

Essentially, there was an unspoken rule between them in regards to the acquisition of new Peerage members in and around Kuoh Town.

That rule went along with the idea of 'finder's keepers'; where the one who finds a prospective Peerage member with a lot of promise is allowed to convince them into their group without the other's interference.

Unless, of course, they negotiate between themselves about who has the right to get a shot first.

If she found Hyoudou Issei first, then she could have earned a favor from her friend, for use in the future.

It's always best to have an eye to the future, just in case.

Yet Rias found Issei first, and now held the right to recruit him into her Peerage, so it was too late for any sly attempts at forcing the red-head's hand.

Sona sighed as she peered at the chess board again, registering all of the possible moves that could lead her to victory in their game, wondering what play she should make...

Then it hit her.

More precisely, the image of a certain blond student with blue eyes and strange whisker marks hit her.

All at once, the young black-haired girl did a one-eighty in attitude as she decided to broach the subject with her friend, fully expecting to ruin her victory parade before it really began.

Such was her competitiveness with her.

"While I am happy for your success in finding a new Peerage member, Rias, there is something that I have to discuss with you before you celebrate." Sona stated seriously, knowing full well that, all games aside, they _should_ discuss about any strange happenings that occur in Kuoh Town, _especially_ in Kuoh Academy.

Rias' expression switched from lighthearted to straight-faced in a second, understanding that play time was over.

"...I have recently met a new transfer student to Kuoh Academy today. At first glance, he seemed to be a normal human teenager, but...he did something afterwards that made me suspect that he wasn't _quite_ normal." Sona explained, as the light caught her glasses, giving her a foreboding look.

Deciding to ignore that, her friend responded. "Who is this boy? What tipped you off to this, Sona?"

Looking at Rias straight in the eye, she responded. "His name was Uzumaki Naruto, and he was a second-year student. I met him while he was trying to leave the academy grounds, and lectured him on his lackluster effort with his classes before he...mentioned that he had a family emergency."

The young Sitri cut herself off from there, stopping herself from revealing what the 'family emergency' entailed, as that was personal information that Uzumaki gave her.

As the student council president, she had a responsibility to not give out that information to others unless they wanted her to.

Meanwhile, Rias frowned, not really seeing anything too suspicious about this boy's behavior. At least nothing totally abnormal that couldn't be explained away.

"...It was only after our little talk ended, that he did something...unnatural." the student council president continued, violet eyes focused. "As he was moving to leave the academy, I noticed that he was moving at speeds that a normal human teenager shouldn't be able to...which was made worse when he didn't appear to be particularly tired afterwards."

If anything, her friend's frown deepened further. "...How fast?"

Sona didn't bat an eye. "As fast, if not faster, than the fastest normal human in the world."

Now _that_ made Rias more attentive to her fellow devil's claim, very much seeing how she could be suspicious of how...'normal' this boy was. "Do you sense anything different about him?"

"Nothing." Sona answered clearly, figuring that she meant that in a literal manner.

It really was strange too, as the blond had three of those whisker-like lines on his cheeks, something that was definitely not normal by any means.

Yet, she didn't sense the energy of the yokai within him, so he wasn't a fox or cat yokai or anything...

That only left one possible explanation for this then.

"You think he has a Sacred Gear...a powerful one at that, I expect." Rias murmured with growing realization, interpreting her rival's mindset.

Most Sacred Gears stayed dormant inside humans for their entire lives without notice, allowing them to continue to live their lives as normal beings.

However...some Sacred Gears were so powerful that they actively aided the holder despite being dormant in their soul.

Yet, only the most powerful of Sacred Gears could possibly do something like that, which meant that this 'Naruto' could very well have enormous potential.

"Hoooh...so you've been quite busy yourself, eh Sona?" the red headed devil asked with a knowing smile, a smile which had the student council president narrow her eyes.

That smile meant that the young devil had a decidedly good idea, and in such a situation, where they were talking about an individual that had enormous potential...that smile was nothing except bad news for her.

"Hey, Sona? Do you remember that favor that you owe me in regards to Tsubaki? I would like to cash it in." Rias expressed with a cheerful smile.

Sona felt her eyes widen at her friend's words, before sighing and placing her hand on the top of her forehead, already figuring out what was coming next.

The reason she even shared this information with Rias in the first place was due to the fact that 'finder's keepers' would be in place, allowing her to lay claim to grabbing the strange blond without interference.

If the rule wasn't in place, then she would have kept quiet about it until she learned more about the blond.

The two childhood friends were also rivals after all.

But now it seemed that her rival has decided to change the standard rules of the game, invoking her 'favor'.

That favor in question was in regards to Rias' aid in helping Sona acquire her first Peerage member in Shinra Tsubaki.

When they were younger, apparently, Rias stumbled upon Sona's future _q_ _ueen_ after the incident where Rias acquired her own _q_ _ueen_ , thanks to the actions of a particularly rowdy groups of exorcists.

Exorcist groups that were closely involved with the Japanese Shinto Gods.

Among those exorcists groups, were the Himejima clan, who were considered to be among the most powerful and influential family of exorcists in Japan.

Back then, that clan, after a long series of complicated events, were hunting down Rias' _queen_ ; Akeno, who was related to the clan's leadership and exiled.

Rias personally intervened on her future friend's behalf, forcing the clan to the bargaining table in order to get them off of her back.

Before she even brought them to the talks though, it appeared that the Himejima clan had managed to inform the other, less influential, exorcist clans of their plight. Mobilizing them in the name of protecting their 'purity'.

So the Himejima needed to inform the other clans of the new development, otherwise Akeno would continue to be hunted down by the Shinto-aligned exorcists.

It was then, during the meeting between Rias and the disparate Shinto-aligned groups, that the young devil would meet Shinra Tsubaki; a girl from the relatively undistinguished Shinra clan.

A girl who was isolated due to her power of attracting supernatural beings.

Honestly, back then, Rias would have taken her as another Peerage member herself, but then...she remembered something.

Her friend and rival; Sona, was currently lacking of Peerage members at the time.

Add to the fact that Rias herself had her hands full in making sure Akeno would join her without the Himejima clan's interference, and she figured that her friend could give Tsubaki a shot instead.

The rest as they say, is history.

Though, she _did_ earn a favor from Sona, thanks to that little tidbit.

Rias somewhat regretted her decision later on though, since in only a year later, she would be faced with a threat that would need to build up her Peerage to become as formidable as possible.

Which was why she was invoking her favor now, several years later, for this boy.

"This is highly irregular Rias...isn't there something else that you'd like to request of me as a favor...?" Sona asked with a twitching eyebrow, her irritation becoming obvious.

For Rias to use that favor, which she held over her head for the past several years now, of all times...

"Unfortunately, I would like to use it now, I'm sure you that are relieved that you don't have to worry about Uzumaki Naruto anymore, since I'm going to take him off your hands now." the young Gremory stated blithely, grinning from ear-to-ear as she finally made her move on the chessboard.

Sona just groaned, and moved her rook to capture Rias' king, winning the chess game without much effort.

Yet, somehow, even though she knew she won this game, she still felt like she lost.

It was an irony that was annoying to think about.

* * *

Naruto just stared across the table at the two recent newcomers, present in what he considered to be his 'home base'.

His home away from home, his safe zone, the place where he can let Uzumaki Naruto rein free once more.

Well...at least it used to be.

Blue eyes regarded a pair of pink and purple eyes coolly, aware that the individuals who owned those eyes have thoroughly destroyed any hope of him keeping his anonymity by their sheer _presence_.

To be honest, he was still kind of in shock; what exactly has he got himself into this time exactly?

These two girls have recently told him their story; how Maria was a succubus-devil hybrid, and how Mio was a hybrid of a devil and a human.

Hell, he didn't know that hybrids were a thing until now, such was his ignorance.

But the red-head...she wasn't just any kind of half-devil...she was the daughter of _Lucifer!_

The real Lucifer, the one that he read so much about through his clones, and apparently; the former leader of the devil faction in the Underworld.

Naruse Mio was the _daughter_ of a _Maou_ that was _overthrown_ in a civil war, where dark feelings about the first Lucifer were no doubt still festering in the hearts of the winning faction.

He picked the absolute worst person to offer a home to.

But the fact was that it happened, nothing could change that now.

And now that he had offered his home as a safety net against their enemies, Uzumaki Naruto would keep them safe, at least until they were able to move on their own.

Hopefully this entire incident would blow over without anyone noticing.

At least...he seriously hoped so.

"Ok, before any of you assume anything. I'm not about to kick either of you out now that Mio-san here is awake." Naruto reassured easily, sensing how tense his two guests were by their squared shoulders.

Considering how the tension immediately left their shoulders following his statement, it was obvious that both of the half-devils were immensely relieved.

Besides, he knew full well that even if Mio was conscious now, and Maria was now no longer sleep-deprived, they were both still not at a hundred percent. Not only that, but they could both be attacked by stray devils again if they didn't have a secure place to rest at.

Speaking of which...

"Quick question, why were the stray devils hunting you specifically?" Naruto asked, curious on why so many of these, apparently, mindless creatures managed to hunt them down.

Maria tilted her head in confusion. "Didn't I mention that Mio-sama's unique smell attracts such beasts to her? Since she is the daughter of the first Lucifer, she naturally attracts stray devils since they sense the hidden power inside of her. Unfortunately, since she is part human and still new to her powers, the monsters she attracts try to eat her since they think that she's delicious meat..."

"...You didn't have to put it like that." the red-head grumbled in soft protest.

The succubus sweat-dropped by this point, shrugging helplessly at her usually reserved charge.

Although she seemed to be taking the situation lightly, she actually was genuinely worried whether the stray devils would drive them from this new temporary home of theirs.

Just like every other time they tried to settle down somewhere.

Before she could even voice her worries to Naruto however, the blond spoke up again. "Good thing then, that this house is protected with my-"

Naruto cut himself off abruptly, realizing what he was about to say, much to his chagrin.

No matter how he looked at it, it was even harder to hide his identity while he was in his own home.

This was somewhere where he was comfortable, and that loosened his guard in regards to his willingness to talk about things that, normally, wouldn't be too bad to share in his world.

Before Naruto could try to do something to salvage his blunder, Mio supplied him with a means to do just that. "Did you mean to say 'magic', Naruto-san?"

The shinobi blinked, and focused his gaze on the red-head, quietly studying her.

She was unconscious when Naruto and Maria initially met each other face-to-face, as well as their subsequent conversation.

...Now that he was looking at her, especially as she cautiously shifted her gaze away from him, he could quickly figure something out about her.

She was scared of him.

He supposed that that made sense, since the last memory that she had of him probably revolved around his killing of those stray devils.

That was not exactly the best of impressions possible to a young girl like her.

A belief which turned out to be exactly correct.

Naruse Mio was a young girl that has lived a normal life mere months prior to this moment, and was, frankly, more than a little wary of the young man that killed those beasts without a care.

Yeah, they were mindless monsters...but still...

That being said, Maria seemed to have gotten a good impression of this man while she was out, and she trusted her guardian's advice.

After all, she would be dead without it guiding her when her foster parents were killed.

The red-head winced at the thought, still smarting from the fact, but quickly swallowed it down.

Meanwhile, Naruto took the lifeline that was given to him, accepting Mio's help. "Yeah, magic. Exactly that! Sorry about that, but I rarely talk about my powers to others, so it's a bit...weird, to talk about this."

Even while he was speaking, the young man was nervously scratching his head, a gesture which was filled with nervous energy that needed to be removed.

Apparently, Maria took it as a sheepish apology.

"No need to apologize, it is understandable, Naruto-sama." Maria said with a smile, cheerful.

Naruto twitched, feeling that the 'sama' honorific was a bit too much, as he really wasn't used to such formal ways of speaking...even if he _was_ forced to use 'san' more often so that he didn't stand out...

But he had to ignore that for the moment in order to address something more important.

 _Ground rules_.

"Alright, since we are going to live with one another for a while, I have a couple of rules that both of you need to follow, since this is my home and you're crashing here for a while." Naruto stated clearly, leaving no room for interpretation.

Both girls nodded in understanding, grateful to even be having a place to crash at all.

"First; don't practice any of your magic inside the house, unless it doesn't blow up. Second; both of you will have some chores to do to pay me back for freeloading. Last and most important; do _not_ go into my room under _any_ circumstances. We clear?" the shinobi emphasized, trying to be unwavering on these points.

To be truthful though, the chores thing was something that he just made up on the spot while he was thinking about the rules that he could place. He usually forced his clones to keep the place nice and tidy before now, but now that these two were living here, he didn't have to use that anymore.

This was his way of getting out of doing chores himself.

But the last rule was very important to emphasize, since his room now carried all of his ninja gear and scrolls.

All of which he managed to scrounge up after his surprise entry into this world.

It also held all of the numerous records of possible leads that could - _possibly_ \- help him get back home, but so far, the only one that proved somewhat successful was the _kuchiyose no jutsu_ for his contract with the toads.

It didn't work.

Or rather, he required an exorbitant amount of chakra to use it when compared to the amount he needed back home, and considering how large his chakra reserves were, that really was saying something.

The most he was able to summon was a tadpole, which took up to twenty-five percent of his chakra. Maybe he was too far away from home to use the _kuchiyose no jutsu_...?

Well...at least he's done one smart thing today.

Once upon a time, all of his materials and notes were sprawled across the living room haphazardly, but thanks to some quick thinking, he changed that.

When Maria wasn't looking, he made a clone and forced it to race back home in order to clean everything up, put it into his room, and lock it up with some seals that reinforced the door. Hiding them from view.

He didn't mind if people thought that he was a strong magician, but if people figured out that he wasn't from this world...then that was something different entirely.

Maybe it was the fact that his clones saw too many alien books and movies, but he was still pretty sure that people would want to catch him in order to do experiments on him...

The blond shivered slightly just thinking about it, nursing his new-found wariness of medical equipment.

Meanwhile, both girls shot glances at one another once Naruto finished laying out his ground rules, speaking without words.

After a brief pause, they both eventually nodded and turned back to the blond, prepared to agree to his terms.

A safe haven with rules was infinitely better than no safe haven at all, as they could _actually_ take a breather from their consistently dangerous lives on the run.

Naruto took a second to check the time by checking the clock on the wall, sighing at what he saw. "Alright, I'm gonna head to school now...so you guys can just stay here and rest up, since neither of you are completely healed yet. I will see you guys after school."

The young man was already getting up from his seat in order to leave, dreading his boring day.

Yet, in an interesting twist, he was suddenly stopped by a hand to his shoulder.

Which just so happened to belong to the still-uncomfortable Mio.

"Can I...well...um..." Mio stuttered out, her voice faint and low, eyes shifty.

The red-head was obviously trying to say _something_ to Naruto, though, for the life of him, he couldn't quite grasp what. It was all a garbled mess to him.

Maria, for her part, couldn't help but smile at her friend's shy nature, before quickly deciding to stop the painful scene and help her.

"She wants to come with you to the school so that she could apply there. I apologize for Mio-sama's behavior...she doesn't know how to act in front of her 'savior' yet I bet." Maria claimed, shooting a sly glance towards Mio's direction.

Whether the charge was true or not, the red-head's face still took on a similar shade to her own vibrant red hair.

"Th-! That's not it!" Mio shouted indignantly to the silverette, before clamping her mouth shut and glaring at the ground.

"...Then what is it?" Naruto questioned with a tilt of his head, more confused than anything else.

At the blond's query, Mio managed to stop glaring at the ground and ignore her obviously amused guardian. "I...wanted to go to school too..."

The shinobi's eyes widened slightly, surprised to hear that kind of request, of all things. "...Why?"

By this point, the red-head was beginning to squirm under his focus, but managed to keep forging ahead regardless. "...Before I knew about my lineage, I lived like a normal human girl. It's what I was, nothing more or less than that. So I can't help but...well... _want_ that sense of normalcy again, you know?"

As if a switch had been flipped, she kept going, gaining more steam as she went along. "I just want a chance to feel safe again, with the worse thing that I have to worry about doing is getting good grades. So can I, please, please, _please_ come with you to see this school?"

Mio was practically begging now, so much so that she was actually kowtowing to him, hoping beyond hope that he would give her the green light.

She knew that Naruto had, essentially, become their de-facto guardian while they lived in his home, so it was actually quite selfish of her to make such a request.

He probably felt responsible for their well-being by this point, so this appeal to his kindness could be easily seen as an abuse his inner decency in order to make herself feel 'normal' again.

All while she was placing herself out in the open again, where she could be attacked once more.

It wasn't fair to either Naruto or Maria.

But, deep inside, she knew that _desperately_ needed this.

She somehow found the willpower to stay alive after her foster parents were killed by devils who hated her real father...but that was slowly being pushed to the brink with all of danger that followed afterwards.

For the first time, in a long time, she felt she was safe enough to finally...move past of what happened.

Safe enough to go back to what life was like before the people she called 'tou-chan' and 'kaa-chan' were murdered right in front of her.

So she hoped.

Which was why, when everything went silent, the tension was slowly becoming unbearable.

For a moment, Mio seriously began to worry that she angered their new protector, so she had brought her head up immediately in order to apologize for such a transgression.

At least, until she saw something that made her jaw unhinge.

Naruto was staring at her, just _staring_ at her...with tears streaming down his face like a waterfall, and snot trailing down his nose.

The red-head was seriously gawking by this point, unable to believe what she was seeing, unable to even register it.

 _This_ was the mighty warrior that slaughtered the stray devils just yesterday? _This_ was the man that frightened her just earlier this morning?

She just couldn't reconcile that the warrior yesterday and this...person in front of her were actually the same.

This guy...

This guy was weird.

...Not that she thought that that was a bad thing.

"Horrible...just horrible! Of course you can come with me dattebayo! You deserve to have some happiness! To feel safe! And if this is what you need to do in order to reach that, then let's go!" Naruto cried as the waterfall tears were wiped away by his sleeve, before grabbing her arm and literally dragging her towards the direction of Kuoh Academy.

"Wa-wait! Not so hard! Hey! If you keep this up I'll kill you a hundred times over! Hey! Are you listening to me!?" Mio cried, getting dragged further and further away from the house from an overenthusiastic teenaged boy.

Maria just watched all this happen with an amused smile.

Life seemed to be making a positive turn for everyone involved.

She giggled a little and trailed after them.

* * *

After Mio finally curbed Naruto's enthusiasm, the small group began to walk at a more sedate pace towards the school, with Naruto explaining what Kuoh Academy looked like, and how it was like.

So far, she liked what she heard, but was slightly bummed out that Naruto couldn't really tell her how the teachers were like, since he seemed to either skip their classes or fall asleep on them.

She supposed that, considering his rather spontaneous outburst, she should've expected that.

It took a little bit, but the group finally made it to the gates of the prestigious academy, and Mio couldn't help but marvel at it.

It was huge!

As she had her attention focused purely on the wealthy institution itself, the blond took note of something else entirely.

A girl was standing in front of the gate, welcoming them in, and checking to make sure all of the students there were in their proper uniform.

That girl was Shitori Sona, the student council president of Kuoh Academy.

Naruto cursed under his breath as he searched for a way to warn his new 'roommates' to dodge the president's notice.

But, just like last time they met, the girl with glasses noticed him before he could try and escape.

Damn it.

Naruto plastered a smile on his face and greeted her. "Heya, Shitori-san! What are you up to in this fine summer day?"

"Ah, Uzumaki-san. I am pleased to see you have decided to return to school. I hope your sister is doing well?" Sona questioned, ignoring his sarcastic remark, before she noticed that the teen wasn't alone.

The first one that she noticed was little girl next to Naruto, who was wearing what looked like a classic gothic lolita dress.

Well, she supposed that everyone had their quirks.

But his other companion made her do a double-take for a moment due to the girl's stunning similarity to one of her friends.

"...Rias?" Sona asked hesitantly, before reason finally took control of her momentarily stunned brain.

No. Now that she looked at the girl more closely, there were many differences between the most popular girl in school, and Uzumaki Naruto's companion.

This girl had pink eyes, a more rounded face, her hair was a lighter shade of red, was of far shorter length, and was physically quite shorter than her childhood friend.

The confusion was quite embarrassing for the usually serious student council president.

Mio was shocked by the bespectacled girl's outburst, getting a confused blink out of her.

Who was Rias?

But before she pondered the question further, the bespectacled girl shook her head and then spoke again.

"I apologize for my momentary outburst, I am Shitori Sona. The student council president of Kuoh Academy. It is nice to meet you the two of you." Sona introduced herself politely, before turning to Naruto and pinning him with a stare.

Naruto just raised a brow in response, confused at why the kaichou was looking at him, as if something was his fault.

"Uzumaki-san, while it is nice that you are showing your friends around Kuoh Academy, it is also not allowed. Unfortunately, you can't bring in individuals who aren't students, or aren't related to any students attending here. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to escort your friends off of the premises. Rules are rules after all." Sona stated sternly.

To her, rules are guidelines meant for people to follow so that everyone could prosper to the best of their abilities.

"Uh...well, actually, she _is_ related to me, Shitori-san." Naruto claimed and slightly regretted in the same breath.

He quickly decided to roll with it.

Mio turned to look at the blond with incredulity, unable to understand what the hell he was talking about.

What she didn't realize, was that the teen was trying to, in his own clumsy way, get her a spot in Kuoh Academy. Especially after hearing a bit of her story..

The shinobi quickly realized that only a parent or legal guardian would be able to enroll Mio into Kuoh, due to the rule that Sona just told him.

And since Mio's guardian was Maria, who probably have not 'legally' adopted her, so to speak, that meant that the red-head literally had no way to possibly get enrolled.

At least, within the short time frame that she was probably gonna stay in Kuoh Town with Maria.

Also, Naruto didn't want to make another fake persona like 'Minato' with a clone using a _henge_ again, wary of just making up a 'parent' for her so that he could enroll her in.

Make too many fake personas, and he'd fuck up sometime in the future.

Thankfully, if this conversation worked like how he thought it would, then he could just use 'Minato' again to help enroll her.

Or better yet, just skip using a _henged_ clone again.

So Naruto enacted his brilliant plan in order to help her out.

"You see..." the blond drawled out slowly, his eyes boring into Sona's with grim seriousness. "This girl here is actually someone close to me. As a matter of fact, I've mentioned her once to you before, kaichou."

The student council president straightened her spine at this claim, her mind registering his words, quickly recollecting their last conversation. "You mean...?"

With a triumphant grin, Naruto opened his mouth and made his announcement, revealing his brilliant idea. "That's right! This girl right here is my sister; Mio!"

Everyone there fell silent following this exclamation, with the only thing interrupting it being Mio crashing into the ground, face first.

 _What the hell!?_

"So... _this_ is your sister, Uzumaki-san? I must say that it's nice to meet her in person. Tell me, have you been feeling alright since your brother went to check up on you?" Sona asked ,quickly recovering from the blond's words, and pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.

It nearly fell off of her face due to her shock.

Mio, by now, was just staring owlishly at Sona, trying to understand what the kaichou of Kuoh was talking about.

There was no way she was talking about the battle that happened in the forest northwest of Kuoh Town, right? But what else could she possibly be talking about?

The half-devil looked helplessly at Naruto, asking him without words to give her an idea of what to do.

She saw his eyes widen as he tried to give her signals behind the black-haired girl as to what to do, though she had absolutely no idea what the hell he was trying to say.

She decided to play it safe.

"Thank you for your concern, Sona-san, I'm much better now thanks to my...nii-san." Mio admitted with a flushed face, trying not too fall over due to her embarrassment.

Maria gazed at Mio with interest, filing away a possibility of a fetish, for teasing material for later.

In her humble opinion, she felt that Mio-sama needed to be teased more.

Sona nodded, finally mollified that the rules weren't being broken by the blond and finally allowed them to pass.

Naruto exhaled a sigh of relief at that.

The stern girl was hard to say 'no' to, but he suspected she was like that with most people.

It was only when they moved past the gate, and then moved so far away from it that they couldn't see it anymore, that the shinobi quickly moved closer to his two companions and asked a question that he should have asked before.

"Hey...how come I couldn't sense your presences as devils at all? Hell, Shitori-san didn't suspect a thing about your true identities." Naruto wondered aloud, genuinely curious.

He sensed their use of demonic powers in the forest, but for some reason, he was barely able to sense their presences anymore.

Granted, he wasn't that good a sensor unless he was in Sage Mode, but still, his close proximity should have given them away.

Maria just winked at Naruto. "I have the ability to suppress our presences from others, it's a skill that allowed Mio-sama and I to live for as long as we have while on the run. It isn't perfect, and not too strong either, but unless someone is actively searching for us, they won't be able to tell us apart from an average human."

Naruto just shook his head in amusement at her antics and began walking faster, taking the lead in order to give them a tour of Kuoh Academy.

* * *

In the window of the Occult Research Club's main building, Rias Gremory was staring at something outside of the window, focused, intense even.

Her _q_ _ueen_ moved up to her side and offered her a tea from the tray that she was holding, expectant.

The _k_ _ing_ thanked her quietly, yet never took her attention away from the window, remaining focused.

Akeno tilted her head at Rias' strange behavior, and decided to follow her line of sight to check on what exactly had her attention.

Her eyes landed on a group of three that was talking animatedly with one another, being led by a teenaged boy with spiky blond hair, slightly tanned skin, and...whisker marks.

Ah...

"Ara ara, it seems like you have your sights set on a little fox, Buchou?" Akeno teased her friend with a small smile hidden behind her hand.

Rias just ignored her and stared hard at the boy, though she quietly acknowledged that he, indeed, kind of looked like a fox with those whiskers.

...Uzumaki Naruto, right?

The blond held himself up high while he walked, not leaving himself in a slouch like most teenaged boys did in their carefree lives. More than that, there was a bright glint in his eyes that spoke of a very positive attitude.

Though, that was all she could gather from her highly tuned devil eyes, but now, at least, she was keenly interested.

So this was who Sona noticed, huh...?

Rias nodded decisively, and smoothly went back to her desk in order to plan out how to best meet with him face-to-face.

With Naruto and Issei reinforcing her Peerage, she should be in a much better position to stop her nightmares from coming true...

* * *

Naruto figured that Shitori-san was probably very disappointed in him.

But he didn't really care about getting himself an education since he has a much better reason to say; ' _When will I ever use this in my life?'_.

After all, he was going to get back home one day, while focusing on beating the crap out of some people and talking down some others.

So he really doubted that he would ever need to know about how to draw art, learn about biology, or this world's history.

But, at the very least, he was able to give both of his new roommates a decent tour, which took most of the school day.

So he decided to skip his classes again, and lead his new friends back home.

"So Mio, how do you like Kuoh Academy?" Naruto asked his 'new sister'.

Mio beamed at him, and began to animatedly talk about how great the high school was, and how she would love to enroll into the school.

The sheer concept of going to school again, and making new friends really seemed to have brought the red-head out of her shell a bit.

Naruto just smiled at her exuberance, internally deciding that he would do his best to make sure that she could smile like that.

As long as she was under his case, he would do his best.

The shinobi frowned then, twitching as he...

...

"Hey girls, I need to go pick up some groceries for the house. I didn't really think that I would have too many people coming over, you see? So can I trust you two to find your way home by yourselves?" Naruto asked with a friendly smile, almost as a challenge.

Maria beamed at the sign of trust that the blond offered them and quickly agreed, dragging Mio with her as she moved to charge ahead.

Though, Mio physically stopped the succubus by dragging her heels on the ground, staring at Naruto for a moment, to his confusion.

"What's up, Mio? You ok?" Naruto questioned in slight concern.

She didn't answer at first, instead choosing to continue to stare at him, before she finally did something by asking a question of her own.

"I should be asking you that, are you ok, Naruto?" Mio asked, her growing frown marring her features.

The blond just waved her off with a chuckle. "What, don't trust me with getting the groceries right? Well, I think that you should have more faith in my abilities, _imouto_."

His remark caused Mio to burn up in embarrassment again, before she gave a huff, and stormed back towards the house. too upset to continue the conversation.

Heh. She was too fun to tease sometimes, even Naruto of all people couldn't resist.

Keeping his smile on his face, Naruto began walking towards the nearby grocery store, his features slowly losing it's positive attitude as he took in the features of someone he didn't want to see again so soon.

He eventually stopped in the middle of a busy sidewalk, right in front of a girl with hard eyes.

Nonaka Yuki.

Neither said a word for a moment, both just staring at one another for a couple of seconds.

Other pedestrians could be forgiven if they seemed like a shy new couple trying to kiss one another with their close proximity. But there was no friendly gestures to be found in each other's eyes.

"You lied, Uzumaki Naruto." Yuki eventually spoke up, her accusation stated like a fact.

Naruto felt his hackles start to rise at the charge.

"I didn't lie to you at all, Nonaka-san. I _never_ go back on my words, you can bet on that." Naruto retorted, his blue irises growing cooler.

"Oh? Since when was Lucifer's daughter someone you considered precious, Uzumaki Naruto?" Yuki hissed with her eyes narrowing in anger.

Ah. So that's what this was about.

"That is a different matter entirely, she is a girl that needed help and I simply decided to help her in that time of need. Do I need to explain all of my actions to you now, Nonaka-san?" Naruto asked, slowly becoming more incensed by her words and his naturally hot-tempered temperament wasn't helping.

Nonaka Yuki stared at him for a moment before taking a step back.

Naruto widened his eyes for a moment, unsure of what was going on, or how he should take it.

Was she backing off?

"Fight me, Uzumaki-san." Yuki demanded with a dark glint in her eye.

The shinobi jerked slightly at the demand, needing a second to appreciate what the hell just happened.

In her eyes, no matter how you looked at the current situation as it was, they were enemies. Even if Uzumaki was just being a nice person for whatever reason, it still didn't change the fact that this boy was aiding an enemy of her faction.

That was all there was to it.

"I thought you cared about innocent humans? You would fight me here?" Naruto wondered aloud with a grim face, sparing a look around him.

If she attacked him here, then he would have no choice but to aim to kill, despite any possible problems down the rode with this 'Hero Tribe'.

Too many lives would be at stake if he didn't, and his anonymity wasn't worth the lives of so many people.

Yuki widened her eyes in surprise at his words, did he actually care about the innocent humans around them?

She thought that he would attack her here regardless, since he was helping the devil princess, so she assumed that she would have no other choice...

Maybe Uzumaki-san wasn't the trash that she assumed he was.

"You're right, let's take this to where you battled those stray devils and helped Naruse Mio. There will be no distractions there." Yuki conceded easily enough.

Both future combatants stared at one another and then disappeared in speeds that no ordinary human eye could follow.

They both arrived at the forest in a few moments, using the relatively empty streets to reach their destination without hassle.

Both of them took their positions away from one another, preparing themselves for a fight.

"...Is there no way we could end this peacefully, Nonaka-san?" Naruto asked, genuinely not wanting to fight the girl who seemed to have such a strong moral compass.

It was the simple fact that they were on opposite sides that made this hard to negotiate over.

Loyalty to a group above all else.

"Sorry, Uzumaki-san...but like I said before. We are enemies now, there is no more diplomacy. Don't worry, I will do my best to make your end painless." Nonaka solemnly stated before allowing the green aura from before to overtake her fully.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, so she was taking this seriously huh...

Before him, stood Nonaka Yuki in her combat attire.

She wore a form-fitting navy blue leotard with a white skirt. She had metal gauntlets on her arms and legs ,as well as a blue cape that adorned her shoulders.

On her hand was the blade that she had before in all of it's glory, pointing at Naruto again, just like last time.

Except this time...

"Uzumaki Naruto...this time you will face _Sakuya's_ full power! Prepare yourself!" Yuki shouted as she lowered her body to pounce her enemy.

Naruto had his blond locks cover his eyes, and then looked up to meet determined yellow with _hard_ blue.

"Bring it."

* * *

 **AN: Redone now. :3**

 **-RekkingPride**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This chapter has been revised and updated, should be a bit better than before now. :3**

* * *

Nonaka Yuki was a well trained hero.

That was a belief that many in the Hero Tribe held in good authority, at least in terms of her generation.

But not only was she considered a well trained hero, but she was also a well _motivated_ hero, something that many in the Hero Tribe felt was, perhaps, more admirable.

That being said, there were some who worried that she was just a tad too...zealous in her attitude.

A sentiment that the female teenager didn't even entertain as being remotely true whatsoever.

To her; the Hero Tribe was a vital organization that was meant to prevent the supernatural from thoroughly abusing their human counterparts, and protecting it was absolutely paramount above all else.

From any threat, from without...or within.

Her fervent need to defend her faction, as well as her drive to push herself beyond her limits, was based on a simple 'goal' per-say, one that very much became the cornerstone of her beliefs.

The want, no, _need_ to became a 'true hero'.

She wanted to reach that stage where, no matter who she fought, she would emerge victorious against whatever antagonist stood against her.

Like in the legends of old, where great heroes would smash and break through every obstacle that stood before them, no matter who or what they were.

In the past, she wanted to reach that goal so desperately that she would consistently train herself until she could no longer move and her instructors were forced to _order_ her to stop, lest she hurt herself.

Practically none of the other aspiring hero children would understood why Yuki would go through such lengths to become a ' _true hero'_ , very much as confused as the adults were.

To them, they would become heroes as soon as they received their weapons and capes.

To them, that was their end goal.

So it befuddled them; why would this girl want to go even further?

To them, the girl was an oddity.

They couldn't understand, none of them could.

The origin of her ambition, which had brought her into conflict with a certain blond teenager, stemmed from a certain incident that has left a scar on the Hero Tribe to the present day.

Unfortunately, this incident has left an even bigger scar on a select few from the upcoming generation, changing their outlooks and beliefs irrevocably.

This 'incident' revolved around former heroes that were looked up to as role models by many around her, though she only knew of one personally.

They were the heroes that would change the world for the betterment of humanity, and one in particular was widely thought as the future leader of their faction, such was his skill and talent.

That prodigy was everything that she wanted to aspire to back then, a beacon to aim for with the rest of the hero children.

Those that came _before_ couldn't understand the sting of betrayal that ran deep, and those that came after wouldn't understand that pain of loss.

She was Nonaka Yuki, and she was a hero that would never let an _incident_ like that happen ever again.

From within or without.

Not from _him_.

And not from the blond boy that had the gall to act innocent in front of her.

* * *

The hero made the first move by raising her sword; _Sakuya_ , up high, before slashing downwards in her enemy's direction, seemingly for no reason.

At least at first it seemed so, as the maneuver was made while she was nowhere near Naruto for her steel to make contact, but the green wave that coalesced from that movement spoke differently.

Moving out from the razor-edge of her katana, a green sickle-like wave sped towards him, made up of some unknown energy.

It was new to him.

But it wasn't a problem for him anyway, so no worries.

Naruto easily side-stepped the wave, the energy close enough for him to feel it's heat as it passed, before moving to _walk_ towards his opponent with hardened eyes.

Yuki narrowed her own eyes at the blond, clenching the hilt of her blade a bit tighter.

He was not taking this seriously.

She would make him regret that decision shortly.

Twisting her arm, the hero viciously swung her sword, making several more slashes while charging at him to engage him in close quarters combat, aware that that's where they both excelled in.

But she also knew that she had an advantage due to her knowledge about his abilities, compared to his lack of knowledge.

Since he wasn't taking this seriously...she would use this chance to remove what she believed was his one true advantage; that speed of his, by keeping him in close quarters.

Little did she know that Naruto was more interested in watching how she fought compared to actually fighting, as he figured by this point that conflict with the Hero Tribe was a likely possibility by this point.

One of their members was attacking him right now after all.

So, in case Naruto had to face an even tougher opponent than Nonaka, it would be nice to see how these 'heroes' fought.

So far he wasn't really impressed, yeah, she had a strong sword, no doubt about it, but that was pretty much _all_ she had so far.

Then again, he also knew that she was still holding back a little for whatever reason. The real fight would begin soon.

Naruto ended his musings by twisting his body around to dodge the incoming green waves that would have hit him if he hadn't moved, immediately bringing a kunai out from under his right cuff to defend himself as he moved.

Enhancing it with wind chakra so that he could block the slash that was aimed at his hips from Nonaka Yuki's _Sakuya_ , catching it before it made contact.

The bluenette immediately ducked when Naruto brought another kunai from his left cuff to stab her torso, only barely managing to respond in time, and kicked out her foot to knock out his legs from under him.

In turn, the blond jumped up from her attempt to trip him up and soared over her head, stopping himself short as he threw his hand out and grabbed the crown of her head with his limb.

Like that, he was literally hand-standing on top of the hero's head.

Before she could even register what he had done, the young man quickly pushed himself off of her head, flipping over her, and kicked the back of her head as he moved away, knocking her onto the hard ground all the while.

Crashing down and sent sliding, the teenaged female forced her fingers into the ground to slow down her fast movement, successfully doing so after a few parse seconds.

Quickly getting up and turning to where she last saw her erstwhile enemy, getting back into a defensive position and looking at him with wary eyes.

This wasn't going as well as she'd hoped, he was moving faster than she expected.

Or rather, he was moving at comparable speeds to his fight with those stray devils, but whenever he had to dodge her attacks, his speed would increase a bit in those exact moments.

Just enough to make sure he ended up unharmed from her attacks as a matter of fact.

In those exact instances, he would become a blur to her...

Such an increase shouldn't be possible...unless he was holding back?

No, that was illogical. She _saw_ how strong and fast he was when he fought those stray devils before, all while aiming to save the devil princess and her succubus.

He would have no reason to hold back then since he was fighting to _save_ them.

The only reason he would hold back in such an instance would be if he noticed her spying on them during the battle, but that couldn't be the case since he was surprised by her knowledge about his intervention.

So how was he moving faster...?

Was she, perhaps, overthinking this?

Was he doing this on purpose in order to confuse and distract her?

As Yuki continued to hesitate due to her own doubts, Naruto raised an eyebrow at her new cautious approach. "Hey, hey...what's wrong Nonaka-san? I thought you were gonna beat me? How are ya gonna do that by standing all the way over there?"

The hero peered up at her enemy, narrowing her eyes at him as he continued to speak.

"Ya know..." the shinobi input, confidence in every faucet of his manner and tone. "We can stop this whenever you want, especially since you _can't_ beat me."

As expected, his opponent bristled at his goading, much to the blond's amusement.

Because, to be blunt, he had ample reason to be sure of his chances against her.

He had yet to use anything except pure taijutsu so far, and if this kept up, then he wouldn't have to use anything more either.

Which was a good thing, as the less he showed her of his abilities, the less she could report back to her faction.

Especially since he really didn't want to kill her and become a full-blown enemy of this...'Hero Tribe'.

He honestly held out hope that there could be a way for him to stop this incident from making him a target of this group that she was a part of, but that wouldn't happen if he killed one of their own.

So he waited, prepared for her next move.

Yuki grit her teeth at his confidence, trying not to let Uzumaki's words get to her as she considered her options.

Obviously she needed to get one clean hit on him at the very least, if she could then his little 'speed boosts' should be negatively affected at the very least, as well as his overall ability to dodge her attacks.

She could beat him...she just needed to let go of her restraints.

So, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes, the young woman began to center herself, tapping into something...within.

Naruto, who figured that she was just calming herself for their next clash, raised a single brow as her body began to glow with a _yellow_ aura, enveloping the young hero completely.

That aura pulsed as it surrounded her body and quickly dispersed after a parse few moments, with Yuki standing at the same spot as before, completely unchanged.

It was only when she opened her eyes again that he noticed the...change.

A change that temporarily brought back memories of red eyes and spinning tomoes...

Thankfully for the sake of his sanity, her eye color didn't change, but her eyes _had_ gained a new appearance thanks to...what looked like a pair of cross-hairs that were placed over her pupils, with a circle conjoining in the middle.

Naruto couldn't help but feel that the fight was about to change.

Eye powers tended to do that.

For a half-second, the bluenette didn't make any move whatsoever, content with holding his eye, before she finally spoke again.

"Congratulations, Uzumaki Naruto." Nonaka Yuki started, genuinely impressed by her enemy's speed. "You have forced me to rely upon my trump card, as your abilities obviously outclass my own by this point."

Clutching her katana's handle tightly, she continued, the edge of her lips twisting upwards a bit. "My hidden power...very few have faced me with my _True Sight_ in battle, and only two have actually managed to defeat me with it activated. I hope , for your sake, that you've prepared yourself for a hard fight."

Naruto blinked, not responding one way or another, having faced way too many eye powers back in the Elemental Nations to truly be intimidated.

Honestly, he _should_ be a little wary, but all he really felt was a sense of exasperation at this 'new' eye power.

So, splitting the difference, he decided to simply end this all in one shot by moving at speeds she couldn't follow, not letting her eye powers give her a chance to turn this battle around.

With that in mind, Naruto charged in with clear supersonic speeds and aimed a fist at the hero's stomach, keeping her cross-hairs in sight, making sure that she didn't try anything funny with those eyes.

Strangely enough, as he kept eye contact, her focus remained on him, reacting to him, aware of his movements.

Something that shouldn't have been possible at his current speeds...

Yet, to his shock, before his fist could connect with his opponent's stomach, she managed to tilt her body away from the blow, leaving the blond to swing at nothing except air.

Reacting quickly, he pulled his fist back and launched his leg to the side of her head, keen to end this in a flash.

She wasn't giving him that chance however, as she just as quickly ducked under his attack, dodging it just like the last one.

Except now she brought her blade out to occupy the space that her head used to be in, allowing the blond's leg to slam into the business end of her weapon.

But Naruto wasn't having any of that, opting to aim his foot at the very side of the blade, aiming to kick it at it's flat-side in order to knock it out of Nonaka's hands.

A move which Nonaka herself moved to make sure to use to her advantage, turning her blade just enough to make sure his foot slammed onto it's sharpened edge, aiming to incapacitate.

And, for a moment, it looked like it really would incapacitate him, as the foot continued to approach.

Until, at the last moment, when the errant limb halted right before it made contact with the knife-edge.

A standstill immediately followed, with neither opponents moving for a breathe of an instant.

That changed quickly, with the hero deciding to go all in and swing _Sakuya_ around to cut into her enemy's limb.

Naruto, grinning, totally expected that.

Using his other foot, which was firmly placed on the ground, he pushed himself backwards as he retracted his other foot, allowing Nonaka Yuki to overextend herself as she swung at the spot where his extended limb used to be.

Allowing himself to fall backwards at the sudden movement, the shinobi got into a handstand on the ground before he could hit the ground and aimed both of his legs at the flat-side of the girl's blade, and knocking it harshly away from it's original trajectory.

Stumbling from the sudden move that nearly ripped her weapon away from her grasp, the hero found herself unable to continue her assault, leaving Naruto the chance to back up and back-flip back up to his feet.

Blue eyes peered back to the stumbling female, narrowed in suspicion.

How could he not? Nonaka Yuki was _not_ this fast before, yet not only was she fast enough to respond to his moves, _her_ moves suddenly became much more crisp and calculated after she got those eyes.

It was obviously because of her changed eyes, but what exactly did they do?

"Impressive, Uzumaki-san." Yuki spoke up, getting up from her downed position to face the blond again. "You were much more faster than I gave you credit for...but as you see, I have the speed to keep up now, and it's only a matter of time until you make a mistake."

Listening to the teenaged girl's boasting, Naruto had to quietly admit that whatever she did was effective, but he also knew from experience that no power was perfect.

Her so-called _True Sight_ had a weakness, he just had to find it.

And he would.

Without warning, the shinobi charged at Yuki once more while throwing his kunai at her as a distraction, intent on closing the gap between them.

She dodged it as he expected, but seeing her widen her eyes at his tactic, as well as noting how she only _narrowly_ dodged the little knife as it clipped some of her hair threw him off.

What happened to all her speed just now...?

Naruto cursed the fact that he couldn't publicly carry kunai and shuriken, he could've really used some right about then.

Unfortunately, while he still had one more on him, he didn't want to throw his other kunai at his enemy, as he still needed it to help him curb his opponent's blade advantage.

So he had to deal with it for now, annoyingly.

Regardless, Naruto was already on top of Yuki by the time she had turned her attention back to him, using his distraction to full effect.

Caught his eyes with her own, the hero quickly slid her body to the right to dodge the blond's downward kick, retaliating with a vicious slash by her katana, which just so happened to release a wave of green energy at it's very edge.

Forced to back up, lest he get cut, the shinobi attempted to raise his slammed foot from the ground as it impacted the spot where Nonaka Yuki once stood, trying to back up from the attack, aware that he had to move quickly before his opponent managed to take advantage of his bad position.

Through the cloud of dust that the blond picked up, Yuki moved to do just as Naruto predicted and slashed her sword towards Naruto's right side, aiming for clear bisection.

But, to her surprise, the other human raised both of his hands out while tucking his kunai in-between two of his fingers, then _slammed_ both limbs onto the speeding flat-edges of the deadly katana, halting it's movement.

Uzumaki Naruto had just _caught_ the blade between his hands.

Nonaka Yuki, with her eyes wide, just stared at the phenomenon with slight disbelief, never seeing such speed before in her life with a single exception.

Naruto just grinned at this, amused if anything, before he viciously lashed out with his left foot towards the girl's stomach, taking advantage of her stilled body.

Yellow eyes sharpened as the left foot was efficiently dodged when she twisted her body to the right, narrowly moving out of the foot's way.

Then, in a move which the hero took as a small triumph, she moved her right hand from the blade's hilt in order to use it to catch the offending limb into a hold, tucking it under her armpit and keeping it there.

Naruto, ever positive, kept his grin despite what has happened.

And why did that unnerve Nonaka Yuki more than any angry raving ever could?

From out of nowhere, the shinobi hopped up on his remaining leg, using her hold on his left leg to keep him suspended in the air as he kept his own hold on her blade secure.

In that position, he lashed out with his other limb towards the bluenette's face, aiming for a clean and powerful connection.

Barely keeping up, the hero was forced to bend her back in a perfect parallel to the ground to dodge the foot, silently thankful that she was so flexible as to move out of the way of such a attack in such close-quarters.

But she soon realized that the foot that she essentially ducked under was still hanging over her head, like a guillotine...

Nonaka Yuki couldn't help but open her mouth to curse before the foot descended on her, like a falling axe, she was _smashed_ in the face and dug into the ground without mercy.

Feeling his heel make contact, Naruto quickly disengaged and backed up to assess the damage he has done, unable to stop the growing smirk that was splitting his face.

Silence prevailed over the area for a split moment, only being interrupted once the teenaged female slowly began to push herself away from her hole, raising her head to look at the shinobi.

Her _glower_ at his direction, as well as the nasty bloody nose that she's got, let him know that she was quite in a lot of pain.

...But more importantly, he found it.

Throughout this fight, his opponent has managed to hold her own against him despite her poor performance against him earlier, somehow managing to keep u[ after she got those eyes of hers.

Well, he was pretty damn sure that he found her eye power's weakness.

That being said, it would be way too annoying to exploit it the conventional way, so he decided to do this the old-fashioned way.

By this point, the hero steadily got up from her place on the ground, her nose covered by one of her metal gauntlets as she glared at the blond's insufferably cheerful smirk as he waited for her to get up again.

Was he _really_ that confident that he would win?

She would disavow him from that notion soon enough, especially with her next move.

Naruto charged forward again, intent on ending this once and for all as their eyes met once more, determination burning burning in both pairs of irises.

A wind-coated kunai clashed with a magic sword as both combatants met with their faces mere inches apart.

Just by taking a cursory glance at their clash though, one could easily see that it was by no means an equal fight, as Naruto was definitely pushing back the female with his greater strength.

This became more obvious when the blond made to knock _Sakuya_ from Yuki's hands, hooking his smaller weapon and attempting to yank it from her fingertips, managing to pull it away from the both of them and leave her wide open for his weapon.

Naruto hesitated for a split-second, before making to stab his kunai towards Yuki's stomach, intent on incapacitating her.

That split moment's hesitation allowed for the girl to back away safely from his stab, making sure that she got away unscathed, but still weaponless.

The shinobi clicked his tongue at that, annoyed at how careful he was being in not doing any permanent damage to her, as doing so could definitely keep him in her faction's shit list.

Still...at least he was able to disarm her.

His optimism vanished about the same time as the hero's sword did, vanishing in a flash of green and reappearing right in the palm of her hand.

That was totally not fair.

Nonaka Yuki, by this point, was now visibly tired, breathing in short and shallow breathes to feed her lungs as she raised her blade again to meet with this...unknown being in open combat.

Her Sacred Gear...it allowed her to raise her own speed to give her the chance to _keep up_ with her opponent, not match them, an ability that absorbed an exorbitant amount of stamina to utilize properly for extended periods of time.

She needed to end this... _now_.

The hero raised her sword high up above her head, gripping it's hilt tightly as it began to light up with a green aura...and _swung_.

But unlike all the other times before, the green wave that she had just materialized stayed in place, as if frozen by time.

She twisted her arms and swung her katana twice more, intersecting the first one using different angles, and those waves stayed in place as well.

With her brows scrunched together, focused, the young woman swung _Sakuya_ five more times, creating waves of power that remained still in front of her.

Staring at the waves of power, Naruto suddenly realized that he was in real danger this time, as in front of him were several of those green waves _weaved_ together like a spider web, reminding him of Hinata's special jutsu.

Nonaka Yuki then pointed her sword at Naruto, and uttered one word.

"Fire."

As if the green waves were given life by the singular command, the series of sword slashes moved forward and soared towards the shinobi at frightening speeds, each wave propelling the other to faster speeds as they remained intersected.

Naruto paused for a heartbeat, before quickly moving towards the onslaught with a determined glint in his eye, believing that he wouldn't be able to dodge the incoming attack by running around or jumping over it since it's speed was quickly rising to higher levels.

All that was left was one option.

Going _through_ it.

Naruto ducked, dodged, weaved, jumped, shifted, and ran through the attack like the world's most dangerous obstacle course, feeling some of the waves narrowly clip a bit of his clothes and hair as he made it through.

As expected, the blond managed to dodge the last wave and stepped foot on the solid ground as soon as he was safe again, with nary a wound on his body, despite the cuts all across his clothing.

But when he turned to find his opponent again, he found her eyes to be far closer than he would have liked.

"Got you."

That was all Naruto heard as a sharp blade ripped right into his skin, ramming all the way through his body as it exited out through his back.

Blue eyes widened in shock as blood leaked from his mouth, staring at the sword that had impaled itself through him, blinking rapidly as he only just begun to register what had just happened.

Yellow eyes looked at him with a solemn air that the hero didn't really expect to be feeling, somehow...uncomfortable with watching the young man's life pass before her eyes.

He said it himself...maybe it didn't have to end this way.

"It's over." Yuki claimed quietly, waiting for the blond to lose his life, somewhat listless in her demeanor as she watched.

She honestly wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, but it needed to be done, of that...she had no doubt.

Then, in a sudden jerking motion, the hero snapped her eyes in shock as she heard something that she shouldn't have heard from the blond.

He was _chuckling_.

Nonaka Yuki gaped at him openly as Naruto finally stopped chuckling, unable to believe that he was able to do such a thing in a time like this.

Still, the shinobi tilted his head up, with blood still dripping from his lips, meeting her eyes with his own.

"Bzzt." Naruto said with a bloody grin.

"...Bzzt?" Yuki couldn't help but repeat, such was her confusion.

Then suddenly the blond man ***** ** _popped_** ***** , as if he was a party balloon full of smoke that was just popped.

Yuki had absolutely no idea what had just happened, as she was terribly confused.

Then she heard the voice of the source of her confusion, which didn't sound anywhere near death's door.

 _"WRONG!"_

Her eyes widened as she tried to quickly turn around to-

Too late.

A fist smashed against her stomach and embedded itself in her, a distant part of her mind that wasn't reeling from the pain couldn't help but compare the feeling to the force of something like a freight train.

It was really that bad.

She was sent flying and crashing _through_ several trees like a live wrecking ball, before making a human-sized crater into the forest floor, with dirt and dust being sent high up into the air.

Yuki just stared up into the sky, thoroughly tired and disoriented after suffering what felt like back breaking injuries, unwilling to move lest she genuinely shatter what was left of her spine.

Also, she couldn't help but think that speed types never punched so hard.

That meant that he wasn't just a speed type, yet another thing that she learned about Uzumaki Naruto that she should have before this fight.

She continued to stare at the sky listlessly until she saw a flash of blond hair, aware of who it was.

Uzumaki Naruto walked out from the bushes to reach her fallen form with a small grin.

She couldn't help but notice that he had no stab wound.

"...How?" Yuki asked with difficulty. Everything hurt, just moving her lips felt like hell at the moment.

Naruto just nervously scratched the back of his head. "An old technique of mine, it's called _kage bunshin no jutsu_ and it allows me to create copies of myself." he answered easily.

To him, honestly speaking, it was fine that he told her about this, since she just saw it in action anyway.

That being said, he wasn't gonna tell her the fact that he could make a lot of them, or that they share intel when popped.

He had to keep some things to himself.

"...When?" Yuki asked, now staring up into the night stars.

When had night fallen?

"When I smashed you into the ground, I replaced myself with a clone and let him fight you. It was the only way to get around your Sacred Gear's powers without the battle taking too long." Naruto explained easily, even though he wasn't exactly being factual.

He had other options...it's just that those would probably have killed her.

"...I see...well it seems...that you are the winner...Uzumaki-san...kill me if you wish..." Yuki murmured, resigned to her fate as she closed her eyes.

No matter how kind of a man he was, Uzumaki was still her enemy, just as she was his. This was how the world worked.

She couldn't begrudge that of him, she would have done the same in his shoes.

Everything was silent for a moment as Nonaka Yuki waited for the inevitable blow, faintly feeling herself unwound from the worries that plagued her about her faction.

It was almost...peaceful.

That silence was broken by her enemy's voice.

"Why do we have to be enemies?" Naruto asked, a genuine tone to his voice that supported his earnest expression.

He honestly didn't want to kill her, seeing no point in it, especially when this entire fight was based on nothing more than a misunderstanding.

If anything, if she just chilled with the 'me vs them' mentality, maybe they could even be friends.

Yuki opened her eyes and stared at Naruto, a faint bit of incredulity coloring her orbs as she answered him. "It is impossible. I am a hero and you are an ally of devils. There is no middle ground."

Naruto shook his head and leaned down towards her, unable to agree with that line of thinking.

"Isn't it a hero's duty to do the impossible for the betterment of those they protect?" Naruto asked with a frown, he didn't know much about the history of this world, but he was sure that the word 'hero' wasn't different from his world's version.

"No, the duty of a hero is to protect humans from the supernatural..." Yuki replied quietly, having no idea where was he going with this.

Naruto regarded her for a moment before turning away to look to the stars.

"If that is what the definition of a hero is in this world...then I feel sorry for it." the blond claimed listlessly, before turning back to the now openly glaring Yuki.

"A hero is a person who does their best to protect the weak against the strong, someone who stands for justice, someone who stands for _peace_." Naruto began, his voice getting more passionate, heated even. "A hero is supposed to be a _symbol_ , something to aspire to that others wish to follow, and a _beacon_ in the times where others would fall into despair and give up! _"_

Yuki's own eyes flared at his words. "You don't think that's what we do...? We protect humans from the abuses of the powerful supernatural factions, standing as defenders and champions of the group that can't protect themselves...of humanity! We _are_ heroes!" Yuki ground out, her own voice tightly wound up due to the high emotional tension.

Naruto just looked at her with hard blue eyes before shooting her down, refusing to let the matter go so easily.

"Then why are you hunting down Naruse Mio like a criminal? What has she done to you? To anyone? What gives you the right to dictate whether she lives or dies because of something she can't control!" Naruto shouted, knowing that feeling all too well.

"She may have not done anything now, but in the future..." Yuki tried to say, shaking her head warily before getting cut off.

"How the hell do you know that? Mio was just a normal teenaged girl just a year ago! What kind of heroes kill people because of what they 'might become'!?" Naruto growled, baring teeth as his temper grew more fiery.

The shinobi quickly turned around for a precious moment after his tirade, taking a deep breathe to calm himself before turning back around to the tired hero.

"...What do you want from me Uzumaki Naruto...?" Yuki questioned with a sigh, emotionally and physically tired from the day's events.

"...I want you to act like how a _true hero_ should." Naruto said simply.

Unknowingly to the young man, he striked a chord with the girl, making her tense faintly as the words was bandied about in her head.

A true hero...

Nonaka Yuki closed her eyes, trying to forget what the words meant to her, staying quiet to gather her thoughts again, centering herself.

"In your opinion..." Yuki spoke up softly, her yellow gaze opening up to see the night sky again. "What would a _true hero_ do in this situation?"

The shinobi just smiled and gave her his hand before replying. "In my opinion...a _true hero_ would wait and see if the bad guy was really a bad guy."

Placing his other hand on his chest, Naruto flashed his teeth in a shit-eating grin, blue eyes bright in the dim light that the moon provided. "I never lied when I told you that I never go back on my word, and I'm not lying now when I say that I would never harm innocent an innocent human as long as I live. You can bet on that dattebayo."

Yuki looked, just _looked_ at the blond, before tilting her head enough to focus her attention on the extended hand as if it was a bomb that was about to go off.

Of all the things that the hero thought could happen today when she woke up, she didn't expect this.

Just looking at the inviting gesture from her former enemy, she could easily admit that she was tempted.

Everything about him seemed genuine, his words were earnest and spontaneous, a far cry from the pre-planned speeches that were made to evoke something out of a person.

This was just...spoken from the heart.

She could see that from his eyes which seemed _blindingly_ vivid to her at the moment.

Without even thinking about it, she stretched out her hand to meet his own, drawn to him.

 _'Now now, Yuki-chan, did you really think that I stood for stupid shit like 'peace and justice'? You shouldn't trust so easily next time, Yuki-chan. It'll do you well to remember this feeling the next time that you feel like being soft, as a matter of fact, use it in order to propel yourself forward and become a wonderful human...a_ _ **real**_ _hero...'_

As if she just touched something foul, she immediately retracted her hand after dark memories resurfaced.

Memories of broken promises.

"How..." she rasped, clutching her retracting hand tightly, shielding it. "How do I know that you won't betray my trust...?"

The shinobi's features pinched up, opening his mouth to reassure her that she had both both worry about.

He didn't get the chance.

"Your words... _feel_ genuine, but I've been fooled by the charismatic words of bad men before." she claimed solemnly, on guard. "So...how do I know that your words actually mean anything...?"

Even as she was speaking, Yuki's features were becoming more wary and leery.

"How do I know that you won't betray my trust?"

Naruto was speechless, completely thrown off by the hero's complete shift in behavior, not sure what to make of it.

That being said, the blond recovered admirably.

"Wait, just hold on a minute...where did this come from? You were ready to give me a chance here, what changed?" Naruto asked in confusion, seeking understanding.

Unable to bear looking at his eyes for some reason, the human teen turned her head away from the oceanic gaze of the blond and looked at the sky instead.

"You wouldn't understand."

Naruto frowned at this. "Hey, for all you know, I may understand more than you think. I myself had a pretty rough life in the beginning, ya know?"

Parting with this tidbit wss meant to help the young woman to relate to him, at least, that wss the idea.

Instead of serving to reassure her however, this only managed to worsen her already darkening mood.

"What do you know...? How can someone whohas such a bright smile ever understand how painful it is? How painful it is to know that someone you trusted with your life could so casually just...throw it away. You don't understand a _thing._ " Yuki hissed with venom, her pent up frustration and anger leaking through as she glared at the blond for reawakening old memories.

She then turned her head to focus on anything else except her enemy's eyes, not willing to let him see the tears that were building up around her eyes born out of impotent frustration.

She felt spent.

Tired.

Numb.

She definitely wasn't expecting this to happen today.

The downed hero stayed like that to numerous beats, feeling herself tense when she didn't get any response from the young man that hung over her.

Did she, perhaps, push him far enough to convince him to end this...permanently?

She had no idea, so she had to turn back to look him in the eye and see see herself what fate awaited her.

So she did, slowly, taking in his features, preparing for the worst.

Except, yet again, she would not be able to predict this boy's actions, which explained why her eyes widened at what she saw.

He was simply...sitting there, right next to her, contemplating the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

But that wasn't what shocked Nonaka Yuki.

It was the mournful look that overtook his usually positive disposition that stopped her short, as well as the glassy eyes that accompanied them.

The far-off look in his eye also helped the hero to recognize that the blond was remembering something, something that brought pain to the young man.

What she didn't know was that he was remembering his sibling in every sense of the word except blood.

The sibling that he had gained through friendship and lost to hate.

The sibling with that damned fan symbol on their back.

Those glassy eyes finally regarded her with a quiet, almost wistful smile.

"...I _do_ know..."

That was all that needed to be said.

She took the hand.

* * *

Nonaka Yuki couldn't help but wince at every step as Uzumaki carefully helped her walk out of the forested area that they fought in, taking extra care not to excacerbate her battered bones.

She hated to admit it, but he really did a number on her.

Still...the outcome of this fight ended up being far more positive than she initially imagined, even if she was pretty battered.

No one died, and despite her fierce belief in keeping the Hero Tribe safe from all potential threats, she still preferred to preserve life rather than take it.

Yes...this ended _much_ better than she could have reasonably expected.

The hero, who's head was high above the clouds, quickly ended her musings when a large red circle with intricate symbols appeared near their location.

Practically right in front of them as a matter of fact.

Both humans stopping to stare at the glowing symbol that appeared out of nowhere, but both had varying reactions to it.

Naruto stopped out of genuine confusion and curiosity, wheras Yuki stopped out of shock at the absolutely terrible timing that _she_ had in coming here.

Yuki just sighed at her misfortune.

There went her cover in Kuoh Academy...

Out of the magical circle that illuminated the dark forest with crimson light, was none other than Rias Gremory and her Peerage, emerging from it with the assurance and confidence beffiting those that were at ease in their territory.

Rias, for her part, gathered her Peerage in order to respond to the bursts of energy signals that were coming from the forest in the northwest of Kuoh Town, unsure of who or what was causing the disturbance.

According to Akeno, who was the one who sensed the disturbance in the first place thanks to her superior sensing abilities, the power that popped in her radar was unfamiliar to her.

Yet... _not_ completely foreign.

To be perfectly _honest,_ the Gremory heiress expected to see a being from a supernatural faction that they have not yet met before, or a cocky stray devil from that was once a being that they were not yet familiar with that had to be put down.

Either or seemed plausible.

Which was why she was going to have Koneko use her advanced and sensitive eyes, nose, and ears to find out more before they engaged with this possibly hostile intruder.

At least, that's what she was planning on doing until she noticed that they were being stared at as soon as they entered the forest.

To be blunt, she did _not_ expect to see was the boy that Sona and herself were interested in; Uzumaki Naruto, who was holding a battered girl that wore the Kuoh Academy uniform.

She could do nothing except stare at the rather bizarre situation before realizing that two humans have just witnessed a transportation magic circle, something that was _not_ supposed to happen.

But before she could even try to salvage the situation, she noticed all of the damage that had been done to the forest around her.

There was definitely a fight that occurred around here, but where were the combatants?

Her eyes fell back to the girl that Uzumaki Naruto was carrying and looked at her wounds, then it clicked.

"So...you two were the ones reponsible for the signals that we sensed, huh...?" Rias questioned with a small sigh, having hoped to meet with the blond in better circumstances.

But now she had no choice but to reveal her true identity.

Though she had to wonder whether he was already aware of it, as he did not seem to gape like a fish when a group of teens emerged from the ground like some sort of horror flick.

He did seem curious though.

Naruto on the other hand was initially confused with who these people were, until he felt their energies, energies that felt just like Shitori Sona and his two freeloaders back home.

Devils.

Great, that was just great.

And, in accordance with his luck, he guessed that the beautiful crimson-haired girl was someone important to boot, besides probably being the leader of the group.

"Greetings, to the two of you, it seems that we found ourselves in a unique position haven't we, Uzumaki Naruto-san?" the red-headed girl began rhetorically, an enigmatic smile touching at her lips.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, he has never introduced himself to her yet, so how did she know his name?

Undeterred by his rising wariness, the young devil continued.

"I think...that considering the circumstances, that it would be best for us if we talked about our rather...unique situation. You must have some questions that need answering, I'm sure." Rias smoothly continued, doing her utmost to seem inviting, lest she push the blond away from her.

Though she wasn't sure what had happened in the forest, she was far more focused on the young man in front of her for the time being, seeing a golden opportunity.

Remembering his curious gaze on them when her Peerage first arrived, she was willing to bet that Naruto didn't know much about the supernatural, so speaking with him about this would be a great way to, at the very least, make him see that she wasn't an enemy.

And, as she figured, she saw the young man's interest get piqued, if only faintly.

Yuki coolly regarded the Gremory devil and then glanced back at Naruto before speaking. "Perhaps...it is best if we speak in private as well, Gremory-san."

The wealthy high-class devil blinked, shifting her attention to the young woman by Uzumaki Naruto's side.

She genuinely forgot that she was there.

"I apologize if I seem rude, but who are you exactly? You seem somewhat familiar, and you are wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform...but I don't recall..." Rias frowned, tilting her head to the side.

"It seems that she's a student in our school, but we haven't really met in any official capacity, Buchou." Akeno supplied helpfully, side-by-side to her _king._

It was obvious that she was very much acquainted with the supernatural, as the teenaged girl with light blue hair wasn't the least bit surprised to see her Peerage emerge from the ground.

As a matter of fact, she almost seemed displeased.

So the question was; which faction did she belong to?

The hero continued to stare at her blankly for a moment, but internally, her gears were on overdrive over an important question.

Should she tell her?

The young devil was probably already suspicious when she saw Yuki and Naruto in the middle of a devastated area, probably already guessing that it was due to a battle.

So there was no doubt that Gremory thought that she was from a supernatural faction, given her condition.

It was possible that she could lie and pretend that she was affiliated from another religion entirely, one that had no quarrel with the devils.

Yes...that would be the smart move.

Then she glanced at the blond that was helping her up through the side of her eye.

The only problem with this plan was the simple fact that her conversation with Naruto was clashing with her inner pragmatism, making such an approach seem almost...distasteful.

 _'A true hero would wait and see if the bad guy was actually a bad guy.'_

She remembered watching over the activities of the devils of Kuoh Academy, so sure that they would eventually drop their masks and reveal themselves to be monsters that would prey on the weaknesses of humans.

After hearing the stories of the past atrocities of their kind, she was so _sure_...

Yet, to this day, they never did anything approaching the word _monstrous._

To the contrary, as a matter of fact, outside of their dealings with the supernatural, they tended to act just like ordinary humans would.

Even the usually reprehensible evil piece system wasn't used against the recent human-turned-devil; Genshirou Saji's will.

He did it entirely by his own consent, a far cry so far from what she had heard of the devils of old.

Did she, perhaps, allow her distrustful nature to control her actions?

She couldn't answer that question definitively yet, as she had only just begun to question her actions, but she at least knew one thing.

A true hero...wouldn't see these devils as evil beings, not after studying them for a bit.

No, instead, a true hero would be more likely to meet and become acquaintances with these new devils, these _different_ devils.

After all, if more devils were like them, then less humans would be abused by the faction as a whole, wouldn't they?

Promoting harmonious co-existence instead of other harmful emotions and motivations.

But to do all that, she had to lay down her own distrustful disposition first.

She had to open dialogue, she had to _believe_ that they were trustworthy.

Suddenly, a hand fell on her shoulder and squeezed in reassurance.

She couldn't stop the small smile that was growing on her face even if she tried.

At least she had one supporter.

So, with a surprising calmness, the battered teenaged girl took that dangerous first step.

"I am a hero." Yuki revealed, as if she was talking about something that was obvious.

Rias, prepared to hear a lot of things, just blinked in response to this, processing the fantastical knowledge that was just passed onto her.

Then she widened her eyes in shock.

A human hero was standing right in front of her.

At the moment, that hero didn't look too impressive, but it didn't change the fact that a sworn enemy of devilkind was standing in front of her, announcing her presence.

The shock wore off the second that she realized that, despite the lack of a threat she held in her current state, there was a distinct possibility that the blond helping her stand was _also_ a hero.

It seemed that her Peerage had the same idea cross their minds as well, as they all began to get closer to their _king_ in case hostilities arose, closing ranks against an external threat.

Naruto quickly noticed the rising tension, raised one of his hands up in a placating manner before things got ugly. "Woah, woah! Hold on there, weren't we gonna talk about this, Rias-san?"

Seriously, he was not looking for another fight so soon after the last one.

Besides, pissing off another faction was just a stupid idea, and so was needlessly showing off his abilities while dealing with them.

Rias snapped her attention back to Naruto with caution, who had already bent her knees a little to prepare for any fast movements required if hostilities emerged. "It seems that I was mistaken, Naruto-san. I'm sure that you can understand our...hesitation about bringing age-long enemies with us."

Naruto widened his eyes at that statement, connecting the dots.

'Enemies.'

Plural.

She thought that he was a hero!

"Rias-san, it seems you are a bit mistaken here...I'm not a hero. Only Nonaka-san here is a hero." Naruto tried to convince her earnestly.

"And how do I know that you're telling the truth exactly? After all, I can tell that you're definitely human, and you're helping her right now, like a good ally. So what other explanation is there when one of those humans just so happens to take the mantle of 'hero'?" Rias refuted, her guard not brought down at all.

Naruto's expression slid from faintly nervous to deadpanned in a matter of seconds, before slowly using his hand to point at the girl to his side.

"Because I just recently beat the crap out of her." he retorted.

Rias blinked at the statement before gaining a light blush due to her embarrassment, as it made sense that they weren't on the same side considering the condition of the hero.

Her wounds went beyond that of a spar between friends, since she was obviously in quite a lot of pain.

Nonaka just twitched at the reminder of her recent defeat.

"Yeah, we were enemies earlier today. But we came to an understanding after I beat her up, and I was helping her get to her house when you guys showed up. So you don't need to worry about having me as your enemy since I have no reason to fight you at all." Naruto eased the devils in front of him, hoping his logic would temper the tension here. "If anything, talking to you would be good since I finally get to find out what is going on with all of these supernatural factions."

The devils all shared looks with one another, apparently checking with one another to see if they believed the blond's story.

"...While I would advise caution, I think that he is telling the truth right now, Buchou." Akeno advised, sparing the two humans a look.

"...Not lying." Koneko agreed, her powerful ears at work. " Heartbeat is stable, not speeding up."

The Gremory heiress said nothing as she listened to her two Peerage member's council, moving her eyes back and forth between Naruto and Yuki.

She quickly made her decision.

"Very well, we will trust in your sincerity and believe that you mean us no harm, Naruto-san. We will all go back to my club room in Kuoh Academy and...go over our interesting circumstances." Rias said finally, aware that she was taking a huge risk by taking them back to her home base.

Then again, maybe not.

After all, if all she had to fear was a beat up hero, then the combined forces of her Peerage would be more than enough to overwhelm the her.

Of that she was sure.

It was the one that gave her the wounds that she was worried about.

Idly waving her hand, the red-head reactivated the magic circle underfoot in order to transfer everyone back to the ORC base, where they could speak without fear of any normal humans listening in.

The crimson circle then expanded, enveloping the ground under all those who were present.

Then, in a blinding flash, they were all transported away.

To their lack of knowledge though, it failed to transport another soul who was watching nearby, attracted to the battleground like the Gremory group was.

However, strangely enough, no one there even noticed his presence, despite their incredible abilities.

Regardless, the figure, which turned out to be a young man, quickly left to tell his master about the knowledge he has obtained.

* * *

Naruto blinked as he fell on his butt when the transportation was over with, along with Yuki, who was also now sprawled on the floor, moaning in pain at her sudden re-acquaintance with the ground.

All the devils in the room looked on with amusement as the humans slowly stood back up, getting over their sudden and unpleasant feeling of being teleported.

Naruto, ever curious about the supernatural, looked around and took note that the room he was in was pretty damn spooky and dark, utilizing candles and incense instead of light bulbs and air fresheners.

Honestly, it's sorta what he would expect from a bad guy's lair, especially with all of the fancy furniture that was definitely not Oriental in style.

Naruto decided to take this time to study all of the devils there, having the chance to do so.

There was a young woman with a buxom figure with very long black hair and violet eyes, standing besides the obvious leader of the group, probably as a second-in-command or something.

Her hair, which was incredibly long, was tied in a long ponytail which reached all the way down to her legs, held thanks to her badass orange ribbon.

There was another girl that was of similar build with Maria. She had hazel eyes and white hair which was styled in a bob cut except with several strands hanging on the sides of her face which was reaching her shoulders.

The only male devil here was a good-looking guy with short light blond hair and grey eyes. He had a mole under his left eye and carried himself like one of those gentleman that Naruto read about.

All in all, a very varied group of people.

That wasn't even counting the apparent leader of the group.

Gremory Rias -or was that Rias Gremory?- was a young woman that had a similar build with the girl with the badass ribbon. She had long crimson hair, a couple of shades darker than Mio's which stretched to her thighs and an ahoge that was defying gravity. She had green-blue eyes which was currently shining in amusement at the human's wandering gaze.

Naruto finally ended his examination of the group and decided to start things off.

"Ok, so what is a 'devil' exactly, Rias-san?" Naruto asked to get things started.

Almost as if a switch was turned on, the room suddenly gotten slightly darker with the lights becoming dimmer. The remaining light gave the devils on the other side of the room an almost eerie presence with the darkness covering parts of their faces.

Naruto wondered if this was a 'thing' with devils as he remembered Sona-san and her glasses.

They just seemed to like their theatrics.

"Well, Uzumaki Naruto, to be blunt, devils are beings that live in a different dimension known as the Underworld, chosen by the founder of our species; the Original Maou. We are all, essentially, the descendants of the Original Lucifer and his band of rebels against Heaven, who utilize magic to combat our enemies. We are...very powerful beings, Naruto-san." Rias explained, her tone getting lower as she continued.

Yuki narrowed her eyes at this blatant admission of her species' power.

What was Gremory up to...?

Just because she acknowledged that she wasn't all bad didn't mean that she trusted her to _not_ use certain situations to her advantage.

Naruto, oblivious to the change, nodded for her to continue.

"Devils have been fighting their Biblical counterparts and sworn enemies; angels and fallen angels, for at least two thousand years in a conflict simply known as _The Great War_. The conflict has only in recent times been called off due to a ceasefire, but the devil population has been decimated due to the many years of fighting...the problem has only recently been solved due to the introduction of the Evil Piece system." Rias claimed with her eyes locked onto Naruto's.

The hero, wary at first, just found cause to be even more concerned as the devil emphasized her people's need for new blood.

Connecting the dots in her head, the young human felt something click in her head when she finally realized what Gremory was aiming for.

She was going trying to get Uzumaki Naruto into her Peerage.

Clenching her teeth together, Yuki was about to take a step forward to warn him but stopped herself short.

As much as she hated to admit it, Gremory wasn't using any magic or anything of the sort to influence him in any way, except through words.

Despite how she was loath to admit it, she had no right to interfere in this instance.

...It was times like these that she hated her own moral compass.

Naruto just stood there, soaking up all this information as Rias continued her explanation.

"The concept of a 'Peerage', a term to describe those who are made subordinate to a _king_ , was born from the Evil Piece system. The system itself uses chess pieces to change the genetic make-up of an individual and turn them into a devil and a servant of the possessor of the Evil Piece. For humans, it makes them far more powerful than what they were originally due to the fact that devils are naturally more stronger than humans, as well as live far longer. Eventually, when those reincarnated devils become strong enough, they can form their own Peerages and achieve great wealth in the Underworld." Rias said with a sly turn of the lips, eyeing the blond's features for the telltale signs of interest.

She thought that she was doing a good job in selling her case before she even suggested it, making him see the positives of becoming a devil without outright stating her wants.

Hopefully, with just one more nudge, she could ensure her offer's success rate.

"The people you see around you are, as a matter of fact, members of my Peerage. Unlike others though; I see my Peerage as family, as my comrades and friends. They are people that I treasure, no matter what." the Gremory heiress took a breath, prepping herself for the final pitch. "I...don't know much about you, Naruto-san, but from what I've seen and heard, I'd like to think that we could understand and help one another out. Which is why, after everything I have said...I would like to ask you to join my Peerage and become a part of that family."

By this point, the Gremory heiress looked like the pitch-perfect example of a confident older woman who had her fingers wrapped around an inexperienced younger boy, exemplified by her borderline coy smile.

What about her offer _wasn't_ attractive?

Longer life, more strength, promise of camaraderie and respect.

She was sure that he would accept her offer.

"Nah."

And when he did, she could-

...

"Huh?" Rias asked, dumbfounded. Her visage of confidence and experience fell apart completely at the stupefied expression.

Did he just say _no?_

Yuki, on the other hand, stared at Naruto with wide eyes, shocked and more than a little pleased that he rejected the red-head's offer, though she honestly wasn't sure why.

"Well...all of that sounds nice and all, but won't I have to give up being human? Not that being human is great and all, but it is a part of who I am. A piece of what makes Uzumaki Naruto...well...Uzumaki Naruto. While I would love to get a family, I don't want to get it while giving up a part of me. Besides, I have a dream that I have to fulfill...and becoming a devil would be a big detriment to that dream. So thanks...but no thanks, Rias-san." Naruto said simply, not at all wavering from his decision.

It was a nice offer, really, but he didn't want to give up a piece of himself just so he could get something else in return.

It just wasn't who he was.

Instead, he would earn everything that he could through his own blood and sweat, _that_ was his usual way of getting things done.

Rias just stared at the blond for a moment before sighing in disappointment, her shoulders sagging a bit.

She was so looking forward to getting another Peerage member that she honestly didn't consider that he would refuse her.

"However..."

Rias perked up at Naruto's voice, turning back to him to listen to his words.

"...It doesn't mean that we can't become friends and allies, right?" Naruto asked easily with a grin.

Feeling her eyelids open just a bit wider than usual, the red-head waited for the other shoe to drop.

She was certain that the blond in front of her didn't just reject a way to improve his body in every way imaginable and become a part of her family...just to offer her his hand in friendship.

Why would he go for the lesser of two options? What was the point in that?

From what she knew of most humans, most would jump at the chance to live longer and improve their body. Especially if she was genuinely sincere about him becoming a part of her family.

So she was understandably stupefied that the teenaged boy gazed upon her expectantly, waiting for her response.

...He wanted to be friends? Allies? Just like that?

He made it sound so easy...

Still, she couldn't stop the amused chuckle that came out of her mouth due to the craziness of it all.

He denied a chance at being stronger, faster, better in almost every way just because he didn't want to lose a piece of himself.

Then he turned around and claimed to want to be friends.

Who did that?

Rias stopped chuckling and looks at Naruto with a smile. "I suppose that will have to do, Naruto-san."

Notably, the lower and more adult-like tone of her voice had faded once she recovered from his offer, and instead was replaced by her normal tone.

Naruto decided that he liked the normal Rias better.

Turning to look at Yuki, who was standing off to the side and watching the events unfold at a distance, the shinobi motioned to her to come towards the assembled group.

Yuki raised an eyebrow in response, before moving slowly to the blond as he turned to now regard the entire group.

"Everyone." Naruto said with a grin. "I have a proposal to make."

Naruto would share his proposal.

And Kuoh, as they say, was never the same again.

* * *

Naruto carefully tiptoed inside his house, peeking around to check if anyone was still awake at this late hour.

Thankfully for him, the lights were off, and he heard no sounds.

It seemed that he was in the clear.

Slowly walking inside the house, the blond casually dropped the groceries onto the kitchen floor in order to put it away in the fridge, making sure to be as quiet as possible.

With this accomplished, he then stealthily made his way back to the living room in order to get to his room and rest.

Honestly, he lucked out, since he managed to find a grocery store that was open this late at night to gather some necessary foodstuffs…and stuff.

Now he could just sleep the rest of the night away without much worry.

…Well, mostly.

Now that he had made his 'proposal', and somehow pulled everyone; devil and hero alike, into it, now he had the enviable problem of making sure that it stuck.

That would be a hell of a thing to keep stable.

Before the shinobi could retreat into the safety of his room by passing by the living room, an irregular shape at the edge of his sight caught his attention.

Tilting his head, he easily noticed something irregular on the couch and froze.

"...Mio." Naruto muttered.

On one of his comfortable couches, Naruse Mio was just laying there, resting.

…Well, sleeping was more like it, but why was she there instead of in her new room?

It took all of a few seconds for something to click inside his head leaving his eyes to widen in genuine shock.

Was…

Was she waiting for him to come home?

Throughout his life, no one had _ever_ waited for him to come home before.

This was…just an absolute first for the young man.

So much so that he wasn't sure how he should take it.

Naruto's eyes fluttered, blinking away the faint bit of glassiness that nearly overtook them for a second at the warm feeling spreading in his heart at the gesture.

Rebounding quickly, the youth shuffled past her and went to his room, grabbing a spare blanket to place on the resting red-head.

Cutting himself off mid-action, he thought better of it and snagged two.

Returning to the living room, he then placed one on her and tucked her in softly so that she wouldn't wake up, then he went to the chair that was next to the couch and sat down.

Keeping himself silent, he then placed the blanket on himself and grinned fondly at the girl on the couch.

"Thanks a bunch, Mio." Naruto remarked as quietly as a whisper, settling into his seat to fall into the confines of sleep.

His last thoughts before he drifted off were of acceptance.

As far as he was concerned, these two freeloaders could stay as long as they needed.

If he couldn't bring himself to regret saving the two devils in the forest on that fateful day, which seemed so long ago, then he probably never would.

* * *

To many people, the area that a certain wealthy young devil was traversing would be considered to be cold and dank.

Even to him it was so, as he wasn't used to dealing with desolate and unforgiving accommodations until recently.

But then again, why would he? He was a high class devil after all, so he deserved only the best the Underworld had to offer.

But he would tolerate it.

Or rather, he _had_ to tolerate it. His life was at stake if he made his...benefactor upset.

Even though the young devil did all he could to earn his new master's favor, it just seemed that he never held his loyal servant in such high regard at all.

Peering through the opening and the end of the hidden cavern that he was traversing, orange eyes narrowed, a calculating glint within their depths.

Maybe he could change that after this meeting.

Reaching the end of the cavern, the youth halted in front of a shadowed figure that was standing tall on an elevated position in front of him, surrounded by the darkened area that helped protect his anonymity.

Not even a devil's sensitive eyes could quite pierce through the shadows to see his features.

Face to face with his benefactor, the high class devil bowed his head deferentially, waiting for his lord to speak.

"...And? What have you discovered that is so important as to drag me away from our base of operations?" the deep voice rumbled.

To the young devil, it felt like the air itself shake in accordance to his lord's voice, his own body trembling in response.

"...There has been a change Lucifer-sama." spoke the young devil, keeping his voice deferential. "As of now, there is another individual that has decided to protect the daughter of the Original Lucifer…and he seemed powerful, Lucifer-sama."

His pride was strong, but it was nowhere near as strong as his sense of self-preservation.

"Hoooh...? So the girl has another that is willing to back her, hm...? Very well, for now, it is of no concern. Is the sisters of the current Maous still in Kuoh?" the voice asked.

"Yes, they still reside in Kuoh Town." his loyal servant answered him, sure of this, until he ventured to glance up to look at his master. "...Um...pardon me for asking Lucifer-sama, but what are you planning to do with them?"

Of course, he was referring to the younger siblings of two of the current Maous; Lucifer and Leviathan.

But seemingly deciding to ignore his servant's query, the powerful being known as simply 'Lucifer' turned away from the lower devil, sounding almost whimsical when he spoke.

"What am I doing to do? Well, it should be obvious...I'm going to start a second Civil War in the Underworld...and take back what's mine." the voice said with conviction and certainty.

Behind him, the young devil smiled darkly at the proclamation, contemplating the power and prestige that he would receive due to being a part of the initial formation of the new order.

At least until the voice spoke up again. "Now leave me...or don't you have a nun to break, Diodora...?"

The remainder of the nun that he was going to break eagerly brought about a sick smile to the young devil's face.

Oh the delicious screams he would get when he-

"I said begone you cretin...!" the voice bellowed again, breaking the young Astaroth out of his sick fantasies, getting him to scramble out of the cavern of his lord.

All was silent for a moment following the youth's retreat, which was only broken once a feminine voice spoke up in clear derision.

"Is it ok to let such a nasty little creature live...? asked the feminine voice, the disgusted tone in her voice obvious.

Instead of the shadowed figure in the middle responding, it was another voice, a masculine one, which rose up in response to answer her query. "Don't worry...he will outlive his usefulness soon enough. Then I'm sure you will get the pleasure of destroying him yourself, won't you?"

One more voice rose up from the darkness in response. "Not that it matters anyway. Soon enough, we will destroy the pretenders calling themselves 'Maous', and claim the titles for ourselves, as it should be. And it's all thanks to you, milord."

The last voice, also obviously belonging to a man, spoke as such to shadowed man, who was staying quiet as he listened to his comrades.

To his fellow heirs.

"The time is approaching my friends…soon we shall strike against the pretenders and take back what is rightfully ours. Our government, our Underworld, our _people_. Prepare yourselves accordingly." the cloaked man finished, his determination to complete this task as crystal clear as the stars in the unseen night sky.

As one, his companions hidden in the shadows enthusiastically voiced their support for the strongest among them.

For the man that they unequivocally trusted to bring forth their dreams.

"""Hai! Lucifer-sama!"""

* * *

 **AN:** **So now the first Arc is done! The Prologue is finished and we are now moving into what should have been more familiar territory in canon. But I doubt canon looks like what I'm planning...**

 **As a side note, I have dubbed the first Arc the "Hero Arc". Just a fun little snippet.**

 **Now on to more important stuff; Q and A!**

 **There are some questions I can answer and some I cannot since some things asked have to do with the plot down the road. So here is what I can answer:**

 **How strong is Naruto?**

 **Ans: The answer is hard to answer since there are many things to consider when checking out who is stronger. Like physical strength, techniques, durability, other things etc...**

 **What I will say is that he can crush most opponents in pure strength and speed. But as I stated before...and since I'm sure that you've seen a quick example...there are ways that some people can overcome superior opponents. Hell just ask Naruto that. But more importantly, the sacred gears if the Dxdverse are literally made just to overcome powerful opponents for the weak humans. So to be blunt, he is powerful enough to beat up Maous in close-combat but will likely get crushed in return if fighting in long-range battles if only for the fact that his only long-range attack takes to long to charge up. Remember that nothing is written in stone though, this is the most unpredictable ninja after all!**

 **What about Kurama?**

 **Ans: Naruto after his battle with Pain in the manga completely and utterly ignored Kurama's presence up until he goes into his seal to beat the crap out of him and steal his chakra. I'm sticking to that Naruto since he is still probably pretty sore about the big fluffy trying to kill everyone. No worries, Naruto will be forced to deal with the fluffy in his belly whether he wants to or not.**

 **What about the 4th crossover?**

 **Ans: Hohohoho...where is it indeed? I purposely only had the 3rd crossover show up since I felt that having all 4 crossovers show up was too overwhelming to new readers. The 4th crossover will not show up until quite a bit later...but oh...when they do...mwhahaha. But in all seriousness, I also have an excellent backstory as to why they are in this world. I'm super impressed with myself in that one since as far as you can tell...it has absolutely no connection with any of these verses. But I managed it and it will be** ** _glorious_** **. So just hold on to your seats!**

 **Other characters from the extra the other crossovers like Basara?**

 **Ans: This is a good question I was meaning to answer whether someone asked or not. Just because I have all these characters from other verses doesn't mean that *all* character from that verse are joining the fun. Sorta like most of the time Naruto is the only one sent to another world.**

 **The Elemental Nations?**

 **Ans: We** ** _will_** **see the Elemental Nations again eventually. But that is still very very far off. So none of you need to worry about that right now.**

 **Pairing!?**

 **Ans: Hooo...well I knew that there would be clamoring for what the pairings are going to be. I wasn't sure if I was gonna make this an old-fashioned "some girls chase after one guy but he can only choose one" or the Dxd version of "the guy says fuck it and chooses all the girls that are gunning for him". It seems that everyone is clamoring for version 2 though so I don't mind conceding that one. Now as for who is actually gonna be in it...**

 **Now I think that's it...I hope you guys enjoyed the first Arc! Tell me what you thought and wait in anticipation for the AU Raynare Arc!**

 **-RekkingPride out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Edit: I figured that many people were confused by the end of this chapter, all I can say is that Naruto's thought process will be explained in proceeding chapters. :3**

* * *

Naruto's eyebrow was twitching periodically as he stood outside the classroom. He was currently holding buckets up with both arms as some sort of punishment for skipping too many classes. Considering this was forcing him to miss even more material in the class, he thought that this was a stupid punishment.

Nothing will ever beat Iruka-sensei's big head jutsu in his eyes. Everything else was child's play.

The blond heard the classroom door slide open as the balding teacher stuck his head out and glared at him. Oi oi, he only missed like...what? Three classes? What was the big deal? He skipped far more Ninja Academy classes and he eventually did alright.

Naruto consciously didn't mention the fact that he was held back three times.

"Uzumaki...you may come back inside. I hope you have learned your lesson when it comes to skipping class. Keep this up and you will become a bum on the street." the teacher said harshly before making way to let him pass.

Naruto rolled his eyes in response at the threat. He never did have a good relationship with teachers, the bias that many had against him back at the Ninja Academy made him distrustful of many of them as a whole and was the origin of his disrespectful nature against people with authority.

The blond just cheerfully acknowledged the teacher and walked back into the classroom completely unrepentant, much to the teacher's frustration. All of his classmates looked pretty amused by the exchange as it seemed that Naruto's reputation was set by his actions.

Many in Kuoh seemed to have the impression that he was a bit of a delinquent, but that he was a very friendly one that just thumbs his nose at authority. In short, many students, girls especially seemed to have an impression that he was a 'bad boy' with his attitude and whisker marks on his cheeks.

Apparently he had a "boyish charm" or something like that, it was honestly the first time he was hearing this ever. He never heard such things about himself back in the Elemental Nations. Many of the boys who would have been jealous of the blond, were instead ensnared in Naruto's ever positive personality. Now he was apparently just another 'bro'...whatever that meant.

So he was decently popular, no where near the prestige that the 'Great Ladies' or the 'Prince' enjoyed...but he didn't want such things from Kuoh. Nice words were more than enough for him.

The blond sat down on his chair right next to the window and prepared to ignore history class again, he even prepared to use his own bag as a pillow.

He was all set before he felt an annoying poke in between the sensitive juncture between his ribs and thighs. He ignored it and tried to sleep before feeling the poke again, his eye twitched as he became determined to ignore the poking.

After what must have been the fifth poke in a row, Naruto finally gave in and peered at the girl next to him who was holding the offending pen.

"...What?" Naruto asked irritably, he was going to fall asleep either by getting bored or by resting on his bag. The bag was more comfortable so he wanted to sleep, no one liked having their sleep interrupted...even though he didn't really need it.

"Pay attention...this will be on the test tomorrow." Yuki said as she gave the blond a steady stare. She was still the class representative and wanted to make sure that Naruto had a good education...even if he wasn't a normal person by any stretch of the imagination.

Naruto deadpanned at her and attempted to go back to sleep, but Yuki was not the one who interrupted his sleep again. This time it was the teacher who slammed his ruler onto his desk to wake him up. Naruto had an irritated expression as he stared up unflinchingly at the now red-faced instructor.

"Is my class that boring for you Uzumaki?" the teacher practically hissed at the blond.

Naruto wanted to say 'yes' but that would imply that he was sleeping because he found the teacher boring, the problem was that even if he wasn't boring...the shinobi would still go to sleep.

He simply had no reason to memorize any of this for the future, after all, he was going back to the Elemental Nations and restore peace like the greatest hero that ever-

His daydream ended when the teacher slapped his ruler upside Naruto's head which caused the boy to just pout at his teacher for making him lose his train of thought.

"Ah come on sensei! It's not like I'm ever gonna use this crap!" Naruto complained, and for the most part he was probably right. But to anyone else it sounded like the same weak excuse that a lazy teenager would make when having to memorize stuff they don't like.

The teacher just sighed in return and then glanced at Naruto's neighbor.

Yuki noticed the teacher's gaze and raised an eyebrow, what was that about?

Later after class, Yuki found out and was given a new mission.

* * *

"Naruto."

"No!"

"Naruto this is for your own good. Let me help you!"

"I don't want help in _this_ of all things!"

Several students were looking on in curiosity as Uzumaki Naruto continually denied the request of the the young girl behind him. It was lunch time and he promised to eat lunch with Mio since this was her first day here.

It has been a few days since the meeting with Rias and her Peerage had been concluded, with neither Mio or Maria being alerted to the fact. Both were still wary of the devils that go to Kuoh Academy and were trying to avoid them when necessary.

However it seems neither of them knew a thing about Yuki and her involvement with the Hero Tribe. So this was a good chance to at least introduce the hero and Mio, hopefully they could create a lasting friendship with each other!

But first things first, he had to guide the persistent hero to Mio.

But seriously? What was this about her becoming his tutor? That has to be the silliest thing he has heard in a long time, but it seemed that Yuki didn't agree.

"Naruto..." Yuki tried to say but was cut off just as quickly.

"No means no Yuki! I don't even know why you care so much about my grades! It's not like it's going to matter any!" Naruto stated crossly, repeating himself several times was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Sensei asked me to tutor you to get you reacquainted with the subjects that will be on the test tomorrow Naruto, as the class representative it is my duty to help a fellow student and friend." Yuki responded simply.

Naruto was still slightly surprised by Yuki's new demeanor after their clash in the forest, she was a hell of a lot calmer and friendly...in her own way anyways.

There were times where she would offer her help at the most awkward of times and with the most awkward of things...

He really should have seen such incidents coming when she offered to give him a massage after he complained of back pains in the middle of the street. The looks he got from several pedestrians were as embarrassing as one would expect, the thumbs ups he got didn't help.

He supposed that it probably had something to do with the fact that she was probably socially awkward...after all she was training to be a hero most of her life right? So that would explain it since she probably had few friends.

He just wished she chose better times to offer her weird requests.

Naruto shook his head for a second in order to forget the weirdness his life took recently, he actually had a question he was meaning to ask Yuki for a while now. But first he had to move away from the wandering eyes and ears of his classmates.

Not so hard since Yuki was still pestering him about tutoring sessions with her.

The shinobi kept walking with the class representative right on his heels, he took a turn for the stairs that led up to the roof of the building. As he reached the door leading to the roof top, he turned to check if his persistent friend was still behind him and confirmed that she still following him with that stare of hers.

He ignored it and pressed onward to the rooftop where they could have the private discussion he wanted, it was also where Mio wanted to meet up for lunch later. But since her class was at the bottom floor, they had a little bit of time before she arrived.

He faced Yuki again with intent but was forced to look away again at the very heavy stare she was giving, what the hell...she was even more insistent than usual!

" _Jiiiiiiiiiiiii_ "

She was even making sound effects! Just how determined was she!?

Naruto sighed and decided that this needed to be dealt with. "Yuki, why do you want to tutor me so bad? I know you have your responsibilities but surely other people wouldn't go so far or be so persistent in tutoring someone else." Naruto said, while they were friends now it was still strange.

Yuki stopped her staring for a moment to contemplate her friend's question, why was she being so persistent? Was it because she felt that she owed him? Maybe because she wanted to help a friend? She frowned at that last one, friend...when was...?

"Ah." Yuki said with realization. She then turned to Naruto and relayed her findings.

"It's because you're my first friend." she said simply.

...

...

"...Wait really?" Naruto asked with wide eyes, he was her _first_ friend? But what about the other heroes? But before Naruto could voice that thought, she continued.

"When hero children first start their training, they are taken in by an established hero to become their sensei. I...lost my sensei and was eventually trained by my adopted father. For the most part I would train and study instead of socialize with the other hero children, so you're my first friend." Yuki eventually repeated.

She supposed she was just doing what she thought friends did, which was help each other.

Naruto groaned at this, so she was _really_ socially awkward then? He never really noticed it since he focused more on her fighting skills rather than her social life. Well at least one mystery was solved, now to the next one.

"Hey Yuki, I have a question that I think is pretty important. It's about our fight in the forest." Naruto said, hoping that Yuki would understand why he was asking.

Yuki turned back to Naruto with a certain glint in her eye which told the blond that his friend was up to something, something he probably isn't going to like.

"If I answer your question, then you have to allow me to tutor you like sensei asked me to." Yuki said with that glint still in her eye. Naruto deadpanned at the girl for her attempts at milking the situation, but unfortunately for Naruto he didn't have much time left. Mio would no doubt have trouble finding where the roof was since she was new here, but she would find her way eventually.

"...Deal." Naruto said through grit teeth, that hurt much more than he thought it would.

Yuki gave him a small smile, in triumph or in gratitude he really wasn't sure. "What do you wish to know Naruto?" Yuki asked, obviously satisfied.

Naruto just 'hmphed' and asked his question. "How does your _True Sight_ work?" Naruto asked with a small frown.

Yuki returned the frown with one of her own at the question, why ask her this?

"I don't understand, you figured out it's weakness during our battle. So you should know how it works by this point shouldn't you?" Yuki asked, somewhat unsure of why Naruto asked her this question. She then widened her eyes when a thought occurred to her. "...You really don't know? Then how did you know to not look into my eyes?" Yuki asked with incredulity.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly then responded. "That's just it...I didn't. I just knew that as long as your face wasn't in my general direction, then for some reason your power turned off." Naruto said, shrugging helplessly.

Yuki just shook her head in disbelief.

The hero looked at Naruto for a moment before beginning her explanation, she had nothing to fear from a friend after all. " _True Sight_ is a Sacred Gear that inhabits my blade; _Sakuya_. It is a gear that gives the user the power to avoid any of the enemy's attacks without fail." Yuki explained steadily.

Naruto was somewhat amazed at such an incredible ability.

Yuki simply continued her explanation.

"The _True Sight_ gives the user the speed to keep up with their opponent as long as they retain eye contact with them, all attacks that are done at a certain range are completely blocked or dodged in accordance to the Sacred Gear, in short the Gear moves your body for you if you allow it to. The weakness you exploited of _True Sight_ is the fact that you used that little knife of yours to to attack me which was outside of _True Sights_ range and that you attacked me from behind with that cloning ability of yours." Yuki said simply. She didn't seem particularly broken up by her loss, but she did seem a little down when she told him the weaknesses of her Sacred Gear.

"I get it...so then all I need to do is back you up so that nobody can use those weaknesses against you. Simple right? After all friends always got each other's backs." Naruto smirked at her. That earned him a small smile in return.

They stayed silent for a little while just enjoying the quiet contemplation that Naruto's words brought before hearing a voice that broke both of them out of their reverie.

"...Am I interrupting something?" drawled a feminine voice.

Naruto snapped his neck towards the voice before a comical sweatdrop began to form.

"...Ah...hey there imouto!" Naruto said cheerfully, much to the ire of the younger girl. The girl was none other than Naruse Mio, decked out in her new Kuoh Academy uniform for girls and had her lunch in her hands. Truth be told Naruto completely forgot about her coming for a moment since he was so concentrated on Yuki's explanation of her Gear.

"...Hi there...oni-...onii...nii-san." Mio grumbled with a glare at the spiky haired youth. Naruto supposed that she was still upset about the fact that since Naruto announced that Mio was his sister to the student council president and due to the rules at Kuoh, he had to have Mio down as his younger sister from abroad.

So they had to publicly address each other as brother and sister...or at least that's what Maria said they should do. She seemed to enjoy this far more than what was appropriate. Nevertheless, Mio has already threatened to kill him a hundred times several times already by now.

Ah...the thankless job of being an older brother.

"I'd like to introduce you to a good friend of mine Mio. This is the class representative of my class, she has helped me a lot ever since I arrived." Naruto said cheerfully, silently hoping that the two would connect together easily.

"Thank you for taking care of my stupid nii-san so well iincho-san, it must have been tough for you." Mio said with a bow.

"Not a problem Mio-san, your brother may sometimes be lazy and a general menace. But he is a good person, by the way call me Yuki please." Yuki said genially.

...Ok he didn't want them to go and connect _that_ easily...

"I'm not that bad am I Yuki? Mio? Right?" Naruto pleaded with both girls, positive that he wasn't _that_ much of a public menace...

They both turned their heads away from him.

This just made Naruto to go into shock at their lack of responses.

Internally, he supposed that Mio was bound to insult him with snide remarks due to recent circumstances...but did Yuki really have to encourage her!?

"Damn it, you guys suck." Naruto pouted.

Mio just giggled slightly in response to his words and Yuki just sent him a small smile.

He supposed that he could get used to this peaceful kind of life.

* * *

Naruto was currently walking towards his next class with the intention of actually taking the class...and not skipping it. He supposed he had to be a responsible student every once in a while, besides he had no idea when the next supernatural emergency would strike.

Yes, best to just go to class before his luck struck again.

That was Naruto's mental plan, but his thoughts were broken over a dull roar of noise from somewhere far away.

That is to say that he heard a lot of screams and yells echoing down the hall.

Naruto was pretty confused, this was a normal high school if you excluded all of the supernatural beings who attended here. So what could cause what sounded like a mob out for blood to form?

Perhaps it was because Naruto simply skipped too many classes or maybe it was because he simply lucked out, but he never had the minor displeasure of meeting the infamous three perverts of Kuoh Academy.

While the blond himself was confused, no one else near the blond was and he definitely noticed it.

Many boys either sighed or just shrugged at what they considered a fact of life by this point, while the girls shared dark glances with one another in order to confirm whether it was their mortal enemies.

Naruto knew the look that the girls were sharing, he has seen such a look directed at his ero-sennin far too many times during his three year training trip. That meant that the trouble definitely revolved around-

"PERVERTS!"

...Yeah that.

Naruto watched in morbid fascination as three boys were hunted down by a large mob of angry girls that no doubt felt righteous fury in their crusade against the perverts. All three of them were pretty plain looking to Naruto, and his pervert senses that he obtained by hanging around ero-sennin too much were also going off due to their close proximity.

They were all irreconcilable perverts through and through.

So Naruto allowed his self-preservation instincts to kick in and stepped out of the way of the perverts and the mob chasing them.

"So much for this being a normal high school." Naruto mumbled to himself, not really intending for anyone to listen as he watched the group pass.

"Yes, but I think it is more refreshing and interesting this way, don't you Naruto-san?" spoke a masculine yet still soft voice.

Naruto glanced to his left to see the (in)famous 'Prince of Kuoh Academy' in all of his glory.

He couldn't help but give the pretty boy a small smirk to greet him. "Yo Kiba-san, what does someone with your prestige want with someone like me?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

Kiba just waved his hands in a placating manner thinking that the blond was serious. "No, nothing like that Naruto-san, I'm just a messenger for Buchou. She asked me to ask you if you're available next period for a private talk." Kiba said with a smile, ever the polite gentleman.

To be honest, Kiba's demeanor kind of made Naruto want to try to break his perfect exterior to see the man underneath. No one was this polite without hiding a bit of themselves, but he figured their acquaintance was too new for that, so he backed off from that idea. Now the bigger question was what to do about Rias-san's invitation?

Should he be a responsible student like he said he would be and postpone the invitation for a later time? Or rather should he just see what's up and skip class with a somewhat reasonable excuse for himself?

...

Stupid question.

"Lead the way Kiba-san." Naruto said while motioning for Kiba to go.

Well, looks like his luck struck again.

* * *

The shinobi stared at the creepy building that served as the club room for the ORC. More importantly, he was staring at the building that the Gremory heiress has made her base of operations in Kuoh Town.

Naruto grinned at that, he actually had an idea with what was up with this crazy world now. After his discussion with Rias-san, a lot of questions he had about the world and more specifically, the supernatural were answered by her. Devils, angels, fallen angels, the Great War, the other known factions across the planet?

Yeah, he knew a lot now and that made him very happy, if only for the fact that he didn't feel like he was walking on eggshells all the time anymore.

Kiba opened the door to the club room with Naruto on his heels, it was only when he actually entered the room that he noticed something off.

Naruto deadpanned.

"Now I'm not a good person to talk to when it comes to looking deeply into someone else's words but...I thought this was a 'private' meeting Rias-san? Naruto said with a sweatdrop forming. His confusion was based on the fact that all of the ORC members were currently accounted for in the spacious room.

Rias looked up from her work at her desk in order to greet the blond, pointedly ignoring his opening statement. "Greetings again Naruto-san, how are you doing today?" Rias started with a congenial smile.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at her completely fake greeting, she kept doing this ever since he let it known that he hated such pointless talking when there was something more important he could do. Or rather, something more fun to do.

His impatience might have something to do with Uzumaki Naruto finally spreading his wings again after suppressing it in favor of staying low. But for now, to deal with the she-devil in front of him.

Rias grinned a little at his obvious annoyance before getting up and leaning back at the front of her table to face him. "Sorry sorry Naruto, your reactions are simply too irresistible to not try and tease you a little." Rias said apologetically, though one gets the feeling that she really wasn't too sorry.

This was what a stereotypical 'onee-sama' would do anyways.

"Ara ara Buchou, it isn't good if you tease foxy-kun too much you know? He may get strange ideas." Akeno claimed with a dainty hand covering her smiling mouth.

"Eh? But Naruto-san should be strong enough to take a little teasing from his senpai shouldn't he Akeno? Even if he can't, this will help him with experiences with older girls. As is my duty as his sempai." Rias retorted with a sly smile at her friend, framing her teasing as 'help'.

In response to this Naruto's eyebrow was beginning to twitch more frequently.

They were doing this on purpose. Maybe it was because they were the 'Great Ladies', but they were treating him like a sweet little 'kouhai' instead of the badass he was!

"That is very true Rias, but foxy-kun is not only our precious kouhai, he's also a little fox. So I think he needs to be treated like a little fox should. With treats if he's good and a little collar if he's not." Akeno replied cheerfully.

Naruto did his best to ignore the warning bells that were going off in his head about her words. He must have misunderstood her, that's the only possible explanation.

"Oi! Damn it...don't talk like I ain't here dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, he couldn't handle their blatant teasing if they were _both_ ganging up on him!

He looked at the other devils in the room for support but found none with Koneko-san since she was eating sweets and Kiba clearly wanted to keep out of the conversation.

"Awww, foxy-kun even has a verbal tic. You're such a cute kouhai." Akeno cooed as she began patting his head, much to his chagrin.

Doing his best to ignore her petting, he cleared his throat and looked at the Gremory heiress seriously.

"Ok you had your fun Rias-san, now that I'm here what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Naruto asked irritably.

Rias nodded in regards to Naruto's question and sat back down in her chair in order to address Naruto. She was about to speak when she noticed that someone still didn't stop their ministrations yet.

"...Akeno, please stop petting Naruto-san so that we may continue." Rias spoke with a sigh laced in her voice. Maybe they did sometimes go a little too far with the teasing.

Akeno just pouted at being ordered to stop, but she complied and decided to make some tea as the discussions began.

Rias finally could begin to elaborate on why she summoned Naruto here. "Naruto-san, there is a favor that I wish to ask of you." Rias said, going straight to the point this time.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, looks like she was invoking their 'agreement' earlier than he thought...

The shinobi decided to hear the girl out and make a decision based on that. "Well what is it you need Rias-san? I can take it if it's not too crazy, but sometimes I wonder with you..." Naruto said dryly.

He was referring to the agreement that all three parties made during Naruto's last visit in the club room. It was essentially a pact between all of the...'powers' of Kuoh Academy to stay out of each other's business unless it interferes with their interests and to aid one another as long as it, once again doesn't interfere with their own interests.

It was not stated nearly as eloquently as that when Naruto said it but that is what it essentially boiled down to.

Both Yuki and the Gremory group were skeptical of each other initially, but of course that's what he was for, somehow he managed to become the 'middle man' between the two groups and the deal was set.

Rias nodded at that, this agreement of theirs came at a good time, her issue was...somewhat embarrassing for her to deal with and it had to be done.

"Naruto-san, I want you to talk to a boy named Hyoudou Issei and invite him to become a devil for me." Rias said with a beatific smile.

Naruto wasn't as inspired as Rias would have hoped, his deadpanned expression told her that when he processed her words after a split-second.

"Eh...? Uh...Rias-san. Don't you have _other_ people who can do that sort of thing?" Naruto said with a sigh, he even looked around himself to illustrate the point as the other ORC members were apparently comfortable enough with his presence by now to just...do their own things.

Rias nodded and continued to explain. "That is normally true Naruto-san, but the reason I'm sending you isn't because I can't send someone else to...it's because you're genuinely the best person for the job to send at all." Rias said seriously, her voice immediately conforming to a more deeper tone.

Her attempt at a _King's_ voice if he ever heard one.

"Ok...I'll bite...why would I be a better choice to send than any of your Peerage members, Rias-san? They probably have a better chance to sell that sales pitch to anyone better than I can." Naruto said with a frown, he really was confused on why Rias would ask him this favor.

Rias just shook her head and smiled at Naruto for his disbelief. "It may sound somewhat strange Naruto, but please. Do this as a favor to me." Rias replied earnestly, she thoroughly believed that Naruto could turn Issei into the 'dark side' so to speak. The irony of that statement caused Rias to smirk a little which only unnerved the already confused boy in front of her.

"Good luck Naruto!" Rias said cheerfully before he could ask her anymore questions. Naruto blinked, before giving up and accepting the favor as per the agreement. Naruto quickly glanced around in order to gauge the reactions of the other Peerage members. Did they have any idea about this?

Unfortunately, they were either too preoccupied with their own things or didn't seem to care about their conversation. But most likely they were just faking it so that he couldn't gauge it from their reactions. Damn.

Well...favors were voluntary things anyways. He was just gonna ask the kid and tell him the details and accept whatever he chose.

Naruto still let loose a curse before he left the ORC main room and then left the building to find Hyoudou. This was gonna be 'fun' alright...

As Naruto left, the room remained silent before Rias let loose a small breath of air that she didn't realize she was holding. It seemed that it was the catalyst for the other occupants of the room to finally stop what they were doing and pay their full attention back to Rias.

"Um...Buchou? Is this really a good idea to be asking Naruto-san a favor from him so early on? Also why ask him about recruiting Issei? Naruto was telling the truth about not being the most eloquent person to talk to." Kiba began, asking a reasonable question.

He wanted to know why his _king_ would ask Naruto, who only recently learned of their existence, to convince Issei to become a devil. Even if Naruto was eloquent, wouldn't it be better if it's someone who knew of all of the perks of being a devil to go and ask Issei?

"You're absolutely correct Kiba. But before we go onto this subject further, I'd like to ask all of you something...have any of you noticed?" Rias asked with a serious face. All of her members looked confused at this question, Rias then just gave them all an enigmatic grin before settling herself back to her desk.

"Then for now, I'll just have to ask you all to trust me and watch the fireworks with me." Rias finished.

* * *

Luckily for Naruto, his last class ended before he was done with his talk with the ORC.

Unluckily, he now had a new mission.

Ask Hyoudou Issei to give up his humanity for devilhood.

He actually didn't have many moral qualms with this, if Issei was adamant that he wouldn't become a devil then he would stop and go back to the red-headed devil empty handed.

If he was wishy-washy about turning then maybe he was at the very least a little unsatisfied with his current lifestyle and could maybe change it to something better.

As long as the kid knew what he was getting into, there was no problem.

It was then and there that Naruto realized he had a problem, ironically enough.

How did Issei look like?

"Crap." Naruto sighed, times like these that he wanted to bonk himself upside the head. He really could be scatter-brained at times. So he decided to ask around, maybe someone knew him? But then Naruto realized something else, his last class period ended and his last class of the day was a free period.

The shinobi looked around to see if their were any students around to ask, but it seemed they either left or they were in class. So at a minimum he had to wait another half an hour before he could ask anyone.

...

"Ill get a bite to eat." Naruto said nonchalantly. He found a decent ramen place a bit south of Kuoh Academy, he would go there to kill time before he started his search for the illusive Hyoudou.

He quickly left the school grounds to head to the restaurant, he couldn't make ramen to save his life so he depended on this ramen to get him through his addiction before he made it home so he could pig out at Ichiraku's! Just the thought of the food of gods made Naruto's stomach rumble with lust for the food.

Yeah, his stomach lusted for ramen. It was _that_ good for him.

Naruto was cheerfully taking in the peaceful scenery of Kuoh Town during his walk, but then he saw something up in the sky that immediately destroyed the peaceful atmosphere for Naruto.

"...No."

"...No no no..."

But as much as Naruto vocally denied what he saw, he _knew_ what he saw. Black wings stretched up in the sky beyond what normal humans could see. Also now that he actually noticed it, his senses also detected their energy as well.

It was light, that meant only one thing.

Naruto didn't hesitate at all as he slipped away from the crowds and entered an alleyway.

No one noticed the yellow blur that sped off into the sky.

* * *

Raynare was bored. She has been floating around in the sky beyond the line of sight for the humans on the ground. Searching for the boy that her leader had dictated for her to search. Hyoudou Issei, holder of a powerful Sacred Gear that could potentially fall into the hands of the devils in this territory.

Problem is that they had no idea where he really was. This was devil territory, so while they knew that Hyoudou Issei was here in this town, they didn't really know where since they had very few chances to thoroughly study the area. So the group nominated her to scout the area, the strongest of her generation of fallen angels to do _this_.

She had no doubt she was going to hear how ashamed her mother was of her weakness...

She shook her head of the thoughts and continued to glide around searching for, what Sachael said would be a _very_ noteworthy individual. For what exactly she couldn't tell.

All those thoughts left her head thought when something that could only be compared by asking the question 'How would it feel like to get hit by a plane?'.

She thinks she now knows the answer to that one. Darkness was quickly overtaking her as she was losing consciousness. The last words she heard of her perpatrator were about as random as she could have imagined.

"Damn it fallen angel-san! This is what happens when you ruin my ramen time dattebayo!"

...

What the fu-?

Then Raynare knew no more.

* * *

Naruto stared at the scantily-clad fallen angel that is now on the rood of a building the he chose to lay her on. She was completely unconscious.

"...Shit." Naruto mumbled, going through a minor panic attack.

Naruto knew about the shaky truce between the three factions of the Christianity. When he saw the fallen angel floating in the sky seemingly looking for something, he immediately thought that she was someone that needed to be defeated quickly before she noticed him. But then another thought occurred to him.

"...What if she came here as a diplomatic mission?" Naruto asked himself out loud.

That's the source of his current panic, he never dealt with diplomatic crises before and he had no idea how to fix this. Then the proverbial light bulb went off in his head, he knew just how to fix this! He quickly grabbed the fallen angel by the sides and hoisted her up onto his shoulder, this would be tricky but he can pull it off without it being traced back to him or to the devils.

Naruto then made a cross sign with his hands in order to use his favorite jutsu.

"Kage _bunshin no jutsu_!" Naruto cried as a _kage bunshin_ materialized next to him and gave him a thumbs up, no doubt approving of the plan in his creator's head. Naruto quickly gave him his wallet; his beloved 'Gama-chan' in order to get a few things to make this work.

Naruto then left the clone to find the perfect spot for this.

'Uzumaki Naruto you are a genius!' Naruto thought to himself smugly.

 **AN: Hey guys! New chapter for you you guys!**

 **Ok, so the first canon arc has begun, but even then this takes place at least a week or so before the canon of Highschool Dxd. Naruto's actions have just thrown everything out of wack already! But he has a plan to fix things! What will he do!? Why am I sounding like one of those reporters talking about things after the fact!?**

 **Also, obviously this chapter is meant to show the dynamics between the characters. It was time to actually use the 'humor' tag that I placed the story under!**

 **Now onto the general announcements!**

 **First off I'd like to thank all of you for your feedback in regards to the last chapter, story in general, pairing etc. Really helps a lot to decide what I think is working or needs to change.**

 **Now first is that there are quite a few suggestions about the pairings, I thank all of you who listed reasons of why who should be with Naruto. Now in accordance to those reviews I have to say that Serafall is out of the 'no can do' list thanks to a private conversation I had via a follower through PM. He convinced me that it could work. But everyone else I listed are still on there. Second is that for now these are all suggestions, nothing will be written in stone until the 4th crossover is revealed. Even the 'confirmed' pairings could be changed by then.**

 **The reason I'm so flexible with this is because I'm making all the characters get closer, but mostly as friends or as 'interests' max. Things will change, especially by the next arc but for now that's how it is. All I can ask is to keep giving your opinions as you were and I'll take them into account. For those who don't get your fav pairing then I'm sorry but I can only allow so much before it gets crazy ^.^**

 **Now another point that has been brought up is Naruto's growing strength in the future, he is indeed getting new abilities and powers to deal with future threats and the OPness that is the Sacred Gears of DxD lol. He won't be learning magic however, it will all be based on his chakra and based on a certain weapon that I think Naruto is perfect for and is rarely used in his own verse. I'm 100% positive you will all love it since I've NEVER seen it used before, probably because no one really knows about it.**

 **All I can ask you guys is to trust my judgement, have I steered you wrong so far after all?**

 **Hang tight my friends!**

 **-RekkingPride out!**

 **Quick Edit: It seems that there are quite a few people confused about Naruto's actions and since I'm gonna be gone for a little bit, I'm gonna have to make this little footnote:**

 **Is it slavery if you agree to it when you're not under duress? The way I see it, the evil piece system is slavery when a devil turns someone into a devil against their will. Not so if they agree to it with the knowledge of what they're going to get. Looking at it as just slavery is only half the picture, everything has positives and negatives from the best to the worst of things in the world. The evil piece system is no different.**

 **Naruto will pitch the idea with that understanding, he comes from a world where black and white is very blurred but his own moral compass remains strong. He ain't gonna force him or trick him into it. In short, while he may use his humanity as an identity, others may not. Hell some people hate being humans, that is why he is going to gauge Issei to see if he even cares about being human or not. To Naruto, devils are just another race instead of a possible enemy of humanity.**

 **Some proof of this idea is where Saji joins Sona's Peerage willingly because he loves her instead of being forced to.**

 **Hopefully that will help with the misunderstanding!**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto needed to find anything abandoned in the city, somewhere where he could leave an obviously non-human woman alone for a split-second to set up his plan at getting out of his responsibility in this situation.

His clone was getting the necessary materials from home and local stores in order to properly bind the supernatural girl.

The good news for the original Naruto was that Kuoh Town was a relatively old place, it had numerous abandoned areas littered at the outskirts of the town. So the problem wasn't even really about finding a place to hide away, so much as a good place to go to before her comrades found her energy signal again.

When he spoke with Rias, he made sure to get out of her as much information as possible in regards to any faction that he might encounter.

One of the things that he remembered about either the regular angels or fallen angels was that their number of wings signified their power. The weakest of them had one pair of wings while the strongest among them had six, the girl he knocked out had only a single pair of them.

The fallen angels knew that this was devil territory, so it was a very good guess to say that she was not working alone. Another very good guess was to say that she has fallen comrades waiting for her while she was flying in the sky and surveying the area like a scout.

Naruto didn't want to alert the fallen's comrades just yet, but he _was_ counting on their intervention later. He just needed to set himself up first. After running from rooftop to rooftop near supersonic speeds in order to not alert any of the normal humans milling around, he reached an end to his journey by finding a suitable place to set up his plan.

An abandoned factory.

It was a bit of a ways away from the nearest building so that none of the normal civilians could be bothered by the work of the factory presumably. It was good enough in short notice.

Naruto quickly jumped incredibly high, high enough to reach the clouds and landed safely on the smokestack of the large building. Naruto grinned as he jumped down the long shaft into the interior, this would work.

* * *

Raynare groaned as she woke from her painful nap, her eyes opened to find nothing but darkness before blinking repeatedly for her eyes to get used to the lack of light.

She frowned when she looked around to see that she was in an old and rundown factory, a place where some humans would try to make some product to sell in mass quantities.

She moved to stand up but was unable to, she widened her eyes as she realized she was tied onto the chair with something and couldn't get up. She looked down to see what was holding her and her eyes widened again, this time in outrage due to what she saw.

Rope.

She was held by fucking rope.

She immediately tried using all of her strength to break free from something that should _not_ be able to hold her as well as it was managing to. This was rope right? But she didn't know that this rope had an additional feature to it, a slim piece of chakra paper slapped on the rope behind her so that she couldn't see it.

She began to use her light energy in order to form a spear and break out of the strangely powerful ropes...

Then stopped.

"Wh-what's going on!?" the fallen angel asked incredulously. Why couldn't she call upon her light energy!? It felt like somebody was putting a large damper on her powers and it made it exceedingly difficult to use them properly.

"Ah, I see you're awake fallen-san." a voice spoke a voice in the darkness.

Raynare froze at the sudden intrusion of total silence and rapidly turned towards the direction that the voice was coming from to find her unknown assailant. While her fallen eyes were very powerful by default, the darkness was all encompassing in this seemingly abandoned building and cloaked her unknown enemy. She grit her teeth at this fact, she was in a tight bind both literally and figuratively.

"Oh? So fallen angels do feel fear? Good to know for later." the voice said again, but closer this time.

After a few foreboding steps, Raynare finally met face to face with her captor in the form of a young man.

The young woman took a quick look at him to gauge his power, he didn't seem like much...

He had very pale skin, bordering on unhealthy with black pants and a black-grey top that didn't extend to his belly button. He had dark eyes with equally dark short hair.

"Hello, nice to meet you at last fallen angel-san. You can call me Sai." 'Sai' said with a smile.

Raynare just frowned at this, the smile looked off...even forced. This guy was strange, but he also had the advantage with this rope so it was best not to provoke him too much.

"Who are you and what do you want? Were you the one who attacked me?" Raynare demanded of her captor. 'Sai' just stared at the black-haired girl for a moment before replying.

"I don't think I want to answer any questions ugly." 'Sai' responded with that weird smile.

...

"...Excuse me?" Raynare growled.

'Sai' just looked confused, as if he didn't truly understand what he said was considered offensive. "I'm sorry did I hurt your feelings? I was simply giving a truthful statement, would you rather I lie about it? Very well, you are very beautiful." 'Sai' said with that strange smile again.

But by this point Raynare wasn't paying attention, this would probably be due to the fact that she was absolutely _furious_. She could take certain abuses from others who are superior in power and prestige if need be...but she would not take this from some random human asshole! She didn't notice that her light energy was beginning to practically leak out of her in decent quantities due to her emotional state.

The third party observer could only smirk at the fruition of his brilliant plan. ' _Perfect_.'

'Sai' just tilted his head in confusion at her anger, which in effect only pissed off the fallen even more. However before Raynare could explode onto the pale human, she couldn't help but notice that the boy's strange smile shifted again.

A small twitch on the side of the mouth that tilted upwards was all she saw.

But after that all she saw was _red_.

"You...! You think you can get away with this!? I am the most powerful fallen angel of my generation and the daughter of one of it's most powerful members! Your insolence will not be tolerated!" Raynare shouted in anger, completely losing her composure.

"Hoooh? You're the strongest fallen of your generation? How sad since you have been delegated to what seems to be a glorified scout. How the mighty fallen angel faction have fallen. Especially when one of their supposed prodigies was tied up by a human." 'Sai' said with a slightly twitching smile. Although the young fallen was too angry to notice or care about any of that. But deep inside 'Sai' hit a deep-seated fear inside the young girl.

Disappointment.

That triggered fear turned into seething rage at this boy's presumption that she was beaten...

If only she could break free...!

The third party observer looked at the ceiling where 'Sai' stood and smirked. Just on time it seemed.

'Sai' snapped his head to the ceiling as it practically _exploded_ from descending spears made of light. He quickly dodged all of the spears by back-flipping away from their intended targets and stood back up in order to study the situation.

Three fallen angels quickly fell through the hole made by their spears in order to release their bound comrade, but one remained in the air. 'Sai' concentrated his focus on that one fallen angel in order to gauge their strength, he knew that this fallen was the strongest among the bunch.

Meanwhile Raynare was finally freed from the cursed ropes and quickly thanked her friends for breaking her out, but then she paled when she saw who else joined the rescue.

Her mother.

The woman that Raynare was referring to finally decided to join everyone else on the ground level and descended onto the ground gracefully. 'Sai' just narrowed his eyes at her appearance.

She had many resemblances to the fallen he had captured earlier today and was a breathtakingly beautiful woman with a buxom figure. She had long blue hair which stretched to her waist and vivid violet eyes. She looked just like the younger girl, the only difference being that her face had an adult appeal which the younger didn't have yet. But 'Sai' was paying more attention to something far more important than her looks.

She had four pairs of wings.

"This is it...? This is the downer who defeated a fallen angel? You are an even bigger failure than I thought Raynare..." spoke the obviously more powerful fallen. Her tone made Raynare flinch slightly before turning her head away from the scornful older woman.

"Vretiel-sama, what should be done with the human?" the only male fallen angel said to the older woman, he was staring at the pale human that was just studying all of the supernatural beings silently. "What do you think Dohnaseek? Eliminate him immediately, he must pay for laying his dirty hands against my daughter." Vretiel spoke without much compassion, almost bored as a matter of fact.

Raynare widened her eyes and opened her mouth in order to warn her comrades not to take him lightly, but she was too late as all but Vretiel and herself immediately formed spears of light and attacked. 'Sai' just let loose a small grin as he saw all of these fallen charge him with confidence.

He quickly took note on who his opponents were; there was a woman with long blue hair and a too-tight business suit that was form-fitting, a little girl with blonde twin-tails and a gothic-lolita styled dress, finally there was a middle-aged man with short black hair and a gray trench coat over a white dress shirt with a black fedora.

All in all, a colorful group of characters.

All in all, nothing worth worrying over.

For the fallen, one second this human was standing still while studying them, the next he was in between their formation. Before any of them could respond, he grabbed the blue-haired woman's leg with his left arm and lashed out with his right leg in order to smash the blonde fallen through a nearby wall. In that same second he grabbed the fallen wannabe detective's face with his right hand and with both of them in his firm grip... _pulled_.

The immediate end result of this was a wannabe business woman smashed into a conveyor belt and a wannabe detective smashed head-first into the ground with 'Sai' standing there with a small smile.

...

Raynare just gaped as three of her comrades were thoroughly defeated with minimal effort, she was stronger than all of them but they were still fallen angels. He was just a human...

Vretiel just gave a hard stare at all of the downed fallen before clicking her teeth.

"Looks like I have to get my hands dirty. Raynare! Be useful and grab your _friends_ before they get caught in the crossfire...I'll deal with this boy myself." Vretiel said with a dark look in her eyes, she was destined to clean her daughter's mistakes it seemed. She had to defeat a mere _downer_ instead of leaving it to regular fallen angels it seemed.

She wasn't happy about any of this.

So she quickly formed two spears of light and spread her four pair of wings...

Then she quickly dove into the pale human with supersonic speed in order to kill him with one move, but much to her own shock he managed to stop her spear with a metal knife that he procured from out of nowhere. Her shock was replaced with a snarl as she infused more light energy into her second spear, then she raised her arm in order to destroy the strangely powerful human.

'Sai' widened his eyes as he immediately backed up to dodge the light spear, but the attack was too close and he was forced to use his kunai in order to change it's trajectory.

 ***CLANG***

The resounding sound from the clash of the two weapons echoed along the abandoned factory and 'Sai' got out of the exchange completely unharmed. But the same cannot be said about his kunai. The reliable weapon has been split down the handle cleanly with 'Sai' holding onto the remnants. 'Sai' quickly threw the remnant of the weapon at the four-winged fallen, but she swiped the affronting weapon with her spear before it reached her. She then turned back towards her prey...

Then she saw a pale face.

She saw stars as a strong right hook knocked her back through the ceiling.

'Sai' landed upside-down on the ceiling before running to the hole made by the fallen group. The second he poked his head to the roof of the factory, he immediately had to duck since a light spear went soaring where his head used to be. Several more light spears rained down at the hole to make sure that the pale human didn't get to the roof without getting hit by one of them.

Up in the sky, Vretiel was scowling darkly as she wiped her bloody nose. The boy had a mean right hook, she'd give him that. But he made a fatal error in this little skirmish, where she had to admit that he had the advantage in close combat...

"But now..." Vretiel said with a cruel smirk as her wings flapped and moved her further and further away from the factory. Raynare had finally done something worthwhile by moving the rest of the weak one-wings away from the factory.

Now she can't be held responsible for their deaths once she finishes destroying the factory.

'Sai' quickly went through the hole in the ceiling once the barrage of spears have reached a lull, he scanned through the sky for the leader of the enemy group. Then he noticed a light, a bright light that could initially fool a normal human into thinking that the God from the Bible was blessing them...

But 'Sai' knew that the light was nowhere near as nice or as benificial as that.

"Shit...!" 'Sai' cursed as he jumped back down and desperately did some hand-seals before the entire world exploded around him.

To the humans who were living normal lives close to the abandoned factory, the explosion that would rock their sleepy town was sudden and loud. To a certain fallen angel, she just reveled at the destruction she caused and the death of the human that dared to cause her pain.

The only other conscious fallen angel there just watched her mother cackle at the destruction before turning towards the crater that once held an old man-made structure. She thought about the pale human before hardening her eyes.

"Good riddance..." Raynare mumbled, she only wished that she was strong enough to destroy the wily human herself.

There was no point in sympathizing with an enemy, it would make her weaker than she already was. The last thing she wanted to do was be a bigger disappointment to her mother, she was meant to surpass her after all.

"Come Raynare, we're leaving." Vretiel spoke with a commanding tone, she wanted to get back to their base as soon as possible. This whole debacle was an utter waste of time, although she was interested to learn that a human had become powerful enough to actually blitz her. But for now she had a more important mission, she slid her gaze towards her daughter as she carried all of her comrades.

Yes, a far more _lucrative_ mission indeed.

* * *

The third party observer walked into the crater of the old factory before leaning into the center of the explosion where 'Sai' once stood.

"...Come on, there's no way you got killed _that_ easily. You're me after all." Naruto said with exasperation. In response to the blond's statement the ground began to crack, then the ground gave way as 'Sai' broke through the ground like some sort of zombie from a horror movie. 'Sai' then gave Naruto a thumbs up once he finally got a firm footing.

"Mission accomplished boss!" 'Sai' said with a grin that did not fit on his face, at least as far as Naruto was concerned.

"Ugh...please turn off the _henge_ already..." Naruto said with a sigh, he knew that he was a pretty good actor when he needed to be. His prank against his future best friend after they became genin but before they got assigned to Kakashi-sensei was proof of that. The problem was staying 'in-character' was tough for the blond after a while, he simply wasn't good at keeping fake appearances.

The fact that 'Sai' grinned at all was proof enough of that.

'Sai' sighed before turning off his _henge_ and turning back to his original appearance; an exact replica of Naruto. The original just nodded towards his clone before speaking again. "Alright, please disperse yourself so I can see what I'm dealing with in the fallen angels." Naruto said, getting the experience that the clone gained from the small battle was better than hearing it.

The clone nodded and dispersed the chakra inside itself in order to give it's creator the memories it had. A **POP** later, the clone's memories began to transfer to Naruto.

Naruto grinned for a moment as he saw how his clone managed to get away from the destruction of the factory; _Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu_ (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole technique). A jutsu that Naruto used to defeat Neji during the chuunin exams...man he totally forgot he knew that jutsu. Naruto then frowned as he remembered the clone's clash with the fallen angels, in a straight fight he was positive that he could crush all of them without too much effort, but the way that the four-winged fallen had attacked the factory...

Her wings gave her the ability to fly, something that wasn't usually a problem for the young shinobi since he could jump extremely high. But this woman had the speed to react fast enough to his own if given at least a split-second warning and the durability to not just fall over after a single punch. If she stayed high in the air like that and Naruto took account of gravity slowing him down on his ascent...

The blonde clicked his teeth at this weakness, something as stupid as the ability to fly was _not_ gonna keep him down. Her attacks weren't even things that would kill him, just something that would hurt like hell.

The blond looked up to the starless sky and grinned, he just had to improvise a little then.

But before he makes plans on how to do that...

"I did it! I am the best at what I do 'ttebayo!" Naruto cried in glee, how could he not after all? His fool-proof plan had been an absolute success; he wasn't to blame for the capture of a fallen angel and he didn't just cause a war between supernatural factions. He couldn't help but worry a lot at the fact that he could have caused a war in this world!

Naruto frowned for a moment though, making the clone buy rope and a pretty early seal he made during ero-sennin's three-year trip was all vital in making his plan work. The plan was to get the fallen angel's comrades to help that girl; Raynare, and have them defeat the clone without Naruto being implicated.

The seal he used was pretty low level, it was meant to capture academy students and cause disruptions to their chakras. It was pretty easy to break out for any ninja since they knew the _Nawanuke no Jutsu_ (Rope Escape Technique). But for supernaturals, it would be a decent enough trap to make it seem like the fallen's kidnapper was genuinely trying to keep her bound.

The problem with this was the simple fact that the small disruption seemed to knock Raynare's control of her powers so thoroughly that she couldn't even use it properly. So Naruto had to improvise and try a different tact.

Piss her off and let her energy run amok from her loss of control.

So Naruto made a clone and had it _henge_ to the only person that could piss people off as easily as breathing.

He would buy a nice gift for Sai when he got back home.

But his improvisation worked beautifully, his clone quickly angered the young fallen to the point that her light energy began to leak enough that her reinforcements came to break her out. His clone then had to make the fight believable enough for the fallen angels really think that he was seriously killed.

It worked and Naruto was freed from the prospect of starting a war.

So with that, Naruto decided to leave the area before the normal humans decided to check the factory, an explosion was pretty eye-catching after all. He then disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in-between crowds of civilians so that he could blend in. It was only when he was sure that he was in the clear that Naruto thought about another problem.

What to tell Rias?

This was Gremory territory and there were fallen angels either staying in it or are dangerously close to it. No matter how he looked at it, the truce of the three factions wouldn't hold up when the little sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan were threatened.

But at the same time if he did tell her...what would she do? Would she try to negotiate with the fallen? Would she ignore them?

Would she declare war by attacking...and more importantly, would he let her?

Naruto just combed his hands through his hair and blew out some air in frustration, he was definitely not used to this crap.

The worst part was that he had no choice but to rely on Rias for this delicate situation since she was the only one _trained_ for events like this. The only other people he knew where he could talk to about this were Yuki, Mio, and Maria...but he didn't want them to get involved in any of this.

Yuki was practically a neutral while Mio and Maria were technically on the run from the government in the Underworld.

He shook his head, he had to tell Rias. There was no getting around that fact since there was no one else to turn to, the fallen had to be dealt with before the Maous were aware.

He would have to deal with Rias' decision when it came and make his own decision from there...

...Man this sucked.

* * *

The blond made it to Kuoh Academy just in time to catch the end of the final classes, he was supposed to find Hyoudou Issei...but first Rias. He moved around the Academy to reach the headquarters of the ORC and quickly knocked on the door.

...

Naruto knocked on it again with more force when he didn't receive an answer, but then he noticed a little note in the front of the door that he didn't notice before. The shinobi bonked himself on the head for being an idiot and quickly read the letter, hopefully it would give him Rias' location so that he could-

'Sorry, the Occult Research Club is out studying the occult right now. Please come back at a better time. Thank you!'

Naruto stared at the note with dim eyes, Rias just generally chose shitty times to appear or disappear didn't she?

Naruto's temper didn't improve any when he saw a drawing of a chibi-Rias on the note, it seemed to be winking and wagging its finger as if to admonish Naruto.

He decided that the door should be made into splinters.

So Naruto decided to save the issue for later and instead search for the illusive Hyoudou. So he picked a random student that was going home for the day to ask, that student just so happened to be a female.

So was the next one.

As well as the one after that.

Now Naruto was confused, why were all of the students he talked to acting like he was asking them for their three sizes? Each one of them made a sour face and just advised him to never ask such a question to them ever again, it was pretty weird. So he decided to change his tactics by asking a guy this time, other boys were still pretty rare in Kuoh Academy so he was mostly asking girls by this point.

He decided to ask the boy with glasses that was seemingly spinning around in a circle in order to seemingly leer at the girls that passed by.

Huh. Well everyone had their quirks right?

"Ahhh! It's ero-megane! Don't let him look at you! It's said that he could calculate your three sizes with just a glance!" screamed a female student that was doing her best to cover herself up even though she wasn't indecent.

...

Ok then, maybe the guy is a creep. But he might have some good points, after all Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei were both big perverts right? So maybe this guy had a heart of gold hidden under his perverted exterior. Yeah, he won't judge-

"I can see theeeeeem! I can see all of your beautiful measurements! Nothing escapes my gaze! HAHAHAHAHA!"

...

Maybe...wait. Has he seen him before?

Naruto squinted at the 'perverted glasses', as the girls were referring to him anyways. Now that he looked at him closely, he could swear that he's seen him somewhere before...it was hard to tell since he had such plain features though.

Then something clicked. An army of women chasing after three boys, there was one among them that carried glasses.

"IT'S YOU!" Naruto shouted with a dramatic finger pointed at ero-megane, this broke the perverted boy out of his sexual harassment when he heard the loud shout. He sent an annoyed glance at Naruto as he was forced to stop his favorite hobby while in Kuoh to deal with what looked like a delinquent.

That and he couldn't help but dislike the blond immediately since some girls were sending shy glances at him behind his back. Damn it he hated blond boys.

"Whaddya want bastard?" the now dubbed 'ero-megane' said with a frown, he didn't want to talk to any guy that attracted girls. Naruto just squinted his eyes at the boy's hostility, what the hell did he do? Naruto decided that he should ask this strange guy whether he knew a Hyoudou Issei and be done with it.

"Hey, do you know where I can find a guy named Hyoudou Issei?" Naruto asked casually, but before he could follow up with his question he saw the glasses-wearing boy literally sprint towards him before giving him a steady stare.

"How much?" 'Ero-megane' asked, this just caused Naruto to stare at him incredulously. What the hell was he talking about right now? Seeing the blond's expression, he just lifted his glasses and spoke again with more emotion.

"You want me to betray my comrade...one of my closest friends...then you better pay me enough to make up for my horrible betrayal! It is so sad but he will understand! I want to lose my virginity...so please get me a woman!" 'Ero-megane' cried with tears flowing down his eyes.

Naruto just looked at him with dull eyes for his pathetic plea, Hyoudou was his friend and he would betray him for sex? Really? This guy didn't have a redeeming bone in his body. "Tell you what...I'll talk to some girls and see if any of them could-" Naruto tried to speak, but he was immediately floored when the boy in front of him bowed towards him like some sort of deity.

"Issei's near the girl's locker rooms trying to find a good peephole! Please make my wish come true!" the pathetically perverted boy cried.

Naruto decided that Issei needed new friends. As fast as possible.

Then he registered what the glasses-wearing teen just said and slapped his hand on his face in a facepalm. Maybe they really were perfect friends for one another...

* * *

Looks like they were perfect friends with one another.

Naruto was having déjà vu as he was staring at a teen with brown hair trying to look for any hole or crack in the girl's locker room. He remembered when ero-sennin did the same thing when he was trying to peep into the women's hot springs. Usually this would call for the 'ero-protocol' for his own shits and giggles, but he had to actually _talk_ to the kid, not get him killed. So Naruto opted for walking behind the teen and poking him behind the head.

It was only when an annoyed plain face with an annoyed set of brown eyes glared back at him that he recognized the illusive Hyoudou.

"You were with 'ero-megane' when you guys were chased by that horde of girls..." Naruto deadpanned.

At this Issei just locked up and stared at Naruto in horror. "You're...you're not going to turn me in are you!?" Issei said with panic welling up in his stomach. The three of them barely managed to get away from the horde before his last class started, but they were no doubt still sore at their antics...so if this blond were to give them his location...

Naruto just shook his head in response much to Issei's apparent relief, but the shinobi then grinned at the pervert. "I won't tell them...but you gotta do something for me first." Naruto said cheerfully, Issei's fear returned as he realized that unless he did whatever this guy said, then his high school life would become a hell of a lot more unpleasant for a long time.

Issei opened his mouth in order to try to reason with the blackmailing blond, but he stopped when Naruto finished his demand.

"You gotta listen to what I have to say seriously Issei, if you don't then you could either change your life for the better or ruin it for a long _long_ time." Naruto said with a cryptic smile.

Issei wasn't sure if he should make a break for it or not.

He decided to give a shot at the very least.

"Hey look it's a UFO!" Issei shouted dramatically towards the sky, he sorta felt like an idiot because it was one of the oldest tricks in the book.

"Really!? Where!? I didn't know they had a faction of aliens here as well!" Naruto said with sparkles in his eyes.

...

Ok time to make a quick get-away. Issei dashed off from his location near the girl's locker room and made his way behind an old school warehouse. He hoped that the blond would eventually leave him alone before trying his peeping attempt again...

"Yo."

Damn it.

Issei looked to his left and found his annoying stalker just looking at the sky, still searching for UFO or just mocking him?

"I still can't find the UFO you pointed out, but that's fine. I'll look for it later, that'd be a pretty cool picture to show your friends ya know? Also, smart idea in hiding behind the warehouse. No one will hear our conversation here." Naruto said cheerfully, completely unaware of Issei's escape attempt.

Issei just groaned.

"Ok, so you ready to hear me out now? What I'm about to tell you is super important and cannot be told to anyone else. Unless you want to die that is, but I wouldn't recommend it." Naruto started, but he seemed to be scaring the perverted boy with his blunt statements. Well, he was being truthful here and he would much rather be truthful and have him face the good and bad rather than give him a nasty surprise later.

"Don't worry about it, just don't tell any normal people and you will be fine. Now, I'm here as a favor for a friend of mine, I'm sure you know her since she is pretty famous at this Academy...her name is Gremory Rias and-" Naruto tried to say but was interrupted by a thoroughly excited Issei. "She wants to talk to me!? She wants to talk to _me_!? I accept! I accept whatever she wants me to do!" Issei said with enthusiasm, if he gets on her good side then maybe he could get a 'sexy' reward!

Issei's fantasies were ended the second a hard slap upside the head hit him and sent him to the ground with a lump on his head. The perverted boy just sent a halfhearted glare up at the perpetrator.

"What the hell bastard!? I accepted your offer so why did you hit me!?" Issei demanded while holding the painful bump on his head. Then brown eyes met blue eyes with startling intensity as they gave him a hard stare. "I don't know if you had any problems in trusting people in your life...but don't you fuckin' throw away your freedom so damn easily." Naruto spoke seriously.

Naruto had no trouble if Issei heard what Rias was offering as well as the realistic negatives of her proposal and accepted afterwards. But for him to say 'I accept whatever she wants me to do!' so easily without hearing what he actually had to _do_ bothered him a lot.

No.

Issei couldn't accept something like this so easily, he had to _think_ about whether the price of his humanity and his freedom was worth it to become a devil.

If someone heard his thoughts, then they would ask a reasonable question; isn't this against the Rias' wishes in regards to the favor she asked? To the casual observer, yes it is. But to Naruto he _was_ helping Rias.

If Naruto just gave Issei the positives of becoming a devil without giving him the negatives, then there was a chance that he would become unsatisfied and try to rebel against her. This would inevitably make Issei into a stray devil and the demonic powers he now had would turn him into a monster without a _king_ to keep him in check. In the end, Issei would probably be killed, Rias would lose prestige, this could sow doubt in her Peerage, and she would be back where she began.

If he failed in bringing Issei into Rias' Peerage then there were no negative outcomes in failing her favor, after all a favor was a favor. If he _did_ bring Issei into her Peerage though, then she would owe him a favor, one that she _couldn't_ deny as long as it was within reason. Naruto suggested this before so that everyone in their little 'Kuoh pact' could learn to depend on one another and begin understanding one another. So Naruto had to be the first one to make it work.

But he definitely wouldn't give up his morals for it.

So Naruto grabbed Issei by the shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"Let's talk Hyoudou Issei, like I said this will change your life from here on in. For better or for worse. So the least you can do is make sure you make the best decision by listening to me." Naruto said with a firm tone. Issei saw the firm look that the blond was giving him and sighed.

"Fine...let's talk."

So they talked.

* * *

A certain daughter of the original Lucifer was looking around Kuoh for a certain blond.

Naruto promised Mio that they would leave together properly, but the blond seemed to have performed a disappearing act...again. It was strange to the young girl that someone so eye-catching could disappear so easily, she even entertained ideas with Maria that maybe their blond savior was a ninja.

That was a good laugh.

But as of now, she was annoyed at her blond savior due to his pranks that she was _sure_ he had done on purpose.

Making her call him 'onii-san' was way too embarrassing! The fact that she had to say it near classmates in her age group and that Maria teased her mercilessly about it wasn't helping at all!

Now she was annoyed at the fact that he seemingly forgot that they were going to walk home, she hated to admit it but Mio was beginning to depend on Naruto. So much so in fact, that she didn't feel as safe when he wasn't around, he just had an _aura_ that spoke of an unyielding spirit. So she wanted to stay close to him...

Not that she would ever admit it.

So after asking around the Academy she finally found out what her 'onii-san' was up to.

Looking for the infamous pervert Hyoudou Issei.

She heard horror stories from the other girls about the ghastly deeds of the 'Perverted Trio' and she decided that Naruto couldn't be allowed to influenced by such a person. Naruto was already a handful as it was, she didn't need to add 'pervert' to his admittedly few failings.

When she voiced her beliefs to her new friends in class when they were preparing to leave, many of them couldn't help but point out that she was acting more like a jealous girlfriend than like a concerned sister.

She ignored the accusation.

Mio finally reached the last confirmed location of Uzumaki Naruto and checked the girl's locker-room. When she looked around, she noticed a set of foot tracks that moved away from the area towards the old warehouse. She supposed that was about as safe a bet as she could get, so she walked the distance to the warehouse.

Once she arrived, she came upon a peculiar sight, she finally found Naruto but she also found a brown haired teen that seemed to be engaged in a serious lecture by her annoying savior. It was a peculiar sight, what could Naruto be telling this boy?

But before she could move closer without either of them noticing, Naruto turned his head towards her direction and gave her a smirk.

Damn it. He found her out before she could quench her curiosity.

So she moved closer to the two boys and was about to address Naruto when the other boy finally noticed her.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHH!" the other boy all but shouted out in amazement, what the hell? Who was this guy?

The boy leered at Mio's form without conscious thought and his nose started blowing out steam due to his rising excitement.

Mio just took a step back in shock at how the brown haired teen was behaving. The horror stories spoke of such perversion in muted whispers in the girl's bathroom...this can only be...

"...Hy-Hyoudou Issei..." Mio stuttered, she was face-to-face with womankind's number one enemy. She had to leave here as soon as possible before he began to harass her, so she quickly grabbed Naruto by the arm and physically dragged him with her.

"He-! Hey! What the hell Mio!?" Naruto cried out in surprise as he was getting dragged away by his pseudo little sister, he still had to tell Issei about the duties of a Peerage member! But Mio was determined to leave before the pervert's brain restarted.

Issei managed to shake himself out of his stupor, but only did it in time in order to see the beautiful girl dragging the blond away.

...

"...What do blonds have that I don't have!?" Issei cried out in despair with comical waterfall tears flowing down his face. It wasn't fair that the only two male blonds of the school got all of the love! The perverted boy finally stopped his despairing and turned solemn in order to answer Naruto's question...

The question of becoming a devil of Gremory Rias has finally begun to be taken seriously after Naruto told him about most of the pros and cons of becoming a servant. Could he really give up his carefree life for the chance of restarting his life for a better one? Naruto even said that if he worked hard enough, that he can not only get lots of money...he can also attract a lot of attention from female devils!

That thought alone when watching the many stereotypes of sexy she-devils in porn magazines was pushing him to go for devilhood! But did he really want to get targeted by other supernaturals...?

Hell he thought that the blond was crazy when he mentioned all of this. He quickly changed his mind when he met with a physical copy of the same whiskered blond after a puff of smoke. Soon after he was taking the blond's words seriously...

Man his head hurt! He was just an ordinary high school kid! What kind of teen deals with shit like this!?

But he also didn't want to miss such a chance at being something _more_ than just a bug under everyone's shoes. Maybe he could be just like that sensei that Naruto was talking about one day...

He had to go home and really think about this.

* * *

Mio dragged Naruto through the Academy to leave the school grounds. She kept going on about 'how he shouldn't be influenced by perverts' as if he was talking to Issei due to his perverted charisma. He tried to ensure her that he wasn't going to go pervert on her but she seemed adamant on keeping Naruto away from Issei. He couldn't help but shake his head in amusement at her antics, she was acting so childish, but she was doing it for his sake so it came out as a little cute instead.

As Mio continued her little rants, Naruto noticed that there was someone waiting for them at the Academy entrance.

Maria waved her arms around frantically towards their direction with a big smile, Mio finally noticed her guardian and couldn't help but groan in embarrassment since a lot of students were staring at the seemingly little girl.

"Naruto-sama! Mio-sama! I've been waiting for you two for a long time you know?" Maria pouted, Mio just gave the crafty succubus a dull stare. She seemed to be in high spirits again, so she was sure that she was up to something again. The loli's next words only confirmed Mio's fears.

"So I heard that you have admitted to your classmates that you're prepping Naruto to be a perfect boyfriend! I never knew you had it in you Mio-sama!" Maria said cheerfully with a hint of sly smile making it's way to her lips. Naruto looked on in amusement as Mio sputtered her own defense of the charge placed against her.

"Where the hell did you hear that from!?"

"Well...your new friends were talking about your declaration to save your 'nii-san' from the dangers of the Perverted Trio. My my Mio-sama...are you trying to win Naruto-sama's heart?" Maria said with an increasingly growing smirk. This was probably due to Mio's steam that was coming out of her ears due to the incredible amount of blood that was swimming towards cheeks.

"Yo-...You...Maaaarrrriiiiaaaa...!" Mio began dangerously, her anger and frustration growing to the point that she would lash out. Maria widened her eyes to the newly aggressive Mio and began to back up, maybe she pushed her a little too much?

"Wa-Wait Mio-sama...it was just a joke! Please! Mercy!" Maria cried out to her charge.

"No."

Naruto heard pitiful whimpers from the succubus from the rest of the day.

* * *

Naruto stared at his newly made fuin barrier.

It would work this time, and no damsels in distress would deter him from actually training this time.

Maybe.

The young shinobi was standing in the middle of the forest where he found Mio and Maria a few days prior. It was night time and the blond left his home for this forest to test out a few things. First and foremost, he wanted to check whether the _kuchiyose no jutsu_ could ever be used as a viable option to get back home.

The last time he tried it, it required a huge chunk of chakra that even someone like Naruto felt. But he had to keep trying, at least until he found a better option to transport himself back to his world. So he bit his thumb to let loose a little blood for the contract to work properly and then...

" _ **Kuchiyose no jutsu!**_ " Naruto cried as he slammed his hand into the ground.

A **POP** later and the smoke appeared that signified that something has indeed been summoned. Naruto made sure to use a similiar amount of chakra as last time in order to check if anything has changed. He peered into the smoke to see what he summoned...then he widened his eyes at his discovery.

What was in front of him was a small toad!

Naruto quickly fist-pumped himself at this small but noticeable achievement. He then leaned down towards the toad in order give him a message.

"Hey! You know who I am right? I'm Uzumaki Naruto; a toad summoner! Listen, I need you to give out a message to sennin-jiichan!" Naruto explained quickly, wanting to give the little toad as much info as possible. Maybe sennin-jiichan would know how to get him back!

The toad just stared at him unblinkingly without saying a word.

Naruto stared at the toad with hope, but as seconds moved on to minutes with still no sound Naruto began to suspect something else.

"...You don't know how to talk do you little guy...?" Naruto stated with twitching eyes, it would make sense that a very young toad wouldn't be able to speak with humans yet. After all this little guy was a lot smaller than even Gamakichi was during the chuunin exams!

The toad just blinked much to the shinobi's chagrin. So he just silently sent to little toad back to Mount Myoboku. Damn, well at the very least he learned that for some reason, the chakra requirements for the _kuchiyose_ was lessening over time. He had no idea why though, he just hoped that in time he can actually summon toads allies to back him up if push comes to shove again.

Naruto got up and stretched. Ok! It was time to go training! He put his hands together to make a familiar cross.

" ** _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_** " Naruto cried out as several clones appeared near the original.

"Alright! We gotta freshen ourselves up for future battles! It's time that we get back into training!" Naruto cried out in exuberance, all the other clones cried out in agreement and began to spar with one another to freshen up reflexes.

Yeah, this would work.

* * *

 **AN: Heya! I'm back from Florida and it was a blast! So a more beefy chapter as thanks for waiting so long patiently, you people are awesome!**

 **Now...I bet none of you expected that now did ya!? So many people were convinced that Naruto would follow Rias' words to the letter for no reason as if he was a part of her Peerage. Well you were wrong :P**

 **Now some of you must be confused since I left that last-minute edit at the last chapter. Well that was in response to the charge that if Naruto _did_ agree to Rias' favor to the letter, that it would be thoroughly immoral. I never said anything about Naruto actually _doing_ it :)**

 **Although one person managed to get seriously close, at least about what Naruto would do but not his logic for the loophole. Also I added in a new character to the mix of my own volition, she was necessary so that I could add more flavor to the fallen angel faction since they're sorely underrepresented in High School DxD.**

 **Like I said before...I'm pretty sure I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. Patience my friends, is good for the heart...and stories too. lol**

 **Now a question, there were some jutsu names that are not well known to many people that were used here. Should I keep them in japanese or use english? Or is it ok as it is now? Plz tell me so that I can stick with one style throughout the rest of the fic.**

 **Well I think that's it! Cya next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	7. Chapter 7

**First off want to quickly thank all those reviews that pointed out my flaw with my 'you're'. Hopefully better now. Second please check the AN at the end of this chapter for an important announcement.**

 **But until then please enjoy!**

* * *

"Why are you so tired Naruto?" Mio asked with concern.

Naruto has been yawning non-stop ever since she woke up, he _did_ get a good night's rest right?

Naruto just gave a somewhat strained smile towards Mio as he continued walking towards Kuoh. He spent a bit too much time at the forest and was exhausted because of it. He supposed that in a life and death struggle he wouldn't be nearly as tired...but he wasn't, so he wanted to sleep like a normal human being.

But he had to keep up appearances, he definitely didn't want Mio or Maria to begin checking up on him during the night.

"I'm fine Mio, I just slept weird last night. As soon as class starts I should be fine." Naruto said with a smile. Mio continued to stare at him with doubtful eyes as he tried to give the impression that he wasn't that tired.

Thankfully he had a reprieve when another voice interrupted them.

"Naruto." Yuki said as she walked to join the group. She gave Mio a nod to signify her acknowledgement of the younger girl which Mio reciprocated. The young hero then turned to Naruto.

"We have to talk about scheduling tutoring sessions." Yuki said, Naruto just slapped his head in response. He totally forgot about that.

"Right right...we can talk about it later in class today ok?" Naruto said with a reasonable tone, but both of his companions gave him dull stares.

"...Naruto...class is for learning. Not for making plans." Yuki said with a sigh. Mio followed after her lead with an admonishment of her own.

"Seriously...how lazy are you? Sleeping during class and now making plans during class? You're a terrible older brother figure you know?" Mio said with a small grin, she finally got a measure of revenge for all the teasing she got her classmates about Naruto. She was feeling vindicated!

Naruto just groaned at their words, his head hurt and he couldn't come up with any decent come-backs so he just said what he could come up with.

"...Shut up."

Mio giggled at the pathetic comeback while Yuki smiled at the nice atmosphere.

How long has it been since Yuki enjoyed life like this?

But the tutoring session with Naruto wasn't only meant for helping her friend out, although that was the initial motivation. They also needed to have a talk.

The Hero Tribe was getting restless.

There were many elders back at home base that were suspicious of Yuki's standing with the supernatural factions ever since she changed her mind about the stance they should take in regards to her targets. They were all changed to 'observation' targets rather then 'elimination' targets. Some believed that she was being deceived by the 'unknown variable' and that they should send a team in order to 'save her'.

In all fairness, her change was abrupt if they didn't see what actually happened so their suspicion should have been expected. But the fact was that if she didn't convince them soon...

She shook her head of the dark thoughts, this was a happy time now. She'd deal with Hero Tribe elders as soon as she and Naruto were alone.

For now, she would enjoy the nice atmosphere.

* * *

Naruto stared at the ORC club room door.

It didn't have a note this time...he made sure to be extra careful in checking. Now he had to make sure that Rias was actually here so that they could have that talk that Naruto desperately needed to have.

He was an action guy at heart, waiting around for someone's opinion on the matter wasn't exactly his usual MO. But this wasn't his world, he had to check with Rias so that he wouldn't make some horrible mistake. After all, he was pretty good at detecting liars...so it wasn't like Rias was gonna lie to his face or anything without him noticing.

The shinobi nodded resolutely and knocked on the door.

After waiting for a moment he saw the door open to reveal Koneko, who had her usual expressionless...expression.

"...Naruto-senpai." Koneko said in greeting. Naruto just grinned at her, if she was here then it was pretty likely that Rias was too.

"Heya Koneko-san! Listen, is Rias-san here right now? I need to talk to her about something pretty important." Naruto stated. Koneko just nodded and moved to let him pass, Naruto quickly moved inside towards the main area.

He was finally face-to-face with the Gremory heiress again. Funnily enough, it felt like a couple of days since he spoke with her.

"Hello again Naruto-san, what do you need today?" Rias started with a raised eyebrow, she was curious of what her blond ally might want so soon after they talked. According to the restless energy he was practically emitting, she'd say that it was pretty important.

"Rias-san, what happens when a supernatural faction has a presence in a territory ruled by another faction?" Naruto asked quickly. This question caused Rias to narrow her eyes in suspicion, why the sudden interest now?

"...That is a very interesting question Naruto-san. Especially when there was an incident just a little ways away from here where an abandoned factory was destroyed...just yesterday as a matter of fact." Rias stated matter-of-factly.

The blond just widened his eyes at her statement, which only confirmed her suspicions.

"As a matter of fact, my Peerage and I went to that factory and noticed that there were damages done to the factory floor that could not have been done by humans...would you happen to know anything about this?" the young devil asked with a sweet smile.

Naruto just sweat-dropped at her play of detective work. Oh well, he was going to tell her about the fallen anyways so it wasn't too much of a big deal.

"As a matter of fact I do...if you let me actually finish what I was about to say, I might actually tell you." Naruto said dryly, even though Rias' expression didn't change, her cheeks grew a faint blush from slight embarrassment.

"Now, I think you have a group of fallen angels squatting in your territory Rias-san." the blond continued cheerfully. The news though caused both Rias and Koneko who was nearby, to snap their attention towards Naruto. Rias stared at him in shock for a moment before sitting back down on her chair to process this information.

"...Are you sure about this Naruto-san? Are you absolutely sure that the destruction of the abandoned factory was done by fallen angels?" Rias asked seriously. That kind of firepower was dangerous in the hands of either of the angelic factions, their light energy was the weak points of devils after all.

"Of course I know, I fought them after all." the shinobi replied, once more both sets of devil heads in the room snapped to the only male in the room.

"You were there...? Please tell me anything you can about the fallen angels. How many were there? How many wings did they have? Who was their leader? Whose orders were they listening to?" Rias asked in rapid fire, Naruto just stepped back at the sheer amount of questions being sent his way.

"Wait wait wait! Hold on Rias-san! I was going to tell you what I know anyways! I mean this is your territory right? Besides I suck at politics and diplomacy anyways!" Naruto said frantically, while waving his hands in front of him. At this, Rias stepped back and took a deep breath, only then did she turn back to Naruto and ask again.

"I apologize for my behavior Naruto-san, please...tell me what you know." Rias said sincerely, which Naruto nodded to and started his tale of brief lack-of-ramen induced insanity.

* * *

Kuoh Town was an old place, a _very_ old place. It has met its fair share of 'special' individuals throughout that history.

A certain fallen angel was determined to have history paint her as among the 'best'. The best there ever was among her kind. So she believed that she would be counted among those 'special' individuals in Kuoh Town among the supernatural factions.

Almost like it was _destiny_.

But she couldn't do it alone, she needed something that would elevate her position to far greater heights than she could have done by herself.

She believed that her daughter had such a capability.

Which was why she was staring at her right now.

Thus two pairs of violet eyes were staring at one another across a broken table, in a run-down church.

"...What is it you need okaa-sama?" Raynare asked with a slight bow of her head. Her mother was a proud woman that would accept nothing less.

Even from her daughter. Especially from her daughter.

"I want you to surpass me. But that will not happen in a long time...too long, so I need to accelerate your growth rate." Vretiel said simply, but her words caused her daughter to flinch. Raynare was really young by fallen angel standards, practically a baby. Yet her mother expected her to become her successor ever since she was a child, it was absurd!

But in the end...she couldn't help but want her mother's love and respect again. According to her elder sister figure, her mother used to genuinely act 'motherly' towards her...but something happened. Something _changed_.

No one knew what exactly, but her mother soon began to push Raynare to become strong, far stronger than any fallen before her.

Stronger than even the great Azazel-sama.

She wanted that kind mother that she apparently had before...and she didn't care what she had to do to get it. Even if she had to follow her mother's insane ideas.

But still...

"Is this plan of yours _really_ going to work mother?" Raynare asked with uncertainty, it was never tried before after all. How can a supernatural contain a sacred gear artificially? It was a power granted by God Himself onto human souls, it simply wasn't meant for individuals like her unless she was a human prior.

"Don't you worry about the details Raynare, I know what I'm doing. You _will_ surpass me, one way or another. This is simply one of the most efficient ways to go about it." Vretiel stated without care, what was one human life to her? Nothing. But if one human life would give her daughter the power to stand by her side once they inevitably took control of the fallen angel faction...

Then life well spent.

"Vretiel-sama." spoke a fallen angel woman with a form-fitting business suit. "The human has arrived in Japan, what are your orders?"

Vretiel just turned towards the younger fallen and gave out her order. "You will locate her once she enters Kuoh Town and bring her here. We will begin the ceremony once she arrives. Don't fail me Kalawarner."

The now dubbed fallen simply bowed and moved to leave the church so that she may complete her mission. Vretiel just looked at her daughter and then stood up in order to prepare for the ceremony...it would take a while for it to complete properly. "You have been a disappointment so far Raynare...I have risked a lot in you...don't fail me child." the elder fallen spoke as she walked underground.

The younger fallen just sat there with her eyes stuck to the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world before shaking her head and running towards the entrance. She eventually caught up to one of her closest friends and older sister figure.

"Wait Kalawarner-nee, before you go." the younger fallen said out loud before she caught up to her old friend. In response to this, Kalawarner turned around and smiled at her former charge now that they were away from Vretiel's eyes.

"Now Raynare-sama...I could have sworn that Dohnaseek and Mittelt taught you about the social standing of an heir of a future member of Grigori when compared to a mere servant. You really should stop talking to me with such familiarity ojou-sama." Kalawarner said with a small and warm smile. Raynare just rolled her eyes at her former teacher's words and admonishment.

The three ' _friends_ ' that her mother wanted her to save were her mentors and caretakers when she was just a baby. Besides her mother they were all she knew.

She almost lost them all to the human at the factory.

They all almost _died_.

She was terrified at the prospect at the time, she just couldn't show it in front of her mother for fear of disappointing her even more.

But now she was sure of something terrifying after thinking about the human.

"Kalawarner-nee. This is serious, I doubt that okaa-sama would believe me but...I think you will. I think that there is another human as powerful as the one at the factory." Raynare said seriously, if she was right then she _needed_ to make sure that her de-facto sister was aware. Kalawarner widened her eyes at the possibility of there being _two_ humans that could have such speed and power to challenge them.

"...Surely you are mistaken Raynare-sama? What could make you think that there are two humans with such power?" Kalawarner asked with caution, she could hardly believe that there was a human that could defeat her so easily...and the only reason she believed that was because she fought him.

She didn't want to feel the humiliation of getting defeated by a human so easily again.

"Yes, the voice of the human that my mother killed at the factory was nothing like the voice of the human that knocked me out in the first place. At first I thought that maybe it was another supernatural that knocked me out and the human just took me from their hands...but then I remembered something." Raynare said with uncertainty, she herself wasn't completely sure that her theory was right, but she had to make sure that her old friend was cautious at the very least.

"Well I remembered that...I don't know how to explain it...but I _felt_ the same energy of the person who attacked me yesterday in the that human that you all fought. I can't explain _how_ I know though." Raynare said uneasily, she was just as confused in her own words as she expected that Kalawarner was. But she was telling the truth, she somehow knew that the person that knocked her out had the same power as the person that held her at the factory.

They had the same energy...but not the same voice. That means that there were two separate humans with such power.

Kalawarner gave her a steady stare, but internally her mind was running at several miles per hour. As far as she knew, _none_ of her fallen comrades sensed the energy of the pale human, hell none of them knew that he had any energy. Not even Vretiel-sama could tell! But apparently Raynare could sense the human's power...there was only one explanation for this.

Vretiel-sama would be pleased if she learned that her daughter was finally beginning to unlock her hidden power.

But she also had no doubt that Vretiel-sama wouldn't stop her plans now, if anything this would encourage them. So for now...

"I see...thank you for your concerns Raynare-sama. I shall be more careful as I complete my mission. As for you, I suggest you continue your training so that you finally may gain access to your second pair of wings. Hopefully you will gain them before your mother gets her fifth pair of wings...I'm sure that Vretiel-sama would be proud of you." Kalawarner said with a small smile, she knew that her young charge was obsessed with getting her mother's recognition.

She had a suspicion of why...but for now she would have to use it to her own advantage.

Hopefully Raynare would forgive her one day.

Raynare gave her a steady stare in response before nodding resolutely, she took a step back before speaking. "I'm holding you to that Kalawarner-nee, I better not hear you have any trouble out there." the young fallen spoke with a smirk. Her caretaker nodded and then spread her wings, she took off towards the center of Kuoh Town in order to look for a young Italian nun.

* * *

Rias stared at the whiskered blonde for what felt like years as her mind went through all of the possible problems that a group of fallen angels would have in her territory. She had no idea how bad the situation actually was until Naruto told her _who_ exactly was at the abandoned factory. Fallen angels were bad enough, but for there to be a fallen with four pairs of wings among them...

But to think that the fallen would be the infamous Yuuma Vretiel...

Naruto was studying the range of emotions that were going through Rias' face at the information he passed on to her. Of course he didn't tell her _everything_ , he made sure to leave out the info about how they got led there in the first place and that he used a clone to fight them. But maybe he should have bent the story just a little more.

"Naruto-san...just who exactly are you?" Rias asked seriously, after all...the teen in front of her managed to survive a confrontation from such a powerful fallen angel. If her Peerage were to fight someone like that then they wouldn't stand a chance, yet this boy in front of her _did_.

Koneko, who was still in the room, was also curious about this information. Although she hid it much better than Rias could.

"Uhhhh...I'm a magician." Naruto said lamely, he probably should have prepared a better alibi for himself. Especially when he saw the deadpanned expression on the red-head's face. "Look, I can't exactly tell you...uh...because there are some bad people after me and I don't want anyone getting caught up in my troubles." Naruto said, somehow making a somewhat coherent excuse on the fly. But a partial lie was still a partial lie, and he was absolute shit when it came to lying.

That was probably why Rias remained skeptical.

"Naruto-san, you're asking me to trust in your words when you won't even tell me the truth in regards to who you are. How can you ask something of me when you won't even follow your own beliefs." Rias reprimanded. Naruto looked taken aback by that statement. Then he opened his mouth to respond.

"You're partially right about me not being completely truthful Rias-san, at least about me being a magician. But I am telling you the truth about being hunted down by bad people, that is a secret that I want to keep hidden until I trust you more. Besides, I didn't want us to begin trusting one another completely...I wanted us to begin that process by helping each other out. I told you about the fallen angel problem and I told you that bad people are after me, so I _am_ trying to trust you. I mean...are you telling me right now that you are willing to tell me why you are so desperate for Peerage members?" Naruto retorted, Rias just blinked at the quick change of the blond's demeanor. From a fool to a philosopher, she had a hard time figuring him out.

"...Maybe you're right Naruto-san, I don't want to share my personal problems or information with you. But remember that I would have been fine with there being a simple agreement of non-aggression. It was _you_ who wanted to ferment trust between all of us, between devils and heroes. Those who want such a change must be the ones to show everyone their example! Yet you are doing no such thing. How can I trust you? How can _anyone_ trust you?"

Koneko's eyes were glued towards the battle of wills going on in front of her. She was shocked at the sudden turn of events that erupted from the fallen angel issue. All was silent after her _king's_ retort, but then Naruto spoke again.

"If you can't believe my words from before...then at least believe this." Naruto spoke solemnly, before slamming his hands in front of Rias and on her desk. This sudden action shocked both devils in the room before Naruto spoke, with eyes entreating them.

"I _want_ people to get along no matter who they are or what race they belong to. I _want_ to count all of you guys as my friends. I _want_ to call of you comrades! So...if you can't believe anything I say then believe that! Please believe in me for a little bit longer so that I can _prove_ to be worthy of your trust Rias-san! So that I can prove to be worthy of _everyone's_ trust!" Naruto shouted while bowing his head.

The whole room was silent as Naruto finished his speech.

Rias was actually legitimately dazzled by the blond's words. Almost like it was spoken straight out of one of her favorite mangas. She wanted to trust him, in his words and in his motivations. She really shouldn't though, she should be cautious and wary since this boy in front of her was still an 'unknown' in every possible sense of the word. She had the lives of her friends and comrades to consider, if she made a mistake in trusting him then their lives could be adversely affected as well. She _shouldn't_ trust him.

And yet she did.

He was _dangerous_.

Ever since she met the whiskered blond face-to-face, he had upturned every possible expectation she had for him. She simply couldn't get a proper reading on him.

His motivations, his power, his goals, his personality, his intelligence.

He was unpredictable.

So Rias agreed to the now dubbed 'Kuoh Pact' not only to get some breathing room to better understand the situation, but also to better understand _Naruto_.

She still didn't understand him. But hopefully she would soon enough, there _was_ a reason she sent Naruto to talk to Hyoudou Issei and it wasn't just because he was the best person to send.

Rias waved her arms up in surrender. "Fine fine, I'll trust you. Now please pick your head up...you're embarrassing me." Rias said lightly, the tension in the room finally dissipated as Naruto picked his head up and scratched the side of his face lightly.

Maybe he got a little too passionate...

His truthful admission was definitely what convinced Rias at the very least.

Both of them seemed to have temporarily forgotten that Koneko was still in the room, but they could be forgiven since she was extremely quiet.

But it was more appropriate to say that she was speechless. His force of personality actually managed to push away Buchou's reasonable suspicions. The only reason she wasn't more affected by his speech was because she wasn't at the receiving end of it. Although she had to admit that it was a heartwarming speech.

More importantly, Koneko actually _felt_ the convictions behind his words. The feelings and belief behind every statement. It was mind-blowing how thoroughly the blond believed in his convictions...she couldn't help but look at the admittedly silly boy in a new light.

Rias sighed and sat down in her chair again in order to give an answer to the blond about the fallen angels, they were pretty heavily side-tracked. After mulling it over a little bit more she finally gave her answer.

"After thinking about all of the possible risks and issues involved with the fallen...I've decided that we are going to stay out of this affair." Rias said simply, Naruto just nodded to her response, he sorta expected that.

But Naruto still had a slight problem with her ruling.

"Rias-san, is it ok to stay out of this entirely? You have no idea what their intentions are by this point and they are definitely here for _some_ reason." Naruto reasoned, her ruling was better than going to fight the fallen. But to just leave them alone without knowing their intentions was still he didn't want to do since they seemed pretty hostile.

Although in their defense, that could have just been the fact that he kidnapped their comrade.

Rias raised an eyebrow in his direction. "If you wanted to know what the fallen angels were up to...then why didn't you follow them afterwards? I mean they thought you were dead yes? Even supernaturals aren't good at sensing other supernaturals when they aren't aware they are there." Rias said sensibly.

...

Ah...

Both Rias and Koneko just silently stared at the now depressed blond as he cried waterfall-tears on the ground. The red-head shook her head helplessly while Koneko just sighed at the fact that her new-found respect for Naruto was quickly waning.

He wasn't exactly the visage of power.

"Damn it...how could I have been such an idiot...it could have been easy for me to follow them..." Naruto said listlessly. But then a proverbial light bulb went off in his head.

"I can _still_ find where they are! Rias-san! Give me a day or two in order to find their base and then find out what they're up to! Just please make sure not to call your onii-san!" Naruto said quickly as he wiped away the faux tears and then dashed towards the entrance of the club room.

"Huh!? Wait! Naruto-san!" Rias called out, but Naruto was too far gone. Rias stood there with her arm outstretched, slightly shocked that Naruto would go and try to solve the issue of the fallen angels on his own. Although his words did actually touch upon a concern she had when considering the fallen angels in her territory.

Should she call on her onii-sama?

No matter how she looked at it, the best she and her comrades could hope for in a battle with someone like Yuuma Vretiel...was to stall. They simply weren't strong enough to fight a fallen like that, even if Sona were to reinforce her. So one of the possible options she bandied about was to call upon her onii-sama. In the end she decided not to because she didn't want to start a war either.

But the thought still persisted.

But Naruto...if Naruto said that he could find out what the fallen angels were up to. Then she would do what he asked her to do.

Place some faith in him.

"...Naruto-sempai is an interesting person isn't he Buchou?" Koneko said, although Rias couldn't help but notice the small twitch on the side of her mouth that twisted upwards.

Rias just smiled.

"Yes he is Koneko-chan...yes he is..."

* * *

Naurto decided to skip class again.

He knew that he would get an earful from Mio and a disapproving glance from Yuki but it had to be done. He had a legitimate excuse to skip as always!

...He just couldn't tell Mio the reason. So yeah, she might be a little upset.

The shinobi was jumping from house roof to house roof quickly in order to get back to the abandoned factory. Hopefully he could find a trail that would lead him to the fallen's home base. All that would be left would be to leave a clone there to gather info. After all he couldn't waste too much time, too many questions would be asked by his friends.

Even if he did find out what the fallen were up to, he had no idea how long it would take to find their objective.

All of these thoughts were swirling in his head as he was jumping, but he stopped suddenly.

Then he turned around to come upon a curious sight.

"Issei-san?" Naruto asked hesitantly, he was looking at Hyoudou Issei talking to a...

"A nun?" Naruto asked hesitantly again, that had to be one of the weirdest combos he has ever seen. Also, what was Issei doing outside? Wasn't class on right now?

Then again maybe he wasn't the best person to criticize someone else for skipping school.

Naruto watched as the perverted boy scrambled around to get a decent conversation with the blond nun, it was pretty funny seeing him try so hard. Although Naruto couldn't help but notice something that helped elevate this boy ahead of his friend.

He was genuine.

Of course his partial motivation for helping the nun was probably perverted, but he wasn't faking his kindness. It wasn't much, but it was at least _something_.

So Naruto decided to just leave them to their talks and get back to work, though Naruto grinned a little. Issei was obviously trying to help the nun out, maybe it was in hopes of trying to get into her pants or maybe not...but it was a hell of a lot better than what the other one did.

More than that, the nun seemed to be having fun while talking to the perverted boy and the perverted boy seemed to be enjoying himself as well. While looking at her face more than her body.

That had to be something special right?

After meeting 'ero-megane' he didn't hold too much hope in Issei having a decent side to him besides his perversion. But after seeing that little display, he decided that Issei had a decent chance in being more than just a pervert.

Who knows? Maybe the girl's influence would be good for him.

So the blond dashed off, determined to find the fallen angels before they caused any damage.

Naruto would regret leaving the strange duo by themselves later.

* * *

After a minute or so of safe jumping, he found the old abandoned factory again. At least whats left of it anyways.

The area seemed to be under investigation by the normal human police, so he couldn't really get close and really investigate the area himself without attracting attention. So the young shinobi decided to do the next best thing.

He quickly went inside an alleyway in order to do his business.

...

A couple of seconds later, a bunch of normal human beings with different looks left the alleyway much to the confusion of the people walking by. Whenever any of those 'individuals' had a chance, they disappeared in a burst of speed towards the direction where the fallen flew after the battle.

Naruto finally left the alleyway himself and nodded resolutely, he didn't know specifically where the fallen were...but he had a general idea of which direction. So all he had to do was wait for for his clones to pop themselves so that he could get the info. The real question was what to do now that he was already skipping class?

He probably should take responsibility and go back to class now that his business was done.

...

Nah. He'd just go back home and see what Maria was up to. He had to pay her back for certain events anyways.

He'd deal with the consequences of his actions later, shits and giggles time is now!

Naruto started heading back home while snickering madly, causing a bunch of pedestrians to try and avoid him.

"Kaa-chan, why is that boy laughing so much?"

"Don't look at him darling...just keep walking."

How rude.

* * *

She should have expected it.

Mio was walking...or more like stomping her way to the place she has called her home for at least a week or so. Her eyebrows were twitching sporadically and her fists were clenched. Naruto had better have one hell of a good reason for skipping...again.

She finally made her way to the front of the house, she decided on a dramatic entrance in order to announce to the blond that he was in big trouble!

After quietly unlocking the door to make sure that no one noticed her, she dramatically slammed it open with an open hand in order to-!

"Would ya like to buy some steaks!?"

...

Mio stood stock still as she stared at the blond with a mustache with his eyes squinted. It was a bizarre look, but she new instantly who was asking the question.

"...What are you doing Naruto?" Mio asked, genuinely confused at what he could possibly accomplish with this. This was over the top even for him!

"Don't worry about the minor details! More importantly...would ya like some steaks!? I got some nice steaks in the truck right now!" the blond fool said exuberantly.

The young half-devil just continued to stare, utterly bewildered at what was happening right now. Did he somehow crack? Was this all some sort of alternate dimension that she had entered? Was this maybe a strange dream? If so...why steaks?

How should she answer him?

How the hell do you answer such a question to begin with?

"Um...no?" Mio asked hesitantly, asking as much as stating her answer.

"Don't be so formal! Here! Try a free sample!"

All Mio saw was a piece of raw steak before it was placed on her face.

"..."

Mio was silently contemplating how to kill the annoying blond.

Naruto just silently scurried behind the red-head towards the bathroom to watch the fireworks in peace.

"...Pffffft..."

As Mio heard someone desperately try to stop their laughter, she only thought of three things.

The voice behind the laugh sounded like Maria.

Naruto liked to prank but he never had done something so brazen before.

Thus Maria was the perpetrator.

A dark aura started to envelope the young girl as the owner of the snickering realized she had been caught.

"Wa-Wait Mio-sama! It wasn't me this time! This was all Naruto-sama's idea! Please believe me!" Maria pleaded, hoping that her charge would place her faith in the person she has known longer, compared to the blond who she has only recently met. Surely longer association meant something to-

"No."

Damn it.

The young succubus quickly got up from her hidden spot behind the couch and tried to make a break for it, but before she could gain momentum she felt the horrifying grip of a feminine hand filled to the brim with magic.

The succubus couldn't help but glare at the bathroom door which was opened just enough to allow a pair of blue eyes to peer through and wink at her.

This was war Naruto-sama!

Then she felt the grip on her head tighten.

...After she recovered from her wounds first.

Meanwhile, Naruto couldn't stop the satisfied smirk at the fruition of his well placed prank. He felt no remorse for the crafty succubus, she tried to get him in trouble several times with her mischievous ways. It was karmic justice in his eyes! How dare she try to prank the Prank King!

He couldn't help but remember all of the times she 'accidentally' told him that the bathroom was free...only for it to turn out that Mio was in the middle of using the shower. If it wasn't for her half-grin tipping her off he would have fell for it.

He was so ashamed.

The next time was when she convinced him to buy underwear for Mio, telling him that it was normal for a host to do such a thing for their guests.

He never had female guests before so he didn't know anything!

Mio still refused to let him in her room after that.

Those were only the recent pranks, it was obvious to Naruto that she had to be taught who was the true Prank King. So he engineered a prank against Mio and invited Maria to join in with a camera. Neither of them has ever seen Naruto pull a prank of such skill before so he knew that Mio would assume that Maria would put him up to it...

He has regained his honor.

Then he heard someone slam on the door.

"Naruto! Get out of there and accept your punishment like a man!"

Ah, so maybe he put too much faith in his own trustworthiness. Thats fine, he would just do what he usually did whenever he got caught in the act of a prank.

"See ya at dinner time Mio!" Naruto shouted towards the still locked door before jumping outside the bathroom window.

"Naaarrrruuuutttttooooo!"

* * *

The blond was reinvigorated after the prank, he got to see Mio's stupefied expression and got Maria back for her tricks! A beautiful day!

He could whistle a tune with how happy his prank made him, especially considering how long he made a prank he could be proud of!

Naruto's happy thoughts immediately changed after a set of memories hit him from a faraway clone.

A church.

An _abandoned_ church.

He really shouldn't be surprised, at least his other clones probably received the information as well. So they would go and check the area out.

Naruto nodded resolutely before deciding to get some quick ramen. He was interrupted last time with the fallen angel's scouting, so while he was waiting for Mio to calm down he would satisfy his craving.

"Nice day isn't it 'unknown variable'? Although I suppose it's more like evening by now."

Someone was out to get him. He was sure of it now.

Naruto cautiously glanced at corner of his eye towards the owner of the voice, this one...he didn't sense him at all until he talked.

Hell, his shinobi danger sense didn't go off until he was practically right there!

That meant that this one was in a completely different league than anyone he has met so far.

"...Who are you?" Naruto asked, bending his knees in case he has to fight with little-to-no warning. The unknown man just smiled at this show of aggression before flaring his wings.

The shinobi stared.

Then he groaned.

Six pairs of black wings were presented to him.

"My name is Azazel. I have a proposition for you." the man said with a smirk.

* * *

 **AN: Heya! Sorry for the late (for my record anyway) release. It took a while because I was packing and readying myself for my return to college life. I'm now situated in my dorm and ready to work again. Which is why I have something important to say.**

 **No worries, I'm not stopping my fic but it _will_ now have slower updates. I simply can't write as often as I did while on my vacation, so now instead of the usual 2-3 day updates, it will now be something like 5-10 day updates. I'm sure I've spoiled some of you guys and gals with my quick updates but unfortunately that is how its gonna be. Although sometimes I might be able to make it quicker, depends on the circumstances.**

 **On the flip side, I might be late a couple of times because of exams and my part-time job. So plz forgive me if I can't finish a new update as soon as you'd like. But I promise I won't stop for a long while, I love writing this too much to stop anyways!**

 **Real life takes precedence after all.**

 **Now that the messy business is out of the way, I had trouble with Rias' conversation with Naruto for a bit as well since it came off either too chessy or as unrealistic, whatcha think? Also apologies for anyone hoping that Asia will be paired with Naruto, unless I got rid of Issei entirely I had to have his most important piece of character development occur. That and I genuinely liked how it happened, but it won't end the same that's for sure!**

 **Also in case people ask, this is the same guy that bowed his head to the Raikage so that he could forgive Sasuke. Just in case come think that Naruto bowing to anyone is OOC. He needs to convince people to believe in him and not beat the crap out of everyone. He wants to forge bonds between people due to his experience in the Elemental Nations.**

 **Anyways that's it for now! Signing out!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	8. Chapter 8

Pink eyes stared out into the night sky, as their owner sighed and placed her face into her hands.

Her annoying blond savior and her guardian have just recently conspired together to prank her. As retribution, she had punished Maria accordingly for the ridiculous trick and was about to get Naruto as well...there was one problem with that however.

He got away.

As she dealt with her consistently misbehaving guardian, she temporarily left the blond to his own devices. But after she was through with her, Naruto immediately escaped through the solitary window in the bathroom. Her revenge has been unfulfilled.

The question was now, how would she properly get back against the blond for the steak thrown at her face? It took a long shower to get rid of the stench. What could she do to him that would without a doubt make him feel her pain?

Her thoughts drifted to his ramen stash, or as Naruto called it; his _noodle treasures_.

His obsession with ramen was borderline insane, but undeniably...a little cute.

Maybe.

So she quickly went to the kitchen in order to find her psuedo-brother's stash, he usually kept it all on top of the fridge...

"...Tch."

Mio couldn't help click her tongue, for some reason it seemed her silly savior had hidden his stash again. He sometimes did that whenever either herself or Maria had confiscated a little to make him cut down on the unhealthy noodles. So occasionally he would hide them for a few days. After doing a quick check, she determined that the missing ramen cups weren't hidden in the kitchen. That left really only one place...

His room.

Whenever Naruto ever wanted to hide something and wanted to make sure that it was never found until he deemed it safe, it would always disappear into his room.

She knew this only because the blond had boasted to her about it.

Technically, neither she or Maria were allowed into the room...but this was her revenge so the usual rules didn't apply. But at the moment she couldn't do that, not unless the seals on his door were opened. So she decided to hold on to her sweet vengeance until she had her chance. Besides, she was curious about what kind of magical items she held in that room of his. Also, another question that was bugging her.

How _did_ Naruto feel about girls?

It was a question that first popped up in her head when she noticed that Naruto had a small following in school, a following that the blond seemed completely unaware of. Hell, the blond was almost _painfully_ dense when it came to girls, so when other females started asking her about what the deal was...she got curious as well. For their sake of course, she was curious for _their sake_...she wasn't that curious at all.

So maybe she could get answers in his room. But it looked like she would have to sit on her revenge and her curiousity until later, but he could be stupid sometimes...so all she really had to do was wait.

When Naruto made a mistake...she would be ready!

* * *

"Ah come on 'Unknown'! What happened to all the energy you had back at Kuoh Town? Surely you can do better than that!"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched, he was tired and a little irritable. He could be home right now having a nice rest, but instead he was here with a slightly crazy old man...fishing.

They were fishing.

"...Why are we doing this again Azazel-san?" Naruto asked with a sigh, whatever he was dragged out here for...he'd appreciate it if they just did it so that he could go home and face the music with Mio.

"Ah! I'm glad you asked 'Unknown'! Well I thought this would be a good place to chat about the affairs of the world, specifically your place in it." the powerful fallen spoke cheerfully. The shinobi just frowned as he tried to use the stupid stick to catch a fish, how the hell did you use this thing?

"'Unknown', I think you actually have to use bait before you throw the hook into the water." Azazel said with a grin, Naruto just looked away from the fallen's face since he couldn't stand the mocking grin on it.

"Yeah...I knew that. Just give me a sec. Now whatcha want exactly Azazel-san?" Naruto asked irritably, he was still cautious around the man. If he decided to attack for whatever reason then he would need a second to gather nature energy since he hadn't had the good fortune to summon a clone. He wasn't entirely sure if he could take this guy without Sage Mode, so he would use it to fight this guy properly just in case.

That or Kyuubi's chakra.

But he wouldn't talk to or deal with the kyuubi until he had some way to use it's power safely. He lost control twice already so that idea was out of the question.

He wouldn't put any of his friends in jeopardy.

As Naruto mused silently for a moment, Azazel just studied the young blond next to him on the little boat. He only recently learned about him after a certain spy gave him information about the blond and his recent actions. He was actually legitimately surprised that the boy had managed to evade detection for so long, despite his penchant for finding and studying new and interesting things.

This teenager was very much in those categories.

"First off I'd like to thank you for your performance the other day. The rather large explosion that made human news was rather eye-catching and useful for me." Azazel started dryly, but this finally grabbed Naruto's attention. Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the fallen's thanks, why would he thank him for blowing up a factory?

Actually...how would he even know that he was involved in the factory incident anyways? He was 'Sai' in that little battle...

"Thanks to that, I was able to find out about the little plan that Vretiel was cooking up. Helped me a lot! Man, being leader of Grigori can be a real tough gig you know? But with idiots like you around I can manage!" the elder fallen said with a thumbs up for dramatic effect.

...

"You didn't know!? Also did you just call me an idiot...?"

"Lets not change the subject 'Unknown'! For now we gotta figure out how to solve the situation with Vretiel and her followers."

The blond gave the older man a dull stare as he couldn't help but note that he wasn't the one that changed the subject. Also why the hell did he have to help him with his problem!? "Oi! You're the leader of your faction right? So why the hell don't you just order them to disband or something?" Naruto asked, much more simpler than any hair-brained scheme he could cook up anyways.

Finally Azazel's features turned serious as he answered Naruto's question.

"Unless I want to start a civil war within my own faction and maybe even invite other factions to attack...then I can't intervene directly." Azazel stated matter-of-factly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, he would start a civil war just by intervening in his own faction's business? How did that make any sense?

"I see you don't understand...well suffice it to say that there are many among the fallen angels who are not at all adverse to the idea of starting war again. Vretiel's actions could very well do just that, so many could actually _join_ her plan in order to purposely incite the devils to fight. If I boldly try and stop this plan then it would alert many who were unaware of it in the first place to try and incite a war. It would be catalyst for warmongers." Azazel explained.

Hell, he didn't even mention that a few fallen angels were now unaccounted for. Well now he knew where they disappeared to.

The blond widened his eyes at this information, he wasn't really aware that there were many among the fallen angels that legitimately wanted war again. All he knew was that the relatively recent war among the biblical factions was stopped with a cease-fire. But if many among them would try and incite war behind their leader's back then the hate for their former enemies must have ran deep.

"To top it all off, if I move in and possibly start a civil war with my own people...then other factions who hate fallen angels could take that chance to destroy us. As you can see, my hands are tied. Which is why I am talking to you." Azazel finished with a smirk.

"...You want me to solve your problem for you?" Naruto asked tiredly, he probably could have guessed that he was after that. "But why choose me of all people? Why not get someone more reputable that isn't aligned with your faction?"

The fallen grinned as he straightened his back and waved his arm dramatically with a flourish. "That's because there is no one like that who is close enough to Kuoh Town!" Azazel said without a hint of shame at his predicament.

This just caused Naruto to face-fault.

"How...how did you become a leader of a faction exactly...?" Naruto asked with incredulity, was it really okay for someone to be so lax when they are a leader? But it seemed that Azazel just found his question hilarious since he busted out laughing. In response the blond's eyebrow just regained it's sporadic twitch as he tried to concentrate on fishing again since his face-fault interrupted it...he wouldn't lose to a damn fish.

"Ha...you are an interesting one 'Unknown'!" the fallen leader said with humor, but Naruto had enough of his pet nickname.

"Enough with the 'Unknown' thing already...my name is Naruto. Calling me an 'unknown' constantly is seriously getting to me." Naruto spoke with annoyance lacing his tone. How would anyone like getting called an 'unknown' constantly? Is that how people knew him as?

"Eh? Why did your parents name you after a ramen topping? Kinda strange eh 'fishcake'?"

"IT'S MAELSTROM! Now lets focus on staying on the subject! I can accept that I am the only one who can do this but why should I even help in the first place?" Naruto retorted, slightly incensed by the older man's words.

"I am not entirely sure to be honest. But I have a hunch that you don't want any conflict between the devils and the fallen, that is the only possible reason that you didn't kill any of the fallen angels at the abandoned factory. Especially when you add the fact that you hid your identity, a strange move unless you consider that you didn't want the fallen to blame the devils of Kuoh Academy! Which means that helping me would be in your interest as well." Azazel spoke casually, but the blond was still annoyed by the fact that he still didn't know how his cover was blown.

"How did you know that I was in the factory Azazel-san? I never told anyone that and I doubt that you were actually there at the time, especially since the factory was what tipped you off in the first place." Naruto said with a frown, he was sure that no one was watching him at the time and he was discreet while taking the fallen girl. So how could he know?

"Now now, we just met haven't we? It wouldn't be good if I gave up all of my secrets to an 'unknown variable' now would it?" the fallen leader said, though Naruto had to wonder how he knew. "By the way, you have nothing to worry about if you think that I am going to spread my knowledge of you to other factions. It was obvious that you were hiding for a reason and I need you to help me out...so I definitely can't alienate you."

Naruto just huffed at his words, but he could accept his reasoning and see that he wasn't lying. He was pretty good at detecting liars.

"Fine fine, I admit that I do want to help. But it doesn't mean that I will do what you want, after all I just want to make sure that war doesn't start...not help you with whatever your ambitions are." Naruto stated seriously, he had no idea what Azazel wanted after all. He didn't want to help a guy who had some dark plan to rule the world or something.

He dealt with one of those types already.

Azazel just waved his hands in the air in the universal sign of surrender before speaking. "Don't worry, this is relatively simple and straightforward. You may not believe me but I actually want peace rather than war myself, mostly because war-making interrupts my more interesting pursuits. All I want _you_ to do Naruto...is to defeat Vretiel." the leader of the fallen spoke with a smirk.

The shinobi tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at the fallen before speaking.

"...That's it? That's all you want from me Azazel-san?" Naruto asked with a dubious tone in his voice. In response to the blond's disbelief, Azazel merely shrugged.

"There might be something else I want along with it, something that will make the mission more difficult for you I'm sure. Although you don't really seem like the killing type, I want to make sure that as many of my wayward subordinates are captured so that I may deal with them personally. _Especially_ those who are close to Vretiel in blood or association...like her daughter for example." the elder fallen said casually, almost like he was commenting on the weather rather than giving details to a mission.

Naruto placed his chin on the palm of his hand as he turned back towards the exciting prospect of catching a fish. "Depends on what you're planning on doing to them once they're captured. I don't like the idea of people being captured and then tortured for information you know?" Naruto said with little emotion on his face. The thought sort of made him feel a little sick to be honest, one thing to kill someone...another thing to torture them.

"Do you think of me that badly? I only wish to make sure that they won't betray me later on by placing them under house arrest. Despite how I may seem like to you...I actually do care about what happens to my people." the fallen retorted smartly, although admittedly he wasn't being fully honest about what he was going to do with Vretiel's close 'associates'.

But the blond didn't need to know that yet. Telling half-lies were among the best ways to lie to someone.

"Also, you won't be doing this for free. Since this is something actually pretty important...I am willing to owe you a favor. Eh? How does owning a favor from the great Azazel-sama sound? Not bad eh?" Azazel boasted towards the still unknown variable.

Naruto didn't look too impressed.

"It would be one thing if that favor came from a reliable source...another thing if it came from a weird guy who likes to fish too much." Naruto replied smartly, honestly he could probably accept the fallen's proposal. He probably was gonna go over to that abandoned church and beat the crap out of everyone anyways, Azazel's request was more like a side-mission more than anything else. But getting a favor from a leader of a faction could help him with his little side-project...

While Naruto wanted to get back to the Elemental Nations as soon as possible. He figured that while he was here, he could at least help in trying to secure peace in this world. So he decided to specifically aim at paving the way to peace so that others could finish the job. At least then, he wouldn't just go through his days waiting for a chance to get home. So Azazel's offer was actually a good deal, especially when he was planning to do it anyways.

"Considering that you will have knowledge of this little incident...I think that it is in my own best interest to make sure that you are satisfied with this arrangement. Besides that as a guarantee...I got nothing. You're just going to have to trust me, like I am going to have to trust you." Azazel finished with a small smile.

Naruto just smirked at that, he supposed he could do that. After this discussion, he felt that the fallen leader was at least someone he could trust.

Well...mostly...kinda?

"Alright alright. You got yourself a deal Azazel-san, now take me back to Kuoh Town...I have no idea how to get home." Naruto said blandly while trying to reel in what he thought was a fish.

Turned out that it was seaweed. Damn it he hated fishing.

"Oh fine, I suppose you got school anyways right? Man...teenagers in this day and age get no fun eh? Give me a sec and don't flinch." Azazel said while standing up and flexing his wings. Before Naruto could question the strange statement, Azazel wrapped his wings around Naruto.

They disappeared from the face of the lake.

* * *

If one were to look at the Uzumaki residence around two in the morning, they would think that it was being invaded by a thief. But their assumption would be incorrect since the 'thief' in question was just trying to get back into his own home. The blond shinobi was slowly climbing up into the window of the bathroom again, it seemed that Mio had locked the door as revenge for escaping her wrath.

Naruto was honestly fine with that, he just hoped that she calmed down a little since then. Dealing with her when the fallen angel issue seemed to be becoming more dangerous wasn't too smart. So the second he entered the house, he moved to get to his super-comfy bed and go to sleep. He had a feeling he had a long day tomorrow, best not face it when he was exhausted.

But before he went to bed, he had to deal with something that he had been putting off for a little bit.

When he reached his room, he went towards his old ninja gear in order to get some old and familiar clothes that have been pretty much destroyed over time. His trusty and stylish clothes while he was a shinobi in the Elemental Nations.

His old orange tracksuit and forehead protector.

The tracksuit was pretty much ruined beyond repair due to his constant usage of the sturdy clothes. He also doubted anyone would help him fix it while he was in this world, so the best he could hope for was to create something in its likeness. He seriously hoped that he could get those new clothes made by the time he got back to the Elemental Nations. As a stylish guy, he just couldn't stand walking around with anything but his usual threads!

Admittedly, this world had some pretty cool stuff too. So he had wanted to modify it a little bit to fit, only problem was he needed someone to help him make such an outfit.

Naruto decided to focus on his clothing problem for later, for now he wanted to get his weapons pouch prepped. He had no idea what to expect from these fallen angel rebels as a group, so he wanted to have it ready in case he needed to run back here and grab them in short notice. He tended to never actually take it with him since a pouch filled with dangerous weapons would be pretty eye-catching if anyone managed to grab it while he wasn't looking.

Happened once, he didn't fancy knocking out random people for something like that.

After making sure all was prepped for an emergency snatch-and-grab, he finally decided to hit the hay. Hopefully tomorrow would be a safe day where he can scout the fallen before planning any kind of assault.

* * *

Raynare was looking down on the ceremony which her mother had prepped, she decided that it was fitting all things considered.

She was sitting on a ledge near the ceiling of the large underground 'room'. She was watching as her mother gave orders left and right to exiled priests as well as other fallen angels. The amount of fallen angels here was actually kind of surprising for the young woman.

When her mother first started this operation, she only had a handful of fallen join her. But as time went on, it seemed that numerous other fallen angels have joined in for their own reasons and motivations. Some wanted to see if such a 'transplant' could be accomplished on a pure fallen angel, others were thrill seekers who were riding high on staying in devil territory...but some...

She couldn't help but notice that some fallen angels were here to intentionally start a war with the devils that control this territory.

She wasn't one of those peace advocates among the fallen angels, but she certainly wasn't one that would intentionally start a war. At the moment, Raynare couldn't help but silently hope that her mother knew what she was doing by having these fallen join her ranks.

Her musings ended when she noticed a blue-haired fallen angel descend the stairs with a certain blond nun in tow, she ignored how downtrodden the nun appeared in favor of greeting her friend.

"Kalawarner-nee, I see you have accomplished your mission. No troubles I presume?" Raynare asked on her elevated position, Kalawarner looked up in order to respond to her former charge's question.

"I wouldn't say no trouble at all...but very little, it seemed that our nun here had managed to get a friend in her short time here. Isn't that right little Asia?" Kalawarner asked without much sympathy. The nun said nothing in response, which caused Kalawarner to just sigh and turn back to the younger fallen angel.

"Apologies for her attitude Raynare-sama...she's just upset that I recently hurt her friend. A human boy was trying to stop me from extracting her, but he was just a normal human. So you had nothing to worry about." the blue-haired fallen stated. She was a little tempted to kill the boy actually, but she refrained on the grounds that a random human death at this time could draw attention to Vretiel-sama's ritual...especially since she didn't want to attract the attention of the second powerful human. Besides, just because one human happened to be strong enough to beat her, it didn't mean that she should kill every human in sight from now on.

The incident was an aberration, a strange occurrence when compared to her life-time's worth of interacting with humans. Likely not to happen again.

"Ha ha ha! Looks like you've gotten a bit more paranoid Kalawarner-chan!" a feminine voice called out to the faux business woman. Kalawarner sighed while Raynare groaned as Mittelt joined the conversation. Raynare glanced to the side to see a blonde girl wearing a gothic lolita dress glide down on her single pair of wings. She gave Kalawarner a toothy grin, much to the physically older woman's annoyance.

"Just because there was one human that beat the crap out of you, doesn't mean that all of them can now you know?" Mittelt said with a mocking smile, which only caused a sporadic twitch to appear on Kalawarner's face much to Raynare's amusement. Kalawarner-nee and Mittelt-chan have always been like this, trying to one-up one another with Dohnaseek-sensei being the one who broke them up.

How long could something like this last she wondered? The ceremony was going to begin tomorrow at mid-day, but this felt like one of those 'important' moments that she read about in her history classes. Would there be a _before_ and _after_ that points to this day as something special? She didn't know. All she knew was that she couldn't...no... _wouldn't_ fail her mother.

Raynare opened her mouth to speak before she was interrupted by a voice that she didn't recognize.

"...Why?"

All speaking between the small fallen group ceased when the human spoke when no one expected her to.

"...How can all of you know what it's like to have such happiness with your friends...how can you cherish those bonds...when you don't care that you destroy the bonds of others...?" the nun asked softly, she didn't understand these people. They were cruel to their enemies yet they were friendly with one another...how could they have such double-standards? Didn't the Bible say to 'do unto others what as you would have them do unto you'? Yet these people...

The group was silent as they stared at the distraught blond. What could they say to that? What could anyone say to that when considering the circumstances?

"You wouldn't like it if someone took someone you cared about right...? You wouldn't like it if your friends were hurt in front of you right? So why?..." the nun asked again with tears pouring down her eyes. "How could you hurt Issei-san...and still face you're loved ones...?"

"Stop."

A masculine voice emerged from the shadows of the stairs leading to the underground room, Dohnaseek has arrived.

"There is no honor or justice in any of this little nun, this is simply for the sake of power...nothing else. _That_ is the cruel reality of the world, you could either live with it or fall...and unfortunately you are going to fall. So bringing in moral and theological arguments or attempting to understand this is fruitless...accept your fate." Dohnaseek spoke without remorse.

The young nun just turned away from the fallen and turned her gaze to the ground.

Raynare just stared at the nun before turning her gaze towards her mother who was ordering around her subordinates. After a moment she turned around to leave the building. She ignored the calls of her former teachers and current friends as she left.

She needed some air. _Badly_.

* * *

When Naruto woke up the next day, he figured that Mio would try to ignore him and be somewhat aggressive for the rest of the day. But strangely enough, she seemed to be far more passive than he expected. He couldn't help but hope that she had calmed down a little since then, as a psuedo-older brother he was actually very proud of her!

Maria on the other hand...he couldn't help but notice the dark glint in her eyes as he went about his day, he better watch for any suspicious happenings. No way was he about to be caught in one of her traps!

He decidedly ignored the fact that the bathroom had a stink bug when he went to take a shower.

For now though, Naruto actually decided to do something more productive today and get to school earlier than usual. The only reason he was doing this was to make sure he at least had a record at showing up to school, no doubt his continuous skipping would do damage to Mio's and Yuki's reputation since they pretty much hanged out with each other. He really didn't care for the curriculum, he lived without a proper education before so he could do it again!

But he could do without his friends' and acquaintances' constant attempts of getting him to do schoolwork diligently.

Speaking of which...

Naruto stared ahead at the Kuoh Academy gates, more specifically at the young woman who was greeting the returning students. The shinobi just groaned at the upcoming lecture he would no doubt hear if he got caught. If he could just silently sneak across without the student council president knowing then maybe he could-

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Aaaaaahhhhhhh...

Naruto glanced at Shitori Sona as she gazed at him with a small frown, he wanted to make a break for it but that could make the lecture much worse if he actually got caught later.

"I hear you are still acting out against your teachers? Why must you continuously dodge your responsibilities as a student?" Sona asked with a disapproving glare, which caused Naruto to scratch the back of his head uncomfortably. It'd be one thing if Sona was actually a jerk to him, but Sona genuinely cared about all of the students of Kuoh Academy. So her honest beliefs actually made him somewhat uncomfortable, since he honestly didn't need schooling. He couldn't exactly explain himself to her either, in short no matter what he does, he would probably have to face Sona again.

That left one option.

 ***POOF***

The student council president blinked as a small smoke cloud enveloped the blond troublemaker suddenly and without warning. She quickly glanced around to see that no normal humans saw the strange application of the strange blond's power before turning back to the cloud. Did he really think that he could get away from his duties? Did he really think he could escape her lecture by using a smokescreen to get away? It was her _duty_ as the student council president of Kuoh Academy to-!

Her internal monologue stopped as she gaped at what she saw.

She expected to see a blond either sprint out of the smoke or attempting to hide. But she didn't see any of that.

A log.

There was a log where the blond once stood.

"...How?"

When did he escape? _How_ did he escape? She was right there! It wasn't logically possible for him to escape when he never left the smoke!

Where did the log even come from!?

Sona did her best to calm herself down as she pushed her glasses back into place. She was quickly coming to understand what her best friend meant when she last spoke to her about the blond mystery.

Logic didn't apply to him.

What a terrifying prospect.

But not an unexpected one.

* * *

Shinobi were supposed to be masters of stealth and intrigue.

Naruto sucked at intrigue.

So he would have to deal with stealth, which was being tested by his new designated number one enemy, he never knew _they_ would take it this far...

They wanted two things from him, both were completely and utterly unacceptable! He could swallow his pride for the greater good sometimes, but this...this was not one of those times!

How could they even ask such a thing from him!?

"Where is that blond bastard!?"

"Don't worry Gen-chan! He won't be able to keep this up forever, kaichou and fuku-kaichou won't let him escape easily!"

"Split up for now and notify everyone if you found him! We will cut him off if necessary."

Damn the student council! Stop trying to give me detention! Stop trying to make me go to class for the rest of the year! This is tyrannical damn it!

Naruto quickly turned around from where he was headed, he heard those voices coming from that hallway so he had to find another way out. When he turned around however, he was face-to-face with his new mortal enemy.

"...Sona-kaichou."

"...Uzumaki Naruto."

The student council president of Kuoh Academy stared down the blond menace of the school before speaking.

"Surrender, you are now surrounded and if you come quietly then your sentence to detention will be lessened. I assure you." Sona said while crossing her arms, the blond was indeed surrounded by both sides. Tsubaki and herself covered this side while Saji, Momo, and Tsubasa were cutting him off on the other side of the hallway.

They were on the third floor of the building so it wasn't like he could escape through the windows unless he could fly.

 ***POOF***

She was beginning to hate smoke.

As she feared, the smokescreen allowed for Uzumaki to escape again. Except this time there was no log to take his place, she was glad that all the students were in class at the very least.

"Don't let him get away!" Sona ordered, which made the rest of her Peerage continue their search for the illusive and annoying blond.

When they all left to search for him however, a locker door near to where the smoke was opened to reveal Uzumaki Naruto in the flesh. He figured that Sona would believe he escaped again by using simple smoke again, but in reality he just used a _henge_ to create the smoke and then quickly hid inside the locker before the smoke cleared.

Now he was free! While looking like a random student anyways, he didn't want to get caught again so he just kept the _henge_ of an unassuming student of Kuoh Academy.

So Naruto casually walked down the stairs so that he could leave the school again. Man, he needed a good reason to leave again otherwise he wouldn't hear the end of it from several people.

Huh, he kinda was acting like a delinquent these days...but his motives were pure. So it's all good.

He was almost at the home stretch to leave the school building when he collided with someone while making a turn towards the exit. The shock actually knocked him out of his _henge_ and he couldn't help but hope that it wasn't anyone from student council, he didn't want to the whole chase thing again!

"Naruto-san!"

He has never been so glad to hear to voice of Hyoudou Issei until now.

"Uh, heya Issei-san. Look, I'm kinda busy right now so can we talk later? I am on the run from the law and I need to-" Naruto began but was shocked when Issei grabbed him on the shoulders and turned him around to face him.

"Naruto-san...thank god...I found you! Please! You have to help me! You're the only one I know that can help me! So please! I would do anything!" Issei shouted towards the blond with desperation, but this only confused the shinobi more.

"Woah woah woah! Slow down there! Take it easy...now tell me. What happened to make you so crazy?" Naruto asked genuinely curious, only to take a closer look at the perverted teen and frown.

He had bruises, a _lot_ of bruises. Was someone hurting him?

Issei took a quick breath before exhaling it all out, then he turned back to the blond with desperate eyes. "Naruto-san. My friend has been abducted by one of those factions you told me about...fallen angels was it? Anyways, she has been abducted and I want to save her! I tried to do it myself...but I wasn't strong enough. So please...please help me save her!" Issei pleaded, practically groveling on the floor.

Naruto widened his eyes at Issei's words, fallen angels? They kidnapped someone? Why? Who?

What the hell were they up to exactly?

Then something clicked in Naruto's head.

"Issei-san...this girl you wanted to save...it wouldn't happen to be a nun would it?" Naruto asked hesitantly, he had no idea what to think if Issei answered in the positive. If he stayed a little longer than maybe he could have saved the young girl...he could have even kept a clone to watch them just to be sure.

"Eh? How did you know?" Issei asked in wonder. Naruto on the other hand just grimaced, if only he was smarter...! Before he could go any further on this route, he shook his head and turned back to Issei.

"Issei-san, don't worry. I'll help you with this." Naruto said with determination, the fallen were rebels and have abducted a human girl...they were fair game now. There was no way a supernatural could be a nun so she was definitely human and he had beef to settle, he would finish this now before anyone else suffered needlessly.

First things first though.

"Issei-san, go back to your house and stay there until tomorrow morning for school. Leave this to me, I promise that Asia will be safe and sound." Naruto said with a grin. But Issei shook his head and practically glared at Naruto.

"No! I need to help Asia in any way I can! I couldn't save her before...please let me come!" Issei begged, he couldn't stand the thought that Asia could be in danger while he was sitting at home safely.

Naruto frowned at Issei's request, in every sense of the word...Issei would be a liability. No, the smart thing to do was to make sure he stayed home.

"Issei-san, I don't think you understand how dangerous this is. This isn't a video game where if you die then you get another life...if you die then you're finished. These are powerful beings that can destroy you with a flick of their fingers...and you want to come? Why would you even want to come?" Naruto asked quietly, his answer would determine the shinobi's decision.

"...I always wanted to do ecchi things to beautiful women. I always wanted to become a harem king ever since I was young. But I...when I met Asia I just wanted to hold her and keep her safe no matter what. I don't know why her...but I want to keep her safe! I failed her once, I won't fail her again!"

...

A toothy grin appeared on the shinobi's face. There was hope for the guy yet.

"Keep up Issei."

* * *

As the pair ran off to aid a young girl in need, a pair of eyes noticed them leave the academy grounds. More specifically, the person noticed the determined expression that was on Naruto's face...an expression she only saw once.

"...Naruto?"

* * *

Naruto figured out pretty quickly that Issei couldn't keep up. So the shinobi was holding Issei by having his left arm around his shoulders so that they could move faster. Before they could get to the abandoned church though...they had to make a pit-stop.

He landed in front of his house and dropped Issei on the floor unceremoniously, the teen was kissing the ground since they were roof-hopping. Naruto ignored him and quickly entered his house in order to grab his weapons pouch...they might be useful. After grabbing them, he immediately left the house and locked the door before placing the pouch on his belt.

"Alright Issei, time to go. We got to save your princess like badass knights with orange armor." Naruto said with a completely serious face, Issei just wondered if he made a terrible mistake asking the blond for help. He couldn't stop to think on it since Naruto grabbed him again and started jumping on the roofs again, he just hoped he could hold his lunch.

* * *

Raynare was staring at Kuoh Town from the sky.

Ever since the incident with the nun yesterday, she has been staying away from the abandoned church like it was infested with plague. For some reason she couldn't stay in there without feeling a little sick. But more importantly...

She couldn't look at the nun in the eye anymore.

The ceremony would had already begun and would end in the evening. The sun was already disappearing.

The nun's life would go along with it.

She shook her head of the thought, she was letting the human get to her. Her mother would be ashamed that she was even _thinking_ about this. This was reality, this was what she was prepared to do to earn her mother's care again. She told herself that she would do whatever was necessary...right?

So why was she hesitating now?

The young fallen sighed and moved to get back to the church.

Then paused.

This feeling...she _remembered_ this feeling.

She felt it only twice in her short life, both times rather recently as a matter of fact.

The same feeling that she warned Kalawarner-nee about...!

It was heading this way.

"Oh...oh..."

It was getting closer.

"Ohhhhhh..."

...

"SHIT!" Raynare cursed as she scrambled to get back to the church and warn her mother about the impending danger.

If it was _that_ human as she feared, then her mother needed to be notified immediately!

She sped off to the church while flaring her light energy so that she would alert her fellow fallen angels, the second she touched down in front of the church she was met face-to-face with her mother.

"What the hell do you think you're doing child!? This isn't the time for..."

"He's here! Another powerful human is here! The same as last time! Okaa-sama please believe me!" Raynare pleaded with her mother before bowing. Vretiel just frowned at this as she tried to make sense of her daughter's words.

Before she froze.

"Impossible...how can there be two...? Are you positive Raynare? No mistake? You _will_ be punished if you are wasting my time." Vretiel growled, if this human was as powerful as the last one then she would need to see to this personally.

Now of all times too...!

"Yes okaa-sama! Absolutely positive!" Raynare said with certainty.

Vretiel just cursed before turning back to the church where a small group of fallen have approached to see what was going on.

"Fallen! We have an intruder heading here at any moment! Join with me so that we could give them a proper greeting!" Vretiel shouted. This caused an eruption of cheers to break out among her followers as many spread their wings to take flight. She spread her own wings and turned back to Raynare.

"Raynare, I need you to go back inside and finish the ceremony. I have managed to scale down the time needed for it's completion, now you and your former guardians just need to keep the energy consumption steady. It should only take two hours now, we will deal with the intruder...don't mess this up." Vretiel said seriously, she would be damned if her daughter screwed up at such a critical juncture.

"O-Of course okaa-sama!" Raynare said with only a minor stutter, before seeing all of the fallen present fly into the sky to prep for their intruder.

'...Be careful okaa-sama.' Raynare mentally hoped, as she went inside the church to help her friends finish the ritual. She had mixed feelings about all of this, but she would do as her mother commanded, she always did.

 **AN: Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter! So we are quickly and suddenly reaching into the climax of the first legit Arc. The next chapter will indeed be interesting! Sorry if I didn't respond to some PMs, I've been busy getting back into my schedule and was busy. Things have calmed down a little but I am still a busy guy ^.^**

 **So I think that there are at least two more chapters left of this Arc at this rate, so they should be mostly action-packed considering where I left it off. Also I'm sure some of you had to suspend some believability (is that even a word?) when looking at Raynare's personality in comparison to canon...but I actually have a decent explanation for that. My policy for OOC characters will be until further noticed; as reasonable changes that are grounded in the story. I don't know when I will get around to explaining it but it will probably hinted at in the upcoming chapters and will be fully explained in the next Arc.**

 **In case some don't know, in japanese Naruto's name is based off a ramen topping called _narutomaki_ and his name could also mean _maelstrom_. So thats the joke :P**

 **Lastly, if anyone doesn't get why Naruto was so cranky with Azazel...it was mostly because he was tired and wanted some shut-eye lol**

 **Hope my followers had fun with this chapter! Onward to the next!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto was jogging towards the abandoned church with Issei tagging along.

They were supposed to be flying through the trees...but his tag along lost his lunch after a while so they had to go on foot.

Naruto was actually regretting bringing the teenaged boy in the first place a little. Not a lot...but a little.

When Naruto decided to take Issei for the ride, he was admittedly placing himself into his shoes.

What would _he_ do if a friend was in danger? What would he do if he failed to protect that friend prior? How much would he hate the bastard that tried to stop him? Even if it was too dangerous for him?

Those questions, plus the fact that Naruto was sure that he could protect the guy and reveal to him just how dangerous the supernatural world actually was. This would be a perfect field test for the perverted boy...to show him the _reality_ of what becoming a devil could mean.

The danger and the enemies he would face. All while being protected by a badass such as himself.

So yeah, it was probably better for Naruto to leave him home. But he figured it wouldn't be so bad since those fallen couldn't really beat his clone. Now they were facing the real deal!

He just wished they weren't moving so slow.

"Come on Issei! Surely you've got more stamina than this? Get your rear in gear!" Naruto shouted back at his thoroughly exhausted partner.

"Damn it...not everyone...is a...stamina freak like you!" Issei shouted back, thoroughly exhausted. Seriously, was this guy even human? He claimed he was...but humans don't go jumping from tree branch to tree branch like a damn monkey!

Naruto rolled his eyes at the perverted teen before facing ahead towards the direction of the abandoned church. He felt the energy signals...

Light energy. A _lot_ of light energy.

This will probably be more troublesome than he expected.

Damn, he could see why Shikamaru liked that phrase now.

Naruto stopped suddenly, Issei who wasn't paying attention just crashed into him before looking at Naruto in confusion. "Naruto? What's up?" Issei asked with confusion. Naruto didn't say anything for a moment before finally responding.

"Issei, this will be your first glimpse into a supernatural battle. Sooner or later the fallen will probably try and make a barrier or something. That way other factions won't sense their large numbers..." the blond said seriously, much to Issei's consternation. A battle? Would it really come to that?

"You have nothing to worry about, but you _should_ probably go and hide if you see the sky turn into a creepy purplish color, ya can't miss it. That would probably be the barrier. Just stay hidden until I grab you alright Issei?" Naruto said while glancing towards the brown-haired boy.

But before Issei could say anything, his worst fear was realized when the sky seemed to have been blanketed by a purplish aura that distorted it. It was something...inhuman.

Supernatural.

Issei was staring at it like a deer would stare at an oncoming car before he felt Naruto's hand touch his shoulder. He looked up to stare at intense blue eyes.

"Issei...you want to live?"

Issei gulped.

"Ye-yeah?"

"Then MOVE!"

Issei nodded frantically and ran towards a nearby foilage, he couldn't help but curse at his weakness again. Once more he was nothing but a liability...

Then his thoughts ceased when he saw _it_.

The little black feathers that have haunted his dreams last night.

"...Fallen angels..." Issei spoke in awe and fear.

Naruto just grimaced. He wanted to be involved, he hoped that Issei's guts would keep him alive like it did for him.

"...Welp, might as well grab their attention. Stay here until I grab you alright Issei? I promise I wlll be right back." the blond said with a grin.

He dashed off before the perverted boy could say anything in retort.

* * *

Vretiel was staring down at the forest before them.

The forest separated the abandoned church from Kuoh Town, enough for a battlefield inside a barrier. All that was left for them to do...was to actually find the intruder.

She kept the small army in a loose formation and ordered them to stay above the clouds for their hunt. She learned from last time how crafty these powerful and strange humans could be.

Close range was not the way to go, better to pepper the human from afar. With sheer numbers they would overwhelm the human before any of their crafty tricks could be initiated.

She would take no chances this time around, too much was at stake to simply take their time with this opponent.

Then she saw it.

She saw _him_.

The human before her eyes stared back at her with a glare, she just gave him a cruel smirk as she slowly pointed her arm towards his direction. He simply stood there with a defiant expression on his face as her hand took the shape of a childish hand gun.

Was he terrified so thoroughly that he was now paralyzed? Behind his brave front he was _terrified_ and she knew it.

His life was now in her hands...to mold...to save...to _break_.

The army behind her prepped their light spears while waiting for her signal to fire on the human.

Like an armed gun...they were ready.

One word left her lips as her eyes turned _murderous_.

"Bang."

* * *

Issei was waiting for the blond to come back, it was pretty creepy here. He didn't know what to do or where to go...so until his new ally came back, he was stuck there.

He was seriously hoping that he would come back at _all_.

He may have been fast, but what could he do against fallen angels? He was still human after all.

He frowned as he thought about that, maybe he was too quick to turn to Naruto. Naruto never said anything about being strong himself right? All he knew about the blond was that he could make copies of himself and had good speed and stamina.

That's it.

He _really_ hoped that he had a trick up his sleeve. But before he could ponder on the question further...something happened.

He felt it before he saw it.

A tremor...a large tremor.

The ground was shaking and Issei was quickly losing his balance to the sudden movement. Man...what the hell was going on right-

Then he saw it.

His eyes widened as a shock wave of power slammed into him and pushed him into the tree behind him. He groaned at the pain the action had made while staring up in horror at what he was seeing.

Fallen angels.

A _lot_ of them.

All grouped together above a large plume of smoke.

The brown haired boy was feeling numb as despair was beginning to set in. That was definitely where Naruto headed...there was no way he survived that.

Then something more horrifying began.

The fallen angels were moving...they were moving in his direction!

Issei scrambled to get out of the way, but he doubted he would make it. But he couldn't give up yet...not until he saved Asia!

Before he could allow this second wind to empower him, he felt a hand grab him by the back of his shirt and _pull_ him into the bushes. Issei had his heart in his throat as he automatically tried shouting out in surprise before he felt a hand cover his mouth. His eyes widened in shock and horror.

No...no no no no!

Did he get caught!?

"Damn it...shut up Issei and wait for them to pass!" a familiar voice hissed in his ear.

The teenaged boy's eyes widened.

Naruto!

Then he saw the large group of fallen angels pass by their hiding spot as they seemed to be focused on chasing down something rather than looking for anyone else.

Seconds ticked by as they both stayed quiet before Naruto finally let go of the breath he was holding and let Issei go. The second he let go, the plain-looking boy turned around and opened his mouth for a question-and-answer session.

But before he could begin, the blond cut him off.

"Issei, we don't have time for this. We have to get to your friend before the fallen realize that we tricked them." Naruto said quickly while grabbing Issei by the arm so he could stand up. The perverted boy frowned for a moment, but he nodded after thinking about it. They really didn't have time to mess around right now.

Issei began jogging with Naruto as he made his way to the abandoned church before the blond spoke again.

"By the way. I'm a clone."

Issei deadpanned.

"...Where's the real you?"

The Naruto clone just scratched his head.

"Well...you see the boss is..."

* * *

The _real_ Naruto was currently dodging and weaving light spears that were raining from the sky.

After his initial encounter with the fallen, he decided that instead of fighting them...he should make a break for it so that he could take them with him. The reason for doing this was pretty simple.

He sorely miscalculated on how many fallen angels there would be here. I mean how can you blame him!?

For the rescue mission to save one of their own in the abandoned factory, there were very few!

Their home base is a small abandoned church!

Azazel never mentioned that a _large_ amount of fallen have joined Vretiel!

He had every reason to think that there were only ten-fallen strong!

But turned out there were more like...fifty.

Probably more since they were all above the clouds.

Even then he could probably just obliterate them with a few clever tricks, but the initial miscalculation bred another one.

Bringing Issei.

Now he has to focus more on making sure that Issei wasn't caught in the cross-fire as well as fight them.

So he was leading them away, to a safer location to bring the fear of God back to them.

But now he had another problem.

This problem had something to do with the large amount of explosions that were peppering around him.

By _sheer_ number, they were preventing him from counterattacking properly. Not to mention the fact that they were very high in the air. So high that it would leave him wide open for a split-second if he tried to jump to them before he actually reached them!

So he had to improvise. He was good at that anyways.

But first...

Naruto continued dodging the light spears, some were impaling the ground while others were setting off explosions which decimated the local forestry. The explosions were quickly causing small fires to break out and spread among the still healthy trees.

In short, there was a _lot_ of smoke.

That would work.

* * *

Vretiel was staring at the burning forest with frustration. Her subordinates were simply _not_ getting the blond menace. Every time one of them would get a decent shot at the boy, he would veer off from its destination as if he knew where it would land!

Which was why she was going to begin her own assault in a moment.

She couldn't afford the negative perception that her own attack on the human would bring. The simple fact that she would attack a 'downer' at all would have looked terribly bad to her subordinates.

Why would someone so strong even bother attacking a weak human?

Unless they weren't so strong after all.

But now she was sure that they would accept her own attack of the blond since they were as fed up as she was. Now...they just wanted the wily human dead.

She would oblige them.

She raised her hand in order to cease the attacks of her fallen comrades, most followed while some begrudgingly followed. Good enough.

With that same hand she formed a light spear which was surrounded by rings, it was bigger than her.

The same one at the factory.

She looked up to stare at it for a moment. Then she put _more_ power into it.

Now it was the twice the size of the one at the factory.

Perfect.

"Rejoice downer! For you shall fall to a soon-to-be legendary figure in history! You shall get your own footnote as one of the many that I have destroyed! Congratulations." Vretiel said with a dark grin.

"Now die."

The spear flew to the ground with enough speed to break the sound barrier. It crashed into the ground where the human last was.

 ***BOOOOOOM***

The explosion that rocked the forest was deafening. Even to the fallen who were high from the ground.

The trees which were near to the spear when it fell was completely obliterated and the trees that were only affected by the shockwave were completely ripped away from their roots. When the explosion finally receded and only smoke remained, there was a large crater where a nice patch of forest once remained.

Vretiel could hear the shocked gasps and feel the silent awe that many of her fallen surbodinates were now permeating.

She _reveled_ in it.

"Now do you see downer!? The superiority of our race cannot be fathomed by a lowly human such as yourself! Now weep! As you have only come to this realization far too late!" Vretiel exclaimed with amusement. She ended it all before the clash could have become anything more than an annoying waste of time. Now...she had better check up on Raynare and make sure that the ritual is proceeding smoothly.

"Ya know...it's kinda hard to hear you from all the way down here dattebayo!"

All of the fallen's eyes widened at the foreign voice that no one recognized.

Vretiel's most of all.

She snarled as she glared heatedly at the ground where the smoke resided. How the hell did he survive that!?

Before any of the fallen could do anything about it though, the smoke was suddenly pushed back by a strong wind that came out of nowhere. What appeared from behind the smoke shocked the fallen even more.

There were several copies of the annoying human!

They were mostly grouped into twos, with one copy standing behind the other. The copy which was in front was holding the front of the collar of the one behind it.

Vretiel was stunned for all of one second before shaking her head and snarling at the human.

"Do you take us for fools!? Those are obviously illusions! Everyone! Don't be fooled by the downer's trickery! Focus on finding the real human!" Vretiel shouted amongst her troops. This woke up many among them from the strange sight before them, many started focusing on making new spears of light.

But before they could, the human shouted again and finished his prior sentence.

"Well since it's hard to hear you from here...I suppose I just gotta bring you all to my level!" the blond human shouted before pointing up at them.

"FIRE!"

"""ROGER BOSS!"""

Then it happened.

The copies in front of the two-man group held the collar of the back one and pulled them over their shoulder. Then with all of their strength, they _launched_ the copies into the air!

The army once again gaped as the projectile human copies were sent at them at breakneck speeds. They couldn't respond in time!

But that was ok right? Since these were illusions, they couldn't hurt them. All they had to do was focus on finding the real one.

Then their expectations were crushed when the projectile humans crashed into them and sent them flying towards the ground. Many of them were being sent back-first towards the ground from the sky.

Vretiel was among the few who were fast enough to dodge the human that was sent at her before slashing it from behind.

 ***POOF***

The copy was destroyed in a puff of smoke?

But more importantly, only the most powerful among the three-winged fallen angels were still in the sky. Everyone else was sailing towards the ground. Unless they wanted to kill off at least about ninety-percent of her followers...she couldn't attack. She would be more likely to hit them than the blond.

As much as she didn't care for them at all, she didn't want to lose the power that their sheer numbers would provide.

She growled as she clenched her fist. The human would not die quickly...or painlessly.

* * *

Naruto was having the time of his life!

Although if someone saw him saying that while surrounded by flailing fallen bodies that were falling towards the ground of a burning forest...well...there would be questions.

Also...he had to say...thank goodness for _kawarimi no jutsu!_

Most underrated justu in the world. You gotta love the logs!

When they finally reached the ground, he felt the fallen below him; a young-looking man with brown hair and two pairs of wings smash the ground with his back. He heard more than felt the man's wings break when he crashed.

He looked up to see his clones smash other fallen into the ground like...'falling' stars!

Man, that was a good one. He better write it down.

He was partially feeling a little giddy because he could focus more on fighting rather than worrying about his opponent or someone else. With the stray devils in the forest; he had to keep Mio and Maria safe. With his fight with Yuki; he had to make sure that he didn't irreparably destroy any chance of friendship. With his first clash with the fallen; he had to make his loss look reasonable.

Now?

He just had to kick ass without killing anyone! That's practically his usual MO anyways!

"Boss! Incoming!" a clone shouted at the same time as he snapped his head to the sky and dodged to the right. Where he once stood was a light spear which glowed and then exploded.

The explosion dispersed a clone which was too close and he quickly targeted the perpetrator and charged at the male fallen. He punched him hard in the stomach and allowed it to send him flying to another fallen which was getting ready to fly back to the sky.

He took a second to look around him, the battle between his clones and the fallen was fierce. The clones have limited themselves to hand-to-hand fighting while the fallen were in complete disarray. Some were attempting to get back to the sky and were thwarted by his clones before they could try. Some were fighting it out with their light spears in physical combat. While the rest were simply trying to use their spears to carpet-bomb the area, either forgetting or not caring about their comrades.

Naruto decided to back off for now to better survey the situation. He couldn't tell what was going on from where he was in the middle of a battlefield, better to be a general and join in the fun _after_ he beats the crap out of Vretiel. She was the objective here, no matter how he looked at it.

He jumped away from the fiery forest grounds towards the trees which still had branches, from there he studied how the battle was going and looked through the sky for Vretiel. He was getting memories from several clones that were 'popped' but he still got nothing in information about the fallen leader.

He was about to jump to another branch when he saw something...or rather _someone_ who he did not expect to see here.

"...Naruto."

Naruto just gaped at the person. But actually...maybe he could turn this strange coincidence to his advantage?

"Hey...could you do me a quick favor?"

* * *

Issei was staring at the abandoned church in the clearing.

Asia was being kept in this building...

He didn't know how Naruto's clone thingy worked, but since his clone was still here then he could assume that Naruto himself was ok.

But he was definitely giving the fallen angels hell.

He could _see_ the fire from the other side of the forest all the way over here!

"Ok Issei...it should be mostly clear. All that are left should be the weakest of the fallen angels. We should have a clear shot to your girlfriend now." Naruto said with a grin, Issei just sputtered out a response to his words, but they were just ignored.

They both moved into the church where Naruto just expected to mop up the rest of the fallen.

He was wrong.

He had to mop up the rest of the _humans_.

"Well well well! It seems that the shitty nun has some friends! Are you looking to die too!?" said a young looking man with an insane face and priest clothing.

The shinobi just frowned, the man had quite the mouth on him.

Then the man just up and ruined any future positive thoughts about him when he literally licked his gun like it was a damn piece of candy.

"...I don't want to meet this guy in a dark alley way Naruto."

"...You're telling me Issei..." Naruto replied with a sweatdrop. He then hardened his eyes and addressed the obviously insane priest.

"Look, we don't want any trouble buddy. But we need to save a friend of ours, so just move out of the way and you won't have to get hurt." Naruto said seriously, but the priest just hunched forward in laughter at the blond's pleas.

"HAHAHAHA! YOU!? You are begging _me_ to stop!? I think you should look around you shitty blond-chan!" the insane man exclaimed.

Issei looked around and widened his eyes in shock as he realized that they were surrounded by priests!

All of them had what looked like lightsabers from Star Wars to the perverted boy...and guns!

He looked back towards Naruto in the hopes that he had a way to get them out of this, but he was shocked to see that the clone seemed completely unconcerned.

"Priest-san...no...fallen priest-san. If I can beat up fallen angels then I'm pretty sure I can beat you and everyone here. Move." Naruto insisted with a glare. The priest just cackled and then pointed his gun at the blond.

"Kill 'em boys!"

The priests immediately charged the two intruders and Issei tried to warn Naruto...before he noticed something.

Naruto wasn't there.

The perverted boy's eyes widened in horror as he began to believe that the blond had abandoned him...

Until he heard several bodies fall.

Issei looked around in amazement as priests were falling left and right to...well... _something_. The truth was that he had no idea, but the priests gave him an idea of what...or rather _who_ was causing the chaos.

"Damn it...! Hold still so that I can smite you...you whiskered freak!" the insane priest from before he shot randomly at the crowd of his own comrades.

All he got from the attack was another dead priest.

The insane priest growled as he saw his forces getting decimated by a bastard that was moving so fast...that he couldn't even see a _trace_ of him!

Well damn it! He was gonna kill _something_! If it wasn't the freak then it could be the other kid!

With that in mind, he aimed his gun at the unsuspecting Issei...

Then with a sick grin, he fired.

* * *

The _real_ Naruto was busy knocking out each and every fallen angel he could find.

He was in the process of grabbing a fallen's ankle and using him as a bat. He never played baseball before...so he wanted to try now.

"BATTER UP!" Naruto shouted while ignoring the terrified screams of his hostage. He also decided to ignore the screams of the 'ball' as well.

The 'ball' in question was a female fallen angel that was thrown by a clone of his towards him. She was trying desperately to stop herself but she was thrown far too hard to stop now.

The blond grinned and swung the fallen man towards the woman and...

 ***SMASH***

Both fallen were sent sprawling together towards the sky, they were definitely knocked out.

Meh, he should have sent them higher.

"Like hell you freaks are gonna take me down easily!"

Naruto looked to the side to see a fallen man try to fly to the sky in desperation, but unfortunately for him.

"TAKE HIM DOWN!"

"""RIGHT!"""

It seems he just made himself into a target of several clones.

So as one, the clones each jumped up and grabbed a limb. Four clones grabbed his arms and legs which began to drag him back to Earth. As the man struggled, the fifth and final clone jumped up and brought his feet out to crash them into the fallen's stomach.

" _Gah!_ "

The force of the blow sent the fallen angel towards the ground with surprising speed with spittle coming out of his mouth.

 ***CRASH***

The crater the man formed was shaped just like him.

The clones then went and high-fived each other.

Naruto grinned at that, things were going great over here.

Then memories began to flood into his head from a destroyed clone.

Quite a few destroyed clones.

"Found ya Vretiel!" Naruto said with a grin, it was about time that he found her and ended this little fight.

He wondered if his friend made it to the church yet?

* * *

Issei watched in fascinated horror as the light bullet from the gun was heading straight for him.

It almost seemed to be moving in slow motion, but there was no mistaking the fact that it would cleanly pierce his heart. He simply wasn't fast enough to move.

Ah...there it was again.

He wasn't fast enough...

He wasn't smart enough...

He wasn't _strong_ enough...

Not to save Asia...

Not to help Naruto...

Not even to save _himself_...

'I'm...I'm sorry Asia...'

Issei closed his eyes as he awaited for death.

...

 ***CLANG***

Issei opened his eyes wide at the sound.

That was something intercepting the bullet!

"Naru-!" Issei poke out in jubilation, ready to give the man a hug.

Before stopping himself.

The man in front of him...was most certainly _not_ a man at all.

Definitely a woman.

More importantly, it definitely _wasn't_ Naruto.

"...Hyoudou-san?" the woman asked while holding her sword in a defensive position.

Issei normally would have taken the time to admire her nice body if it wasn't for the fact that this was definitely wasn't the time for that.

"Ye-yeah?" Issei gulped, he really hoped she was on his side.

The woman turned her head to face the perverted boy and stared at him with yellow eyes.

"My name is Nonaka Yuki. Naruto sent me here to help you. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." the girl with the light blue hair said simply. Issei just gaped at the young woman, Naruto sent her?

"Yo Yuki! Glad to see you made it!"

Both of them turned to see the blond teen himself with a silly grin. Yuki acknowledged the clone with a nod.

"Naruto? Why didn't you intercept the bullet just now?" Yuki asked with curiousity, he should have been fast enough for it. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders in response and stated plainly.

"Because you had it. If you weren't there then I would have got it myself though." Naruto said with a grin.

"Ehhhh? So the entire time I was never in any danger!?" Issei exclaimed in shock, what the hell Naruto!

In response Naruto just deadpanned at the brown-haired teen. "Of course not, no one is ever in danger when I say that I'm protecting them!" Naruto exclaimed with passion.

This just caused Issei to sweatdrop in return.

"...But you never said you were going to protect me..."

"Oi! You stupid bitch! What the fuck are you doing interrupting my kill eh!?"

Everyone turned to face the insane priest with his tongue out disgustingly. Yuki just regarded him coolly for a second before ignoring him and turning back to Naruto.

"Naruto, please disperse yourself and alert the real Naruto that I'm here. I can deal with the priests without trouble." Yuki stated simply. The clone glanced at Yuki for a second before nodding.

"Alright, I'm counting on you Yuki!" the clone exclaimed before it dispersed it's chakra and exploded into a plume of smoke.

Issei glanced nervously at the teen, now his life was in this stranger's hands...what if she wasn't as trustworthy as Naruto?

"Hyoudou-san."

Issei immediately straightened up at the sound of the young woman's voice.

"Ye-yes ma'am?" Issei stuttered slightly.

"Go." the bluenette said without missing a beat.

Issei just looked at her with a confused expression, what did she mean?

"Hyoudou-san. You wish to save your friend right? Then go and help her...I can deal with these people without issue. The only problem we have is time and we have no idea how much time your friend has left...so go." Yuki said seriously, there was no way there were any more enemies to face down there. If there were, then they were most likely focused on whatever it was that they were doing.

That would be the only reason that fallen angels would use their human 'priests' to protect them. Their pride wouldn't allow them to be protected by beings many believe to be inferior to them. Not unless they didn't have a choice.

Thus, the way was undoubtedly clear.

Issei widened his eyes. "Right! Asia! Hold on! I'm coming!" Issei called out while heading towards the still opened stairway to the basement.

But before he could reach it...

"Stop ignoring me you bitches!"

The foul-mouthed priest from before appeared right in from of him with his light sword in mid-swing towards Issei's head.

 ***CLANG***

Issei ignored the priest in favor of reaching the stairway...besides...he knew that the teenaged girl has got it covered.

Said girl in question intercepted the priests swing with her own blade and grabbed the priest by the collar.

"...Sorry. But your fight is with me...!" Yuki exclaimed while swinging the now flailing priest towards his brethren. Smashing them to make a heap of human bodies.

 _Sakuya_ hummed in Yuki's hands as she set herself up to deal with the fallen-aligned humans as quickly as possible.

* * *

Vretiel was glaring down at the battlefield. She did not expect these turn of events when she ordered her subordinates to come with her and destroy a single intruder!

She was watching two copies of the human run toward a fallen angel with two pairs of wings and their arms raised up together to cross with one another. Before the fallen could move out of the way, the blonds smashed their crossed arms against the fallen's neck.

Their combined weight conspired to leave the fallen breathless and then...

""SMASH!""

The twins used the force from their psuedo-clothesline to swing the fallen into the ground with tremendous force. The crater that emerged from the smashed fallen was s couple feet deep.

Vretiel just gnashed her teeth as she couldn't help but notice that several fallen angels were in a similar state as that one.

This wasn't a battle...this was a thorough slaughter.

Although interestingly enough, she noticed that none of the fallen were actually dead...just unconscious.

So the human was soft? Bad mistake.

She swooped down towards the two copies in order to destroy them quickly, but it seemed that they noticed her presence before she could finish them. They quickly formed together, with one holding his hand and the other seemingly grabbing the air around it repeatedly.

The fallen leader just raised her eyebrow at this, what were they up to?

She found out soon enough.

A blue...seemingly miniature _hurricane_ was contained in a small sphere in that copy's hand. She held her light spear high in the air as she meant to throw it at the pair before they could use their attack.

What she didn't expect was for the other copy to throw the clone with the sphere towards her!

Although thinking back on it...she probably should have.

" _Rasengan!_ "

Before the sphere impacted her however, she managed to use her light spear to form a defense for her stomach.

Then the sphere reached her spear.

She immediately gritted her teeth as the sphere began to push her back and much to her horror...seemingly _disintegrate_ the area where the _rasengan_ was touching! There was no way that little ball could have the power to cut through her spear!

Then she realized her error.

The spear of light was fashioned after the real spears used by ancient humans and just like the real spear...the true power of the weapon was the tip. The handle was meant to reinforce the tip with power to increase explosive and piercing damage.

Whereas the sphere was _meant_ for a different kind of damage. The initial power of this attack may not have been strong enough to destroy her light spear when in a face-to-face confrontation...

But if it was allowed the time to continue pushing through without facing the power of her light spear head on?

The little hurricane wasn't just for show...it was _grinding_ through her attack!

Constant friction was whittling the strength of the attack down until it was weakened enough to break through!

She held firm though, while the constant grinding must have been destroying the spear...at least she could weaken the sphere as well!

As she feared...the spear broke against the _rasengan's_ power.

But her hopes were dashed...the little sphere wasn't any weaker by the time it reached her.

So the attack was self-perpetuating?

Damn it.

When it hit her stomach, it felt like someone had placed a _grinder_ on it. The horrible twisting and turning was ripping through her skin!

But finally, the compressed energy exploded and sent her spiraling backwards against several trees in the area.

It said something that she was _thankful_ that the explosion happened. Anything to get away from that horrible sensation.

But all that happened because she was caught off guard.

Now she knew...

"...Now...now I know that I definitely can't let you live!" Vretiel shouted, her rage beginning to cloud her judgement. But for now, she was sane enough to jump high in the air before they could continue their attack.

She formed two light spears with each holding two rings around them and then threw them before they could finish making another _rasengan_.

They didn't finish it in time.

The explosion rocked the area and probably hurt a lot of her subordinates...as well as those annoying clones.

But she was far too angry to care.

She's been hurt.

She...has...been... _hurt_.

Not since the Great War between the biblical factions did she ever receive injuries!

Yet this human not only hurt her twice...but he managed to do _damage_ to her flawless skin...that was unforgivable!

It was time to crush him once and for all!

* * *

Naruto was quickly running towards the last confirmed location of Vretiel.

Last memory he received of her, she was looking pretty upset.

Probably because she took a _rasengan_ to the gut.

But damn, she must be pretty tough! Most people can't take a _rasengan's_ grinding force to the stomach so easily!

Well...maybe not _easily_...but still.

He doubted that he could get another one as easily as the last one though.

He decidedly ignored the fallen angels which were suffering under his clones' hands.

There was a woman which was trying to get her head from out of the ground.

There was a man which was cursing him out when he passed him as his body was stuck underground...with only his head above ground.

Another woman was hanging upside down from a branch due to the ninja wire that was holding her up.

Finally, he saw a man that was held onto a tree with several kunai that stuck his clothes to the bark.

Man, his clones had a weird sense of humor eh?

Then he finally saw his objective.

The woman was frazzled, that was for sure. She was glaring at the ground as if it has done something absolutely horrible to her while her fists were clenching and un-clenching at will.

He decided to take the time to notice her current state.

In the beginning of the battle, like most fallen angels for some reason, she dressed provocatively. Her body was covered by a dark blue dress which was form-fitting to her figure. The attire even had a considerable v-neck and a slit down the sides of her leg!

But now...

Well, if her dress was barely holding together before. Then it was definitely barely holding together now.

There was grime all over her and her dress, as well as a gaping hole in the front of it which showed her stomach. There was now a swirling wound where that hole was.

Wonder what did that?

After waiting a little bit, he had enough of waiting and decided to announce his presence.

"Man! That was quite the party you threw back there Vretiel-san! I was genuinely impressed with all of the party guests you invited! But now I think that the party is just about over...don't you?" Naruto said while walking towards the fallen angel.

Her attention snapped towards him and her regard was obviously extremely poisonous.

"...You...! You dare...you _dare_ mock me...!? I _will kill you_!" Vretiel screamed at the approaching blond, her composure completely broken as she couldn't stand the utter _gall_ of the human teenager in front of her.

Naruto nodded sagely at this. The bigger the baddie, the bigger the breakdown maybe?

"Well, for the first time since earlier today...you may just get your chance. Ya see...I'm the real Naruto." the shinobi said with a shit-eating grin.

The fallen's rising hysterics stopped the second she heard this piece of information.

Then she began chuckling.

Those chuckling grew into laughter.

That laughter turned into hysteric laughter.

As the woman seemingly broke down in front of him, he just then received the information from the clone at the church.

Yuki has reinforced Issei. Good, he wasn't gonna question her on why she was here yet. Best not question something good.

Finally, the woman stopped laughing and regarded the blond with a cool smile. Though he couldn't help but notice that the smile was _not_ friendly.

"...This is fine...I don't care if I lose my entire army...as long as the ritual succeeds then I can still achieve my ambition! But first...I will destroy you...that will be the end of this ridiculous farce!" Vretiel snarled at the blond. Though Naruto didn't look too impressed.

"Well then...you just have to actually beat me to do that now won't you? You haven't been doing a good job of it so far though. What makes you think that you can beat me now?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head. Did she really lose it or did she really have more planned?

She merely shook her head. "No no...my army has been crushed. I only have one thing to combat you with...although I have been saving my energy in case this happened...!"

Vretiel brought out her wings again, this made Naruto tense as he prepared to stop her from flying again.

But she didn't make to fly.

He frowned for a second. What was-?

Then he noticed it.

Her wings.

There weren't four pairs of wings.

"You see...I just managed to upgrade. You will be the first to face my new power!" Vretiel exclaimed with a mad smile marring her face.

She had spread her _five_ pairs of wings and took flight as Naruto was shocked by this turn of events.

He immediately knew his mistake.

"Can you defeat me now!? Downer!?"

The blond shinobi just clicked his teeth.

Time to finish this.

* * *

Naruse Mio was upset.

 _Very_ upset.

Naruto was not only absent again...but he also made trouble for the student council.

The blond not only left early...be he forgot to buy the groceries!

It just so happened that she was spending some time with some friends at her class today. She was finally getting that normal life that she yearned for ever since... _that_ happened.

Well, it was interrupted because the house needed food.

Not only that...but she heard from Maria that Naruto hasn't been home all day!

So she thought that she had a right to be upset.

Mio finally reached the house and opened the door now that her errands were accomplished. She closed the door behind her and placed the food on the counter in order to put it away inside the fridge.

After finishing that up, she decided to rest up in her room for a while as she decided on-

Mio stopped.

"..."

She immediately turned around from where she was headed and looked towards Naruto's room.

The door.

The _door_.

It was slightly...ever so _slightly_ opened.

Practically a crack.

But the fact was...it was open.

Mio stared at it as if she was looking at a bomb that was about to go off.

What should she do?

She talked about going in there and getting him back for his pranks but...

Now that she had the chance...she was hesitating.

It was an invasion of privacy.

It was rude.

It was just outright _bad_.

Yet...

Mio hemmed and hawed over the dilemma. She wasn't as interested in getting her psuedo-brother 'back' like before. More like...

She was worried.

Maybe she was being a little needy but...ever since her parents died...she couldn't help but fear that other people would leave her as well.

In the short time she has known Naruto...he had become one of those people.

She's afraid...no... _terrified_ that the blond would leave her alone.

Like so many before.

Now he's been gone since early this morning...

Maybe clues to where he was can be found in his room?

Mio stared at the door...

Then she made a decision.

She opened the door and walked in.

* * *

 **AN: Well...a lot has happened and a lot is building up. I thought that I would finish this Arc by next chapter...but now I ain't as sure.**

 **I can still, but it would have to be around 10k long. Which means that it would take longer than usual.**

 **So I leave it to you guys and gals, would you prefer that I finish this all by next chapter or separate it by two?**

 **While on that question; one more. How was the fight scene? I'm still not too sure that I'm good...or even decent at it yet. Now that I've got a much larger following than last time in the last 'serious' fight, I want opinions. What is good, what isn't? What can be improved and how?**

 **Finally, if some don't understand how Yuki found them and think that it is Deus Ex Machina...don't. It ain't, you just didn't pay attention to the last chapter enough.**

 **Now that that is over with, see you in the next chapter! Whether it is the final chapter of the Arc or not! ^.^**

 **-RekkingPride**


	10. Chapter 10

Rias was staring at the large barrier that has been put in place.

How did she not become aware of this?

It was obvious. She _knew_ there were fallen angels that were active in her territory. Yet she ignored it in the hopes that it would go away.

Now she was forced to sit on her hands as...well... _something_ happened inside that barrier.

Something that she was not privy to.

She sighed as she wiped her forehead with her hand, the lack of information of what exactly was going on was beginning to stress her out. She then looked at her Peerage to check if they were doing their assigned jobs.

Akeno was focused on checking if there was an opening for them to get into the barrier and Koneko scouted around to find any structural weakness to the thing. Kiba was just sitting down and waiting for further orders.

The only reason _any_ of them had any idea about what was happening in Kuoh Town, was due to sheer chance.

As Rias was in class earlier today, she noticed something peculiar about the actions of the resident 'hero' of Kuoh. Specifically, she noticed Nonaka Yuki leave the school grounds while class was still in session at high speeds.

This by itself was strange due to Nonaka Yuki's tendency to take her role as class representative _very_ seriously, doubly so if you wonder why she was leaving in such a hurry. So this behavior already raised many questions in her head, but she ignored them for the moment and wrote it off as a coincidence.

What she couldn't write off was the fact that both Hyoudou Issei and Uzumaki Naruto were not in Kuoh Academy anymore.

Naruto not being in Kuoh was quite common by this point, but all of them being absent at the same time when Nonaka happened to leave her duties behind in a rush?

 _That_ set off alarm bells in her head, and she sent her familiar to follow the 'hero'.

The familiar managed to follow her to a point.

The 'hero' managed to get inside the barrier before it was created, but her familiar was too slow and could only report that there were large amounts of fallen angels sighted _inside_ the barrier.

Beautiful. Just...beautiful.

With the way this event was shaping up...she could make an educated guess that Naruto and Issei was in there too.

For what reason? She had no idea.

But more importantly...the fallen with four pairs of wings was there too.

So the question was, what should she do?

She could try to break in, in order to better survey the situation...but she could risk the battle spilling over to Kuoh Town. So that option was out.

Besides that...

She could wait and see.

Normally Rias wouldn't choose this option in a million years, not when her territory was concerned. But recently her talks with Naruto made her reconsider it.

She was sure that the troublemaking blond was in there, but could she _really_ leave her responsibilities to a person who she has only recently met?

 _'Please believe in me for a little bit longer so that I can prove to be worthy of your trust Rias-san! So that I can prove to be worthy of everyone's trust!'_

Ah...

Rias grimaced as his words reverberated in her head. Those words...

She looked up to the sky with a small but noticeable grin. It looked like Naruto got her more than she was willing to admit.

Fine. She would place her faith in Naruto...he wanted a chance to prove himself? To prove that they could all trust him? Well this was a perfect chance.

"Go get 'em...Naruto." Rias said quietly.

"Buchou?"

Rias turned to see that her internal dilemma have not gone unnoticed by her Peerage. Everyone was looking at her with concern, even little Koneko-chan who has returned from her scouting.

"Everyone...I've decided that we should pull back for now. Naruto is in there and I'm sure that he won't let things escalate further...he is our friend after all." the red head said with a small smile. A smile which was returned by the rest of her Peerage.

"Well, Naruto-san certainly seems capable. I'm sure that whatever is going on inside the barrier...that he can handle it just fine." Kiba said with a reassuring smile.

Koneko nodded at Kiba's statement and added "...Naruto-senpai is strong. We don't have to worry Buchou."

Rias smiled at their responses, then she turned to Akeno who was hiding a smile behind her hand.

Akeno noticed that her _King_ was waiting for her answer.

"Ara ara Buchou. I think you already know my answer when it comes to Foxy-kun." Akeno giggled.

The red-head just shook her head at her friend's antics and turned to regard the barrier.

She didn't know much about Issei yet...

She didn't trust Nonaka...not by a long shot.

But she did tell Naruto did she would place her faith in him.

That she would trust him, despite all of her misgivings. Despite all the logic against it. Despite the numerous different reasons that she _shouldn't_ trust him.

Yet she did. Deep inside...she _did_ trust him.

She could only hope that her trust wasn't misplaced.

* * *

Yuki was staring at the group in front of her as she held her weapon ready.

To be honest, she was dealing with an interesting dilemma. One that she didn't think that she would have to deal with in a long time.

She has sworn to protect humans from supernatural as a hero...

But what does she do when those humans align themselves with the supernatural?

Many consider this question to be very controversial among the heroes.

Her included.

But she didn't have time to muse about her moral dilemma. She had to focus...otherwise she would get hurt unnecessarily.

So for now...her policy was...

"What the hell are you bitches waiting for!? Get the _real_ bitch!"

Break a couple of bones if necessary.

To the eyes of the fallen-aligned priests, the girl was standing in front of the entrance for one moment...

Then she disappeared before any of them noticed that she even moved.

Just like with the blond before her...they were completely overwhelmed and outmatched.

Her speed allowed for her to disappear in front of their eyes in one second and then reappear on the other side of the room. Her strength allowed for her to easily shrug off their light swords with her own blade. Finally, her reflexes allowed for her to dodge their light guns even though sometimes it was practically at point-blank range.

Yuki for her part, was almost casually dealing with the fallen 'men of the cloth'. She quickly knocked one unconscious by sending in a crushing blow to the stomach and knocking others out with a blow to the back of the head with the butt of her blade.

She would consistently, parry blows into other priests and dodge attacks that would cause friendly fire and confusion among the ranks. Large groups such as these with little discipline tend to self-destruct when facing very few but very well-trained individuals.

So she watched as many of the fallen servants were taken down by their own men and knocked out by her own machinations.

Those men got out easy though.

Some men only saw a blur pass them before they received large gashed on their person which caused them to shout out in pain.

Others would hear the sick crack of bones breaking and _then_ feel the joints on their arms or legs crack.

The scene was just as painful for the young hero as well however.

She simply wasn't used to hurting humans since her prerogative was always to fight supernatural beings. So the thought of harming fellow human beings was almost foreign to her.

Especially ones that were as weak as these.

But she also knew that these were not good men by any stretch of the imagination. They would have sacrificed a young girl's life...just to please their masters.

She didn't like it...but it simply had to be done.

The insane priest looked on in seething impotence as his group of fallen priests were thoroughly defeated one-by-one.

If they were going to lose...then he might as well make a break for it!

"Well...this was fun bitch-chan! But unfortunately my mother is calling me home for dinner and I can't be late! I'll see you devil lovers later!" the insane priest spoke with a maniacal grin as he quickly threw a flash bang to the ground.

Yuki just finished wiping out the last of the priests as she watched the last priest get away.

She didn't follow.

The screams and moans from the humans she had already badly hurt was already too much for her stomach. There would be no more human screams by her hand today.

Besides, her mission was accomplished. All that was left to do was to follow Hyoudou Issei and to wait for Naruto.

She tilted her head for a moment in thought, he should've dealt with the fallen by now right?

What was taking so long?

* * *

Naruto was currently staring at the floating five-winged fallen in the sky.

He had absolutely no idea what she was capable of now.

He knew that six pairs of wings were the absolute height of power for any of the angelic factions. He has already met Azazel and quickly determined that Sage Mode would be necessary against him. So the question was...how much of the gap between her former power and Azazel's current power was bridged?

He wasn't sure. But he did know one thing...

He wasn't gonna sit around and find out the hard way!

Naruto bent his knees, then with a mighty kick that made the ground around him split from the sheer pressure...

He jumped straight towards the fallen leader with as much strength as he could.

To Vretiel in the sky, the human had jumped straight towards her with speeds that _still_ surpass her own...

But gravity was quickly and efficiently slowing him down for her. As he got closer, he was now simply her equal in speed.

 _Perfect_.

She formed two light spears with three rings encircling them and threw them at the incoming blond.

Naruto in response to this, simply made his familiar cross-shaped handsign.

" _Kage Bunshin no jutsu!_ "

One clone appeared one his right and just as quickly grabbed the original and threw him out of the trajectory of the incoming spears. The spears impaled the clone milliseconds later.

Vretiel's eyes hardened at this development. He was using his corporeal clones in order to fight her in her territory huh...?

" _Kage Bunshin no jutsu!_ "

The female fallen watched as the blond created four more clones, three of them used another as a platform in order to jump at her again.

As this was happening, she made sure to fly even higher so that the annoying human wouldn't reach her so easily. Hoping gravity would aid her again in her fight with the 'downer'.

She needed to make all of her attacks count while in this new stage of power.

So when the blond attempted to reach her again, gravity was still doing her dirty work in slowing him down to make the fight more even in terms of speed.

Two of the copies went behind the original and then flung him towards the her with a familiar orb of power. But before the original reached her, the other clone threw it's final brother towards her with all of it's strength before dispersing itself.

Trying to use the clone as a distraction huh? Like hell she would fall for it!

She quickly dodged out of the way of the projectile clone and then refocused her efforts on the incoming original.

Naruto grit his teeth as he quickly charged the fallen angel with the small orb. He hoped his little trick would work!

Vretiel formed another spear of light with three rings encircling it and charged the incoming blond with her spear raised.

One _rasengan_ met the might of the spear of light in a clash of light which temporarily blinded both opponents.

The female fallen had a dark grin on her face as she saw her spear begin to push back against the little sphere... _hard_. Just a little more and...

Her eyes widened in horror as the blond brought his other arm that was hidden behind him...it held another of those damnable spheres!

 _"Rasenrengan!"_ (Rasengan Barrage!)

The other attack was swiftly pushed onto the shaft of the spear with it's grinding force and she watched as the twin pressure of both spheres was beginning to crack her weapon of light. She didn't want to put more power into her attack since it would very likely become explosive, that kind of damage would very much cripple her!

So she held firm as she put more strength into her lunge, hoping that her spear would destroy the blue ball before it itself succumbed to the twin onslaught.

She was once more let down.

The spear shattered again to the power of the _rasengan_ which left her wide open to their double assault!

Naruto took the chance to push the _rasengans_ to her torso...!

Vretiel expanded her wings and flew outside of his range.

The shinobi gnashed his teeth in frustration. His lack of flying skills was becoming a _serious_ liability in this fight!

The female fallen smirked as she dodged the blond's attacks and flew upward again. As long as he couldn't fly, she should be able to-

She spit out blood as she felt something smash into her back with tremendous force!

She looked behind her as she lost control of her flight and widened her eyes at what she saw.

The _clone_.

The clone wasn't the distraction...

The blond used _himself_ as a distraction!

Naruto grinned as he saw his clone smash into the back of the fallen. At least _that_ plan worked. He was kinda hoping to smash her into the clone rather than let him do all of the work.

But this worked too!

He simply raised his arms as he saw that the clone smashed Vretiel towards...

"Let's try this again... _Rasenrengan!_ "

Him.

Vretiel let out a soundless scream as she felt the two spheres grind into her stomach again. She felt flesh begin to give way as the attack did it's best to make it's way through her defenses.

Then the explosion happened.

She felt the explosion send her flying towards the ground in a heap as gravity...which was once working so well with her...so suddenly turn against her.

Naruto frowned as he saw the fallen woman sail towards the ground, he didn't take any pleasure in doing this. But the fact was that he couldn't hold back too many punches.

He also knew for a fact that Vretiel wasn't done yet. The _rasengans_ didn't really do any severe damage, so far mostly pretty big wounds but nothing to really put her down.

So time to upgrade. Best do it while she's down too.

So he made another clone and had him form another _rasengan_.

But this one was...quite a bit bigger. The _Ōdama Rasengan_.

Naruto was holding the larger sphere in front of him so that it could hit the ground first...or whatever it touches.

Since he was heading straight towards the downed fallen, his target was obvious.

But before the sphere could connect, the fallen spread her wings and used them to push off the ground. The momentum from this action allowed for her to move safely out of the way.

Much to Naruto's annoyance.

When the orb smashed into the ground, it immediately went through the ground, all the way to the blond's shoulders without any effort. Immediately after, the jutsu detonated and completely destroyed the ground around Naruto.

All that was left of the patch of forest was a large crater and a deep hole.

The second he was free from the crater again, he had to dodge a light spear which was aiming to impale him while he was prone.

Vretiel began flying back towards the sky while continually throwing light spears at the human, hoping to buy time as she made her way to her 'territory'.

But Naruto made his familiar handsign again and made two clones as he continued dodging the spears. Those clones immediately spread out and grabbed kunai from their own pouches as the original kept the fallen leader's attention.

Before Vretiel was too far away from the treeline, they threw four kunai with each hand towards the fallen. In response, Vretiel casually dodged all of the metal knives and continued on her ascent.

Before she found it much more difficult to move.

She looked down in surprise to find several small wires wrapped around her person. She growled as she had been tricked once more by the wily human boy on the forest floor.

The clones held firm to the wires they had placed around the woman and since she has been contained, the real Naruto was finally freed from the consistent bombardment. Naruto walked up to the clones and addressed Vretiel.

"Look lady, I ain't looking forward to beating you up to make you stop. So why don't you just quit it while you still aren't knocked unconscious?" Naruto said tiredly, hoping that the woman would stop. The fight was annoying him due to his glaring weakness in air combat, if she continued and managed to get back to the sky...

Then the battle would take quite a bit longer at this rate. He would still win...it would just take longer to dislodge her from the sky _again_.

Vretiel for her part, just bared her teeth at the request as she internally tried to figure a way out of her predicament.

She didn't understand the young human in front of her at _all_.

All of the supernatural beings she have met and fought throughout her long life-span were typically categorized among different ways of fighting.

Speed, power, and technique were the standard for all factions among the supernatural.

There were those who fought smart and those who were sneaky during battle. It happened quite a bit during the Great War, where many supernaturals would try to overpower their foes by using their weaknesses against them.

But this boy fit into _none_ of those categories.

The boy used the most unorthodox and strange ways of fighting she has ever seen throughout her entire life! There were no individuals among the supernatural that would throw corporeal copies of themselves as projectiles. There were no supernatural beings that used the same attack to even greater effect multiple times. There were no people among the supernatural that would have small wires in their weapons to capture their enemies without them noticing!

It simply wasn't done!

It was either; use greater power, use greater speed, or have better technique. _That_ was how many would defeat one another.

So what can she do against this...thing?

...

No.

It didn't matter.

The objective here wasn't to win...the objective was to stall for time so that Raynare could complete the ritual inside the abandoned church. Once she was done with it and achieved the girl's sacred gear...

Then her ambitions could be realized.

Not even this... _thing_ could stand a chance against their combined strength.

He would be the first true test of their new might! Of _HER_ new might!

"...gloat all you want downer...for once my daughter completes her ritual and acquires her new power...you won't stand a chance between our new power! I will not fall here! You will be the one who falls in the end!" Vretiel gloated triumphantly.

Naruto didn't look impressed.

"If you're talking about the nun in the abandoned church that was about to be sacrificed for something...then I've already got it covered." Naruto said blandly, not really feeling up to bandying words.

The fallen leader froze.

"...What do you mean?"

The shinobi blinked at the new somber tone that the woman had, but decided to ignore it and answer her question.

"Before our fight even started, there was a friend of the nun that wanted to save her. When I was running away from you guys, I was actually making way for that friend to save his friend without your interference." Naruto shrugged, no point in hiding it much longer. She was all tied up and it could show her that fighting anymore would be pointless.

He hoped that it would deter her from fighting further.

He was _wrong_.

The fallen leader said nothing for a moment.

Then the light energy within her _exploded_.

The power of it was enough to catch Naruto flat-footed and push him back along with his clones, which dispersed once they crashed into trees.

Vretiel felt something _snap_ once she heard the blond's words.

Her power...

Her future...

Her _ambition_...

Gone.

 _All gone_.

Because of _him_.

She didn't care. She didn't care that her fellow fallen angels were littered across the forest!

She didn't care that her daughter was probably still alive in the church!

She didn't care that she would probably die from her next move!

As long as she _killed_ the boy!

She immediately flew up into the sky the second she was free from the wretched clones that held her down and threw down several light spears to cover her escape to the clouds. Only once she was there did she begin her final attack.

This would probably kill her, her new state was already draining to her reserves of light energy since she wasn't used to it yet. But what she was about to do in order to assuredly kill the blond human would drain _everything_ from her.

Which left nothing except her body to protect herself with from the explosions.

She was planning for a lot of explosions.

She watched as the blond human...glare up at her with annoyance as she managed to get away from his grasp.

Well he wouldn't have to worry much longer.

She spread all of her wings and concentrated on her light energy to form spears...

Lots of spears.

Immediately, several spears with rings encircling them began to form around her. More and more came as she concentrated on every ounce of light still within her to prepare for the finishing attack.

More...

 _More_...

 ** _More..._**

Naruto stared up to the sky in rising apprehension as it was _dotted_ with light spears. It so thoroughly enveloped the sky...that the slowly darkening skies now seemed to have transitioned to day time!

This was insane! If all of those light spears hit the ground at the same time...it wouldn't just destroy everything inside the barrier...it would probably _break_ the barrier and destroy the surrounding area!

That meant part of Kuoh Town would be destroyed!

Those innocent people...

No. That wouldn't happen. No one here is going to die today!

Once more, he made the familiar hand seal for his favorite jutsu.

But this time, he wasn't planning on making a couple of clones.

 _"Tajū Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_

* * *

Yuki was staring at sky, where the fallen angel; Vretiel was floating.

The battle between her friend and the fallen leader was obviously reaching a climax.

When she first began to watch the clash of power between the two combatants, she was very much surprised to see the power her friend wielded.

She knew he was strong...

But watching Naruto go toe-to-toe with a fallen angel with five-pairs of wings was way beyond what she thought he was capable of. Four-pairs was what she thought was his absolute max capacity.

Which was why at the time, she was going to go help him in the fight.

Until she saw him using those corporeal clones of his to fight the fallen angel in the air.

She witnessed how Naruto was seemingly thrashing the fallen leader without getting a single wound! But she couldn't help but notice something.

Naruto was struggling.

As powerful as he was on the ground, it was painfully obvious that aerobic battles were outside his field of experience. But he was still effective enough to knock the fallen angel back towards the ground.

But something changed.

The fallen angel had managed to get back to the air again, but it seemed that there was something intrinsically different with the supernatural being now.

Seeing what the rogue fallen was about to do help figured out what.

She lost her mind.

Light spears were being formed at an alarming pace around the fallen. Some powerful, some not. But there was no mistake that if all of those spears fell towards the ground at the same time...

Everything inside the barrier would be wiped out.

Maybe even break the barrier and destroy the area around it.

Before she could think of a way to get out of their predicament, Naruto reacted.

An absolutely _huge_ plume of smoke appeared that seemingly covered a large part of the forest.

After it dissipated, she was shocked to see that practically the _entire_ forest was filled to the brim with copies of her friend!

She was a little ways away from the battle but she could _see_ the amount of clones that were now inhabiting the forest. Then they seemed to congregate together into pairs...

She saw a blue sphere begin to coalesce between the pairs.

Whatever they were up to must have been massive, as she saw blue lights begin to light up the entire forest like a holiday. Those lights began to grow and congregate together to become a more concentrated light in the middle of the forest.

Then...like someone had given a signal, both enormous sources of light began to move towards one another.

The light in the air descended like a small meteor shower.

The light on the ground ascended like a blue eruption from a volcano of power.

She moved immediately to grab something inside the church that was sturdy enough to withstand the shockwave from such a clash. She _really_ hoped that Naruto knew what he was doing.

* * *

Naruto glared up at the large amount of spears that were poised to reach the ground with deadly consequences.

He had a large blue sphere of power in his hand.

It wasn't just him though.

Several clones around him were holding _Ōdama Rasengans_ and were closing up ranks to prepare themselves for the onslaught.

It seemed that Vretiel didn't care too much though.

"Die..." Vretiel whispered, so low that Naruto barely heard her.

"DIIIIEEEE!" Vretiel screamed out as she pointed towards the ground, the spears following her order and sped towards the forest floor.

Well...he heard _that_.

"Ok everyone...as one!" Naruto shouted out to his clones, prepared for their maneuver.

"""RIGHT BOSS!"""

The large group of clones held their _Ōdama Rasengans_ high above their heads.

Then...

They jumped.

The small army moved forward as one towards the rain of light that headed their direction...and as one shouted...

 _"Ōdama Rasen Tairengan" (_ Ōdama Rasengan Barrage Line)

The clash of the attacks was blinding for all involved and the shockwave that was produced obliterated any unfortunate trees that were still standing, despite how far the clash was to the ground. The clones were formed up in a veritable _wall_ of _rasengans_ that held the light spears at bay despite how many there were.

The explosions that resulted from some of the light spears detonating nearby to the _rasengans_ began to start a chain reaction...

The explosions quickly triggered some of the blue spheres to detonate prematurely which in turn detonated other _rasengans_ due to their close proximity.

Then...

 ***BOOOOOOM***

Very soon, the entire sky was letting off a massive explosion which lit up the sky, the gale force winds were strong enough to rip all of the trees which were left standing inside the barrier and rocked the church nearby.

Only after a few seconds afterwards did the explosion cease.

The woman who was partially responsible for the destruction just took large gulps of air as she tried not to fall over from overexertion.

Then she smiled.

It was finally over...the blond was seemingly destroyed in the large-scale destruction.

Then she saw something come flying out of the smoke towards her.

All she saw was hard azure eyes glare at her from under blond locks.

 _"This time...stay down."_

A hard blow smashed Vretiel upside the head and once more sent her flying down to the ground. She made a large crater when she landed and spittle came flying out of her mouth from the blow.

She stared hazily up towards the sky as a blond man came flying at her with a raised fist-

That was the last thing that Vretiel of the fallen angels remembered from that day.

* * *

Issei was running down the stairway of the abandoned church to reach the underground cavern. The stairs seemed almost endless for the human teenager!

He was terrified, he had no idea whether the girl from before was right in her analysis of the fallen angels. For all he knew, he could be running headlong into a trap.

But that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was making it in time to save Asia!

Although it didn't change the fact that there were a hell of a lot of steps here! Maybe it was because that everyone who was living here in the first place were superhuman?

But after several more flights where Issei's legs felt like they were going to give out, he finally saw it.

He saw the end of the steps!

They were still a ways away but at least he saw his goal in sight.

But before he reached the underground area, he felt the ground begin to rumble above him violently. He glanced up warily, suddenly aware that if something massive happened above ground then it might cause the area he was in to cave in.

He seriously hoped that Naruto took care of any fallen angels that were capable of such a thing.

When he finally made it to the underground room safe and sound, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

Fallen angels.

At least three of them.

Issei widened his eyes as he realized that one of them was the woman that kidnapped Asia!

His fear gave way to anger as he remembered the hopeless feeling that he got when he watched the woman take Asia away, begging for her to stop hurting him.

But before he could act out on his anger, he noticed that the three fallen angels surrounded a large structure that had something on top of it.

...A cross?

There was someone on that cross too...it looked like...

"Asia!" Issei shouted out in horror, the nun was held up to the cross with only a white cloth to keep her modesty. His shout also alerted the fallen angels to his presence.

"What!? Who the hell is that!? How did you get past Vretiel-sama!" Dohnaseek shouted to the human boy that shouted out the nun's name. Before Issei could respond to the shocked query, someone else answered for him.

"Huh...you have nothing to worry about Dohnaseek. That is the human that I told all of you about. Little Asia's 'friend' that tried to help her back at Kuoh Town. He was too weak to do anything though." Kalawarner spoke up with a hint of disdain in her voice, she didn't care much for the human boy's life. Mittelt grinned at this knowledge.

"So he came here in order save his damsel in distress? Awwww! That's so cute! It's too bad she's going to die anyways!" Mittely practically chirped with a smile on her face, but the perverted boy ignored their words.

"Hey! Let Asia go! I won't let you hurt her!" Issei shouted out in anger, seeing his friend like this was terrible for the young man. Even though he was an idiot, even _he_ knew about the story of what happened to that guy on the cross in the Bible...

He was _not_ gonna let that happen to Asia!

"There is nothing you can do human." a feminine voice spoke up.

Issei looked to see the voice come from right next to the cross which held Asia. The young woman regarded the perverted boy without much care as she determined that he wasn't the threat the she was afraid of.

That threat was still outside.

This one wasn't worth worrying over.

"What the hell do you mean by that!? If you don't let her go right now then I will beat the shit of you!" the brown-haired boy shouted out in anger, refusing to believe that saving Asia was a hopeless cause.

Raynare finally regarded the boy with a hint of irritation before speaking again.

"I mean that unless we stop the ritual willingly then you can't save her. The ceremony takes the Sacred Gear that is inside the girl's soul, if you try to interrupt us in order to stop us...we may make a mistake and kill her. We would fail in taking the Sacred Gear...but you would fail in saving her as well." Raynare spoke with a glare, that was the entire reason for why they were in a secluded area without any distractions.

Issei stared at the fallen woman for a second before losing the strength of his legs. He sat down to compensate but his feeling of hopelessness was growing.

No...

She was right there.

She's right in front of him...!

Yet...

 _He couldn't do anything_.

If he called the fallen's bluff then Asia might get killed.

If he waited then Asia would get killed.

No matter what he did...Asia would most likely die.

"No! This can't be how it ends! I won't let it!"

Issei ran past the fallen angels which were focused on the ritual on the ground to reach Asia on the cross. He ignored Raynare as well as he reached towards Asia.

"Asia...? Come on...please. Wake up." Issei begged quietly, refusing to let the tears that were building up to fall. He carefully touched the nun's cheek to wake her up.

Slowly, the girl's eyes fluttered open as emerald green eyes trained themselves on the boy.

"...Issei-san?" the nun whispered.

Issei nodded with a smile. "Yeah! It's me...I came for you...don't you worry about a thing! I will definitely get you out of here!" Issei spoke in comfort, to himself as much to the girl.

Asia just gave him a sad smile.

"Issei-san...in case I don't make it...I just want to thank you. You gave me...the most fun I have ever had...in my entire life..."

Issei just shook his head.

Stop.

"...Stop talking like you are going to die here...Asia...we are gonna make it out of this! No doubt! We just need to hold out! So...stop..." Issei said quietly, not able to stop the tears that were beginning to overflow.

"Thank you...so much...Issei-san. I'm sure that...God gave me this precious time with you...I was so happy..."

 _Stop_.

"No! You're not going to die here! I promise! I promised that we would have more fun later right!? I still have to keep my promise!...I don't...I don't want you to die Asia!" Issei cried with tears going down his face, he hugged her small frame as she was held by the cross.

Asia's eyes began to close. She was losing consciousness.

"This might...be the last...time I get to talk to you Issei-san...so..." Asia spoke softly, her eyes closing.

"...Thank you...for everything."

The nun's eyes closed as she drifted off to unconsciousness.

To Issei's fear, that may be the last time she opened her eyes.

The human boy turned around with tear-stricken eyes and grovelled in front of Raynare.

"Please...I don't care what happens to me...but don't kill Asia! Please! I beg of you!" Issei shouted out while ignoring the tears that were clouding his eyesight.

Raynare didn't respond.

She turned her face away from the two humans while they were conversing, she didn't want to look at them.

She hated watching all of this. But she said it herself right?

She would do whatever her mother desired.

...

It didn't mean that she had to like it.

"...I'm sorry." Raynare mumbled quietly.

Five more minutes until the ritual was completed.

Issei just stayed in his groveling posture.

Again...

He failed _again_...

He couldn't do anything to save her...

Just like last time...

He clenched his fists and smashed them repeatedly while ignoring the pain and blood it brought.

Why!?

Why was he so _weak!?_

 _Why couldn't he save anyone!?_

"Please...someone...anyone...save Asia!" Issei begged pitifully, hoping for a miracle.

"Oi Issei...quit crying."

Everyone in the room widened their eyes as a new voice entered the conversation.

But Raynare's eyes widened further when she realized something.

The feeling she had about the 'threat' didn't seem so far anymore...

Also...that _voice_...

Where did she...?

 _'Damn it fallen angel-san! This is what happens when you ruin my ramen time dattebayo!'_

Her eyes widened in horror as the memories came flooding in.

It was _him_.

A blond teenaged male finished walking down the stairs into the underground room while holding a bag over his shoulder, most people in the room couldn't help but notice that the blond's right arm was pretty badly burned up. He looked at Issei with an annoyed glare before speaking again.

"Issei! Remember this! Nothing is over until it's over! We still have a chance to save your friend!" Naruto called out towards the perverted boy. Issei stared at the blond teenager with hope in his eyes.

Maybe he can...!

"I don't know who you are human...but haven't you heard? Unless we stop willingly, there is no hope for your precious Asia to be saved!" Kalawarner shouted out with a glare aimed at Naruto.

The shinobi cupped his chin for a moment before wincing slightly, the burn he got on his arm was a wake-up call for him. He was among his clones when the explosion went off and he didn't have enough time to fully get out of the way. Props to Vretiel for being the first supernatural to hurt him in a battle.

Ignoring that for now though!

"So basically, I can't do anything to save the girl unless you stop by your own choice right?" Naruto said with a grin.

The blue-haired fallen just nodded somewhat warily, he seemed a bit too happy for her tastes.

"Alright then! How about this for a bargain?" Naruto asked while opening the bag over his shoulder and dumping the contents on the church floor.

""'Vretiel-sama!""" the three fallen angels on the floor screamed out in shock and horror.

But none more than the fallen on top of the stone structure.

"OKAA-SAMA!" Raynare screamed out in horror.

Her mother...her overwhelmingly powerful mother that was being considered a position for Grigori...

Was unconscious on the floor, looking battered and worn. To Raynare, this was a practical impossibility...and yet...there she lay.

Defeated.

"...This won't break our will! As long as Raynare-sama gets the Sacred Gear and unlocks her true potential...then we can still...!" Dohnaseek spoke out in order to rally his comrades.

Naruto revealed his trump card.

"Azazel-san knows."

All of the fallen angels in the room froze.

"Azazel-san sent me as his representative in order to stop this little rebellion that Vretiel was cooking up. I know that he won't hurt you guys at the very least but...Vretiel on the other hand..." Naruto said with an uneasy shrug of his shoulder. He really didn't know what Azazel was going to do with her, but he _did_ know one thing.

"What I do know though...is that Azazel-san is more likely to be lenient with Vretiel if her plan _fails_. He isn't angry with this rebellion because it was against his authority, he was angry because it threatened the peace. If her plan fails, then it's more likely that he will be more forgiving. You can continue this plan, but I think it's better to stop...for her sake if not your own." Naruto said somberly, he didn't like the fact that he was technically holding her up for ransom...even if he kinda wasn't. More like he was just telling it like it was.

Didn't make him feel better though. But it had to be done, everyone would be better off if Vretiel's plan to steal that nun's Sacred Gear didn't succeed.

Raynare was staring at the blond human with trembling fists, she was in a very bad spot right now.

What could she do?

What _should_ she do?

She didn't want to get her mother punished...but her mother ordered her to continue with the ritual.

No...

 _No..._

She said she would do whatever it took to get her mother's love again right?

Well now was the time to prove it!

It was only one more minute until the girl's Sacred Gear was removed from her body and then transferred into her! When it did, she could unlock her latent powers that her mother so desperately wanted!

She could defeat the human! She could save her friends! She could get her mother's love and respect!

She _wouldn't_ fail!

She opened her mouth to give her answer-

' _Kalawarner-nee? Did okaa-sama ever love me?'_

She slammed her mouth shut as memories from long ago resurfaced.

 _'Yes...she loved you very very much once upon a time...and I'm sure she will love you again. I'm sure of it Raynare-chan.'_

Raynare clenched her fists.

...

Ah...

She forgot.

She was doing this because she wanted her mother's love and affection...

But...

 _'Ok! Well then I will show okaa-sama how much I love her! She will definitely love me back like that right?'_

...But she loved her mother much more than she craved her affection and respect.

"...I surrender."

 **AN: BAM! The battle with the fallen angels have ended in a complete victory! Yay!**

 **Now, this isn't the end of the Arc quite yet. There are still the repercussions to deal with among other things! The next chapter will end the...huh...I'm dubbing it the "Vretiel Arc" since it is kinda fitting. So yeah, the "Vretiel Arc" ends next chapter with the explanations and a bit more into fallen angel lore that I made.**

 **How was the little flashbacks in the chapter by the way? They work out alright?**

 **Just want to make a side-note that Naruto needed all of the fallen alive...so no he wasn't gonna use the rasenshuriken for this...overkill is overkill after all.**

 **Besides that, I got some important things to say next AN. So the chapter may be a little bloated since I gotta explain a couple of things. I figured out what I _really_ want with this story. So cya next chapter!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Please see the AN at the bottom for some important stuff. Until then, enjoy the chapter! ^.^**

* * *

Raynare was kneeling right next to her mother, carefully wiping away some of the grime that was on her face.

She looked pretty banged up, but from what she could tell...nothing debilitating was done to her body.

She supposed she should be thankful for small miracles.

"Hey...Raynare-san right?"

The fallen woman looked up to regard the human who has foiled her mother's plans, she expected a harsh gaze from him...

But unexpectedly he seemed to be looking at her with a quizzical expression rather than a harsh and demanding one.

"...What do you want?" Raynare asked warily, he was dangerous and she didn't feel comfortable in his presence. Naruto just nodded at her tone and continued.

"Well...do you mind if I ask you something?" Naruto asked with a curious tone.

The female fallen's confusion began to grow, what was he doing right now? Especially when considering the circumstances.

"...Sure?" Raynare responded, her confusion causing her to phrase her response as a question. But the blond seemingly ignored it and continued.

"Why did you give up? I mean not that I'm complaining that you've given up but...I saw that you were about to keep fighting on before. Then you just randomely changed your mind at the last second. So I'm a little curious." Naruto said while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

Raynare gave him a dull stare.

Just because she was beaten didn't mean that she was just gonna give out her personal information. This guy was just...

"Sorry...that's personal information. I don't feel like sharing it to the guy that just beat up my mother." the young woman spoke somewhat bitterly.

The shinobi simply nodded at her reasoning. "That's fine, you didn't have to answer. Like I said, I was just curious." Naruto said easily, before casually moving past her towards Issei.

Issei was busy holding on to the nun like his life depended on it. She was obviously still unconscious...but it looked like she was going to be fine at least.

Naruto just walked up beside him and crouched to check on the petite girl for injuries. As far as he could tell there was nothing but you never know...

"Thank you."

Naruto blinked for a moment before looking towards the trembling form of Issei.

"Thank you for saving Asia...thank you so much..." Issei spoke while holding back tears of relief. Naruto just patted him on the back in response, he himself knew about the feeling of pain when you lost someone close.

He definitely wanted to make sure that other people wouldn't have to feel such pain.

But before the shinobi could try and lighten the mood with something silly, he twisted his head to look at the at the stairway and narrowed his eyes.

Someone was coming.

He stood up and walked away from Issei and ignored the small group of fallen angels that were congregated around Raynare and Vretiel in order to face whoever was coming.

Though admittedly, he _knew_ who was coming. He just wanted to make sure that the man treated the captured fallen without mistreating them too much.

He opened his mouth to greet the man that descended from the stairs...

Then slammed his mouth shut in absolute _shock_ at what he was seeing.

All of the conscious fallen angels were gaping like fish.

While Issei just looked on in confusion, hell shouldn't Naruto be happy that his friend was so effective?

Naruto finally spoke after staying silent for a few moments.

"...Azazel-san?"

* * *

 ** _A few moments earlier..._**

Azazel was staring at the very much weakened barrier surrounding the abandoned church, he truthfully had no idea what was going on in there exactly.

But he could speculate.

Considering how battered and cracked the purple barrier was, it was a safe bet to believe that there was quite the battle inside. He was also willing to bet that his new 'friend' had been involved in that battle.

But he didn't want to bet. He wanted to find out what happened.

But at the same time, he didn't want to go inside the barrier when there were fallen angels still conscious in there.

So after waiting a suitable amount of time since the barrier cracked, he decided that since the barrier has not received anymore damage recently, he could enter without fear of discovery.

So he casually flicked his arm at the weakened barrier and shattered it utterly to allow the contents from within to be revealed.

What he saw honestly shocked him.

The entire forest which once stood inside the barrier was completely flattened, it looked more like someone thoroughly carpet-bombed the area than the arena of a fight!

He also couldn't help but nervously look around for the conspicuously absent fallen bodies that should have been littered across the battlefield...

Ah!

There they were.

He saw all of the fallen angels that were probably standing in the mysterious blond man's way stacked on top of one another. Really, they were just haphazardly thrown on top of each other like some weird game of jenga.

He supposed that he could hazard a guess on where everyone else were. There was only _one_ thing standing in the entire area.

So he spread his wings and flew towards the abandoned church at a casual pace until he touched down in front of the battered structure.

He made sure to put away his wings before he spooked anyone.

Although he didn't really expect anyone to be waiting for him.

He especially didn't expect for a hero to be waiting for him, the cape was sort of a big give-away. He hasn't seen one of those in a long time...wondered how that old bastard hero was doing?

"Another fallen angel...? You are here to help your allies I presume?" the young woman asked rhetorically while holding her blade up in a defensive position.

Azazel just grinned in amusement.

"You remind me of a disrespectful brat that I had the unfortunate pleasure to meet once upon a time. Ah well...I doubt you could stop me even if you tried to hero-chan. So why not let me pass by without any trouble eh?" Azazel spoke with a sly smirk on his face.

Yuki's only response was the activation of her Sacred Gear.

That only elicited the raise of a single eyebrow from Azazel.

" _True Sight_? Man it's been a while since I've seen that one...but..." the fallen said with mocking smile.

"You _do_ know about the many weaknesses of that Sacred Gear right? Because I sure as hell do. I fought against one of them during the Great War after all." the elderly man finished with a small grin.

The hero didn't respond, instead she bent her legs in preparation to fight.

Azazel just sighed.

He forgot how ridiculously hardcore heroes could be. Well he knew how to handle this.

"Alright alright...look, if I put my hands behind my head while you stay behind me and hold your sword at the back of my neck...will you let me go down there and talk to Naruto?" Azazel asked with an easy-going smile, hoping that the young hero would allow this at the very least.

Besides she was no threat to him, if she released killing intent for even a fraction of a second...he would be ready.

That and he was too lazy to fight right now. Really, the world was too cruel to pacifists.

Yuki looked at him suspiciously, but quickly decided that the compromise was acceptable. The simple fact that he knew Naruto's name at all seemed to indicate that he had some relation with her friend.

That, and she was moderately sure that she could kill him if he tried anything funny.

Suffice it to say, she had no idea who she was talking to right now.

"Very well, but no funny business fallen angel-san." Yuki said seriously, before tilting her head and allowing him to pass.

Azazel just scoffed.

She was _very_ much like that old bastard.

* * *

 _ **Present**_ _ **...**_

"...and that's how I have been captured against my will." Azazel finished his small story dramatically.

Everyone who wasn't a fallen angel just deadpanned at him.

The fallen were still mostly wary, they _were_ still on the proverbial chopping block for this man after all. No luxury for humor when they could be facing punishment.

Naruto just sighed.

He could be forgiven for being shocked when he saw Azazel being led to the underground cavern at sword-point by Yuki. Essentially...Yuki was manhandling the leader of the fallen angel faction.

Whoever was the leader of the Hero tribe would undoubtedly be proud despite the strange circumstances.

Yuki by this point, had moved around Azazel and to Naruto's side when she realized _who_ she was threatening exactly. To say that she was nervous was a bit of an understatement.

This nervousness increased slightly when the fallen leader spread all six-pairs of his wings and his playful expression dropped.

He turned to the remaining fallen that were still awake and addressed them. "Well...what should I do with you lot hmm?" the fallen leader asked rhetorically, with an annoyed glare at them. This in turn just caused the traitorous fallen to gaze at the floor as if they were being reprimanded by their parent rather than their leader.

Azazel just sighed.

Then he gave Raynare a sly smile.

"Well...I think you should be thankful to your former guardians Raynare. If it wasn't for them, then I would have probably placed you under house arrest until further notice." the older man spoke with humor laced in his tone, and to the relief of most of the fallen angels.

But much to the confusion of one of them.

"What are you talking about...? Kalawarner-nee, what is he talking about? Mittelt-chan? Dohnaseek-sensei?" Raynare asked hesitantly, not sure if she really wanted to know.

The three fallen in question looked at each other hesitantly before looking at Azazel in confirmation.

Said fallen angel just shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "Shit already went down. What information leaks out later is of no concern as long as it doesn't enter the ears of anyone...unsavory." he spoke while picking his nose.

Kalawarner just sighed and looked to Dohnaseek for support.

Dohnaseek just pushed his fedora down to cover his face.

She then turned to Mittelt for back-up.

Mittelt found the ceiling really interesting at that exact moment.

"...Thanks for the support you two..." Kalawarner spoke with sarcasm, then she turned to face the inquisitive stare of her former ward.

"Raynare-sama...please understand that what we did...we did because we wanted to make sure that you were safe. We knew that if Vretiel-sama's plan was discovered...that your future would be ruined irrevocably so...we..." Kalawarner tried to explain, but her nervousness was preventing her from spilling it out.

"What did you do guys do?" Raynare asked quietly, feeling a rising dread fill her up. "What did you all _do_?"

The three humans that were still conscious were looking at one another uneasily, unsure of what to make of the drama occurring right in front of them.

Naruto especially, he was just expecting to wrap things up by making sure Azazel was gracious in his victory. He didn't really expect for...well... _this_ to happen today.

Kalawarner just kept stumbling over her words until Azazel sighed dramatically and walked up to the group. "Your former guardians actively gave me information about your mother's plans as well as any other useful information." Azazel drawled out to Raynare.

The room was silent for a moment at the wake of this revelation.

Raynare just turned to Kalawarner in absolute shock and opened her mouth, only to close it due to how speechless she was. How could they do this? How could they sell out her mother? If it wasn't for them...then...

Her mother wouldn't be face down on the floor, battered and bruised as she was.

"Raynare-sama! Please! Just for one moment...hear us out. We had a just cause to do what we did!" Kalawarner cried before bowing to the younger fallen, in hopes that Raynare would give them a chance.

The fallen woman just stared at her comrades mutely, before nodding quietly. She was felling numb and wasn't at the stage where she would feel overwhelming anger at the betrayal of trust. So until then...

Kalawarner just breathed a sigh of relief, then she straightened her back in order to explain herself.

"Raynare-sama, first you must know that we were loyal to your mother and we would never betray her so easily. We only did it because we saw no other way to make sure that she would live from repercussions of her actions when Azazel-sama inevitably found out...and to make sure that you had a future afterwards." Kalawarner began, then she raised her hand out in silence when Raynare opened her mouth. "I understand you are confused Raynare-sama so let me elaborate. Do you remember the incident at the abandoned factory a couple of days ago?"

Raynare frowned as memories of the other powerful human emerged from her memories. "Yes...but what does that have to do with this? How could Azazel-sama have known about any of this? Aren't you at fault for alerting him?" the fallen woman accused her former wards with a glare.

But Kalawarner shook her head.

"No, the explosion caused by your mother alerted him."

Raynare widened her eyes at this revelation. But how could the Governor General of the fallen angels have figured out that her mother was involved in this at all?

"You really shouldn't be surprised Raynare-sama. Vretiel-sama was a very powerful woman that was being considered a position in Grigori right? Well what happens when such a famous woman disappears for a period of time without a clue of her whereabouts? What happens when a considerable amount of fallen angels disappear without notice? Kalawarner explained quietly, ignoring how her younger friend's fists were clenching tightly.

"Well I'll tell you. The higher-ups began to place their collective ears to the ground to find them. That means following any lead that sounds even remotely of fallen angel activity in places they shouldn't be...like an incident where powerful light energy was used to destroy an abandoned human structure in devil territory." Kalawarner continued to explain somberly.

This caused Raynare's eyes to widen. Was it really like that? Was her mother accidentally laying the seeds of her own destruction? Of _their_ own destruction?

"We quickly came to the conclusion that while the incident wouldn't be connected to Vretiel-sama immediately...it would be eventually. Even if her plan had succeeded without any problems, her next phase would involve overthrowing Grigori with your new power under her control. Even if you became several times more powerful from whatever power your mother sought, it didn't change the fact that you would need to train yourself in it's use. In short, you needed time...time that you didn't have because of Vretiel-sama's foolhardy decision." Kalawarner finished somberly, looking down at the floor in shame.

The daughter of Vretiel just stared at the floor in silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"So...you fed Azazel-sama information in the hopes that he would be more lenient in victory...is that right?" Raynare asked quietly with her fists clenched.

The worst part of all of this for the young fallen...was that she knew that Kalawarner wasn't wrong.

She _knew_ that her mother was taking a lot of risks.

She _knew_ that her mother was becoming more power-hungry.

She _knew_ all of this...she was just afraid to admit it. That her actions would cause her to end up as she was now.

So she said nothing. There was nothing to say.

Naruto, who was watching everything play out, just stared at the daughter of Vretiel with sympathy. But what could he do? He couldn't save everyone...he learned that lesson, and this was one of those times where he couldn't help someone he wanted to help.

At the very least, he figured out how Azazel knew of him. No doubt that those fallen angels gave Azazel information about the powerful human and how similar their energy signals were to one another.

"Welp! This was a fun little drama! But I'm afraid that we must end it here. Now if you will all excuse me." Azazel spoke up, before walking towards the still unconscious Vretiel.

Naruto widened his eyes before getting up to sprint to the prone fallen angel in order to plead her case, even if it was slightly deserved. He still very much wanted to make sure that nothing too terrible would happen to her.

But someone beat him to it.

"Wait Azazel-sama!"

Raynare managed to get in front of the Governor General of the fallen angels and used her body to block Azazel's path to her mother.

Azazel just raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Come now Raynare. Surely you don't really think that you can actually stop me now do you?" Azazel asked with an easy-going smile, obviously completely at ease despite the situation.

"No...I want to bargain for a lessened sentence for my mother." Raynare retorted seriously.

This raised eyebrows all across the room in surprise.

"Hooo...now what can such a young fallen angel offer me in exchange for this woman's freedom? She nearly started a war you know? That would have been capital punishment if it wasn't for the fact that your guardians have asked me to be lenient. I'm only going to erase her memories and strip her of her powers now. That's fair enough right?" the Governor General asked rhetorically.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, but couldn't really fault the fallen leader for his decision. He really didn't like it though.

"...My mother wanted to unlock a power deep within me, she claimed that it was a power that hasn't been seen in over a millennia. Apparently this power has been undocumented and has never been researched properly. You like interesting things right Azazel-sama? Well...if I become your student and test subject willingly...can you please lessen her punishment?" Raynare asked seriously, before bowing her head towards the fallen leader.

Everyone's eyes widened at the young fallen's words.

Even Azazel widened his eyes at that. But then he placed his chin on the palm of his hand in contemplation. Her proposal actually did sound pretty attractive, as delusional as Vretiel had become over the years...he knew that she wasn't stupid. She must have based her ambitions on _something_ concrete. While he had no idea if what Raynare had was truly powerful or not...there were still a lot of unknown things to discover in this world.

Hell, weren't they standing next to one of them right now in the form of a blond human?

Also, it wasn't like she would betray the deal or anything. To put it bluntly...he _did_ have her mother captured after all.

Besides that, the cost of her willingness to become his test subject was...what? To lessen Vretiel's punishment?

Yeah. He can lessen her punishment for this.

"...Very well. I accept your terms Raynare. Although I have to ask...your mother was prepared to throw everything away just for her own selfish ambitions...yet here you are throwing away your future as something worthwhile in order to make her sentence less severe...why?" Azazel asked with genuine curiosity. He didn't really understand the younger woman's line of thinking, since he was actually a very selfish individual. He did things because they were good for him or his people as a whole, outside of his responsibilities...he didn't do things for other people willingly.

He abandoned Heaven for the pleasures of the flesh.

He abandoned women who loved him because they grew wrinkly and old.

He wanted peace for the sake of his curiosity in interesting things.

So he couldn't understand why this young woman would do what she was doing.

Raynare just smiled a sad smile.

"Because I love her." she said simply.

The Governor General just scratched his head in confusion and shrugged. "That's fine...but love won't help her 'affliction' that's for sure."

Raynare frowned at that. The way he said 'affliction' was...weird.

"...Azazel-sama. I apologize for asking but...do you know something about my mother?" the younger fallen asked hesitantly.

This also drew the stares of everyone else towards the fallen leader. Everyone was very much focused on the drama occurring in front of them.

Azazel just slapped his face with his hand in annoyance. He spoke too much it seemed.

"Look...I 'may' know something about what is wrong with your mother. But unfortunately...that is very much classified information." Azazel stated seriously while crossing his arms on his chest.

The female fallen bit her lips in order to stop herself from prying further. She couldn't risk it, she couldn't risk angering Azazel-sama when her own deal could be the price of his annoyance.

"Ok. I think I've had enough of being on the side lines in all of this."

Raynare flicked her eyes to regard the blond human who boldly walked up to them to enter the conversation.

Azazel just looked at him blankly for a moment.

"...You're still here?" the fallen leader asked dubiously.

Naruto ignored his question in order to face Raynare with intense blue eyes.

"You...you want to help her right? You want to help your mother right?" Naruto asked with blue eyes staring her down, much to the fallen's discomfort.

"What does it matter to you? Why the hell do you care human?" Raynare retorted with a glare, this was the human that got them in this situation to begin with after all.

Naruto just continued to stare at her, prying her for answers to his question. She held firm for a moment before acquiescing.

"...Yeah...I do want to save her. Despite everything that happened...she is still my precious mother. I can't just leave her as she is." Raynare mumbled quietly, refusing to face the human's stare.

"Alright then. All I wanted to know." Naruto said easily before turning to Azazel. "Hey Azazel-san?"

The fallen leader regarded the blond with curiosity. "What do you want Naruto?"

Naruto just grinned.

"I want to cash in my favor." he said with a shit-eating grin.

Azazel stared at the blond with wide eyes in shock.

He wasn't the only one, as fallen angel and human alike were staring at Naruto as if he just asked for something absolutely incredible.

The eldest fallen angel recovered first.

"...Wow. I was legitimately speechless there for a second kid. I'm honestly surprised that you would use up your favor for some random fallen angel. You...just what are you exactly? Azazel asked in slight amazement at the human boy.

Naruto smirked at the fallen leader with amusement, he's been getting that question a lot lately.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said with a cheesy grin plastered across his face.

Yuki shook her head at that, but couldn't stop the small smile on her face. She supposed that Naruto would always be like this, it wouldn't be Naruto if he wasn't.

Issei just flat-out gaped at the blond, but couldn't help but admire the sheer guts he had for demanding something that was clearly stated to be 'classified' information from someone so powerful. Seriously, who couldn't help but admire that?

But the one who was most surprised was Raynare herself, she was staring at the back of Naruto's head as if trying to burn her way inside it to answer the questions swirling around her head.

"...Why? Why would you waste your favor like that? Are you an idiot? We were just enemies! You don't do that for someone you _just_ met! That's just...completely illogical!" the fallen woman shouted at the whiskered man.

He just glanced at her with the side of his eyes with a wry smile. "Now now...when someone lends you a hand without any ulterior motives...you should probably just take the damn hand." Naruto drawled.

Raynare just continued to stare at him, completely unsatisfied with that. Naruto just rolled his eyes at her and decided to explain himself.

"Look...I'll be blunt. I thought that you were a spoiled brat that used your mother's achievements and your own talent to cruise through life. I also thought that you had a massive pole stuck up your ass." Naruto stated bluntly and without remorse.

Issei guffawed at the statement and Raynare was clearly insulted by the words but didn't say anything.

"But...it seems that you have your own problems to deal with. Problems with acknowledgement. That's...something that I can sympathize with. More so in the fact that you did what you could to _prove_ that you were worthy of that respect that you sought. Even more so when you gave that up in order to help your mother. So what I'm trying to say is..." Naruto said while giving her a light smile.

"How can I _not_ help ya?"

Raynare just threw her hands up in the air.

She gave up! Trying to understand the guy in front of her was impossible! He just did things whenever he felt like and did whatever he felt like doing! Consequences be damned!

She sighed and rubbed her forehead with her palm and looked at grinning teenager in front of her.

"...Thank you. Although I really don't understand why...thank you." Raynare said sincerely, honestly touched by his gesture. She turned to Azazel in order to get the information she required.

Azazel for his part was somewhat regretting the fact that he didn't really put 'conditions' for what can be asked by his favor.

"Alright alright...sheesh. Kids these days are so..." Azazel grumbled while rubbing his scalp in annoyance. "But! I need you all to promise with your lives that this information will not leave your lips! Am I understood? If you break this promise...then I get to butcher you in the most horrific ways possible." the fallen leader finished with a bloodthirsty grin.

Needless to say, everyone agreed to the terms.

The Governor General nodded at this and began his explanation.

"To be blunt, your mother is a _very_ sick woman Raynare. There is also very little anyone can do by this point in order to heal her as well." Azazel started, he immediately raised his hand up in silence in order to forestall the younger fallen's objections to his words.

"Let me finish before you say anything, I will only say this once. Your mother...according to your guardians, she wasn't always been like this am I correct?" Azazel asked, which got a hesitant negative from the younger fallen. "She very much acts power-hungry now, as if she craves more and more despite the fact that she can't handle it...quite _greedy_ don't you think?" the eldest fallen asked, but received blank stares in return.

The fallen leader sighed and continued.

"Your mother is a victim of one of the Seven Deadly Sins; Greed." Azazel finished and received a wide eyed stare from his audience.

"Eh!? But I thought that the 'Seven Deadly Sins' were just one of God's many impossible expectations for us! That's what we were taught while in fallen territory in the Underworld!" Raynare shouted in shock. But Azazel shook his head and continued his explanation.

"We thought so for the longest time...but it turned out that there was more to it than that. We only discovered this after the end of the Great War, where there were several fallen angels that exhibited...an abnormal amount of hatred towards our former enemies. To the point where they wouldn't even listen to my own orders...some of them even had to be terminated because of it." Azazel said somberly, before shaking the memories away.

"Anyways, we eventually learned that the symptoms were very much correlated with the 'Seven Deadly Sins'. The 'disease' would result from an overabundance of one of the emotions among the 'Deadly Sins', which would then begin to warp the personality of the individual to fit the criteria of the 'Sin'. If you feel too much 'Wrath' then eventually you will begin to feel nothing _but_ 'Wrath'. The same applies to each and every 'Sin'." the fallen leader explained quietly.

Raynare was speechless, she _never_ heard of such a disease that ran rampant among her people before. But suddenly...quite a few things made _sense_.

Like why her mother changed as much as Kalawarner-nee claimed she did.

Why there were so many fallen that would fall into many negative extremes...even when compared to their devil counterparts.

"Wait, I can kinda understand why angels don't fall into these 'diseases'...but why don't the devils?" Naruto asked with a confused facial expression. This stuff was really complicated for the blond right now.

Poor Issei was pretty much getting his brain fried right now too.

"I'm not too sure myself. Perhaps it was the fact that the original Lucifer and his followers gave up their right to the power of light energy and the protection it offers. We fallen angels have light energy without the protection of God...so maybe that's why we are susceptible to it. But that is me just speculating, the fact is that we have no idea. We also have no idea how to actually help those who are victim to the 'disease'..." Azazel responded, but looked up at the _furious_ Raynare who stood up and was now towering over someone who can squash her like a fly.

"So that's it!? You hide the fact that there is this impossible to heal disease occurring and that it's hopeless!? Fuck no! Why don't you spread the word of this disease so that people could actually be aware of it!?" Raynare snarled at her superior in anger.

The Governor General just regarded her coldly for a moment before responding.

"Hoh? Tell me...how long do you think fallen angel society has been existing? If you don't know... quite a bit more than a millenia, while still retaining the culture of the first group of fallen angels. Our society was built on living life without any constraints or any true moral qualms...how much of a shock do you think that that society would go through if they learned that they have to restrain themselves unless they want to get this new disease? Let me answer the question for you...the answer is a _very big shock_. Really...I'm pretty sure that a civil war would start because many would believe that I'm lying. But rather than pointing fingers at me...I think you should be more thankful Raynare." Azazel finished with narrowed eyes at the younger fallen.

Raynare looked taken aback for a moment before looking at the older fallen warily.

"Um...why do you say that Azazel-sama?"

Azazel gave her a cryptic smile before replying.

"Because there is a correlation for many who fall to a 'Sin'...and their parents. This trend is only broken when the offspring personally see the 'sin' transform their parents into something they're not. In short, perhaps it's because you saw what 'greed' has done to your mother...that you subconsciously stayed away from it this whole time. If you weren't aware of that danger on the other hand...it's very likely that you would have turned out just like your mother." Azazel finished bluntly.

The thought genuinely scared Raynare, she could have turned out just like her mother if she didn't see the consequences of 'greed'? Her life could have been very different...

The eldest fallen finally turned to Naruto in annoyance, obviously displeased that he had to give out the information that he had.

"Happy now Naruto?" Azazel asked with a slight glare.

"Very much so. Thank you for your cooperation Azazel-san." Naruto retorted smartly, he then glanced at the currently introspective fallen angels. "But what are you going to do with them now?"

Azazel scratched his head for a moment before replying. "Well I've accepted little Raynare's proposal...so I will take her with me, her former guardians will not be harmed either. Vretiel will be placed under house arrest as well without being harmed. As for every other fallen angel involved with this...well I think I better try and find the source of their dissatisfaction. After all...there are undoubtedly more of my subordinates who think this way."

Naruto nodded at this logic, he wouldn't make a fuss about it then.

"Welp! This was fun Naruto! I've learned about a few interesting things today, so I think it's about time we take our leave...come on Raynare. You three come as well, I have use for you lot yet." Azazel spoke up while grabbing Vretiel's unconscious body.

The weaker fallen looked at each other warily before moving to their leader's side. Raynare glanced at Naruto for a moment before giving him a nod of acknowledgement and moving to Azazel's side as well.

"Hey Raynare-san."

Raynare looked at Naruto quizzically.

"...Even though I was talking to Issei at the time...I think you should know." Naruto began with a grin.

"Nothing is over...until it's over."

The young fallen just regarded the blond for a moment, then she nodded and turned away from him resolutely.

With them all gathered around him, Azazel spread his wings and enveloped them all before winking at Naruto.

"I'm expecting to hear great and interesting things from you Naruto! Don't let me down!" he called out before disappearing, with black feathers being the only proof that he was ever there to begin with.

The room was silent as the fallen angels left the scene, but the silence was broken when Naruto turned around to address who was left.

"Well, this was a _very_ eventful day I think. So I think it's best that we leave this place so that we can all get some rest right? Especially before the civilians of Kuoh Town realize that a forest is gone." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head.

He quickly turned to leave the underground cavern so that he could go home.

"Not so fast Naruto."

Fuuuuuuuu...

Naruto internally cursed as Yuki grabbed his shoulder before he could leave, he was _really_ hoping that she forgot...

"Don't forget our promise for helping you today Naruto. We will begin our tutoring sessions after school tomorrow." Yuki said seriously and with a dark glare, she wasn't joking around.

Naruto grit his teeth and turned to Issei who was now holding the nun on his back and moving towards them. He grabbed the perverted boy on both of his shoulders and gave him a heavy stare.

"...I gave up a lot to help you today you know? I had to give up my academic-free after school activities...! You better pay me back for this later Issei...!" Naruto shouted at him while trying not to cry at the injustice of it all.

Of course, Issei was just baffled at Naruto's supposed 'sacrifice'...all he saw was that the blond was getting personal lessons from a beauty.

But before he could retort, Yuki's cellphone went off, she checked out the caller id before widening her eyes in surprise. She turned to Naruto but was cut off before she could say anything.

"Hey hey...it's all good Yuki. I can handle this from here, but for what it's worth...thanks a lot. You really saved Issei's butt over here." Naruto stated humorously much to Issei's chagrin.

Yuki smiled. "That's what friends are for...right Naruto? I'll see you at school tomorrow." she said, before turning around and running up the steps to get home.

"Man, whoever was calling Yuki must be pretty damn important eh? Well, ya need help bringing your friend to your house Issei?...As long as you don't molest her anyways." Naruto said while giving the perverted boy a suspicious glance. Though Issei hotly denied the charges much to Naruto's amusement.

He then made a clone and had him carry Issei while he carried Asia. They had to move before people noticed the devastation, so no relaxing walk back home it seemed.

Well...at least for Issei anyways.

* * *

Raynare was staring up at the night sky.

It was fake of course, the Underworld didn't have a 'night' like the human world did...it was a big illusion. But nevertheless, it was very pretty.

She had a lot to think about, so much has changed in such a short time that she was still at a loss.

Her original life's goal was now essentially...unattainable. There was no cure for her mother's current state. So she could never be the mother that she internally craved since she was young.

"Disease of the Seven Deadly Sins huh..." the young fallen muttered under her breath.

 _'Nothing is over...until it's over.'_

She couldn't help but think over the mysterious blond's words.

He originally spoke that phrase to the other human...the weak human. In regards to whether the nun would live or die that day.

It was a phrase that encouraged the boy to not lose hope.

So why did he speak that phrase to her?

What was he trying to _say_?

"Whatcha thinking about kid?"

Raynare turned her head to regard the Governor General of her people. He transported all of them to the main Grigori HQ in the Underworld, in order to prep them as his 'new assistants'.

But at the very least, he didn't seem to be interested in making their lives miserable...more like he was genuinely curious about her inner power.

Whatever it was.

"I'm just thinking Azazel-sama...no need to worry yourself over my concerns." Raynare said quietly. This caused Azazel to just roll his eyes at her attitude.

"Hey hey now, no need to be so formal. Let's make this a pleasant experience huh? I made sure that your former guardians will stay with you as your assistants and that your mother has proper accommodations for the foreseeable future. Hell, as I am now...I'm technically your guardian. So let's make the most of the situation ok?" Azazel said easily, while placing his hand over her head.

The young fallen blinked as she felt the elder fallen rub his hand on her head. The feeling was...nice.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

"...Azazel-sama. Is there really no hope for my mother? For her to get better?" Raynare asked quietly with her bangs shadowing her face.

Azazel sighed at the question, he really didn't want to let the girl down but... "No, there is no cure for her. I'm sorry."

All was quiet for a moment.

 _'Nothing is over...until it's over.'_

 _..._

Then Raynare stood up and faced the night sky with a resolute stare.

"Then... _that_ is my new goal in life. I will be the one to find the cure of the 'Seven Deadly Sins'. I will heal my mother and all who are affected by it!" Raynare shouted with determination lacing her voice.

She turned around to face the elder fallen angel.

"So please Azazel-sama...please teach me not only on how to be strong and control my power...but how to be a researcher like you!" she implored while bowing her head.

The man in question just blinked.

Then he grinned.

Interesting... _very interesting_!

"Very well...let's get started kid." he spoke with a grin, before turning back and heading inside HQ.

Raynare immediately made to follow, but she stopped for a moment to look at the sky.

She was sure. She was sure that this was what he meant...

She wouldn't give up on her mother. Not until there was absolutely no hope left...and even then...!

It wasn't over.

She got up from her spot under the night sky and walked towards the bright building to follow her new mentor.

She moved forward to grasp the future.

* * *

Naruto was jumping from house to house with his passengers in tow, they were about to take a break before they continued.

He didn't want Issei to lose his breakfast this time.

They stopped at a secluded fountain that was surrounded by trees so that there wouldn't be any witnesses to their landing.

He was pretty damn tired, he figured that when he got home he would get himself a nice ramen buffet for a job well done. But first he had to-

"Naruto."

The shinobi looked at Issei when he heard his name called, he couldn't help but notice that the other boy had resolute eyes trained on him.

"...Can you teach me to be strong Naruto?" Issei asked with hard eyes, though Naruto was slightly caught off guard by the question.

In retrospect, he shouldn't have been though.

"Uh...to be honest. Probably not, no." the blond replied bluntly. Though Issei remained persistent.

"Huh? Why not!? You're human right? You became very powerful right!? So surely you can train me so that..." Issei started before stopping himself abruptly and glancing at the ground.

"...So that what happened to Asia today...can't happen again." Issei finished with his eyes clenched shut.

Naruto sympathized with his situation...he really did. But the fact was not only did Issei not have any chakra for the blond to even train him in his own abilities...he also had no idea how much longer he would stay in this world. For all he knew, he could be ready to leave next month. Way too short a time for the blond to prep...what is essentially a civilian without chakra to fight supernatural beings.

He briefly wondered if Yuki could train him as a hero...but shelved that idea when he remembered that the Hero Tribe very likely wouldn't take the training of a new hero lightly. Especially one that the devils were aware of. Rias knew of him after all and that could cause another crisis altogether.

That only left...

"Then...I'd like to talk to Rias-senpai about becoming a devil!" Issei said desperately while bowing his head.

Naruto stared at the back of Issei's head as he continued to bow.

"Oi oi...you do know about the consequences of joining Rias-san's Peerage would be right? While I trust her enough to deduce that she would treat you well...it doesn't change the fact that you would become her servant. You would also lose your humanity and lose any right to deny her anything...you do know that right?" Naruto asked with a stern look.

Issei nodded while raising his head from the floor to look at the blond in the eyes.

"As long as I get Rias-sempai to agree to my condition of protecting Asia...then I'm ok with that!" he said without any doubts in his eyes.

He was serious.

Naruto nodded slowly, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised at this. He very nearly lost someone very close, if he was in Issei's shoes...he'd probably do the same as well.

He cared far more about his loved ones than he did about his identity and freedom, that's simply how he was. He suspected that Issei was similar.

The shinobi nodded towards his clone to pick up the sleeping nun and he grabbed Issei's shoulder. "Alright Issei...but first you should get some rest and let the girl rest in your home...you two went through quite a bit after all. We'll talk about this tomorrow ok?" Naruto said while preparing to jump again.

Issei nodded at this reasoning and looked over at the sleeping Asia.

She seemed to be smiling a little bit in her sleep...

He wanted to protect that smile of hers...as a human or as a devil. It didn't matter to the boy, as long as she was safe...then that was all that mattered.

* * *

Naruto slowly opened the door to his home, he really hoped that everyone was asleep right now. All of the drama and action of today had drained the teenager and he wanted to just eat a quick ramen buffet in peace before hitting the hay.

Though it seemed that fate was just shitting on him today.

The shinobi walked inside to see that the living room lights were on and that Mio and Maria were waiting for him.

They seemed quite serious too.

"Hey you two! What are you guys doing staying up so late? Hope you weren't waiting for me? I seriously had one of the most craziest nights that I have ever-"

"Naruto." Mio interjected seriously.

Naruto blinked at the girl's serious and thoroughly 'non-joking' tone. What was this all about?

Before he could actually ask, Mio placed down an item that he was sure _shouldn't_ be outside of his room.

"Naruto... _what are you?_ "

The blond was seriously beginning to hate that sentence.

* * *

 **AN: Ok! So that was the last chapter for the 'Vretiel Arc'. I think it got wrapped up pretty decently don't you?**

 **Ok, serious time. First wanted to quickly thank all of the support I've received in this story, especially the reviews. They _really_ helped me to write the next chapter faster :P**

 **Now for the actual announcements. I'm sure most of you know that the story that you are all reading is my first ever attempt at fanfiction. I've been reading around for at least a year or two and found that there are a few things that an author _really_ shouldn't do in their stories if they want either a meaningful story or a good fanbase. One of them was supposed to be 'don't have more than two crossovers at once'. Yet here is this story that is doing pretty well for itself all things considered.**

 **Now don't worry, I know that a lot of people are now invested into the story that I am crafting and would come at me with pitchforks if I destroy their now...what? Weekly entertainment I suppose? So nothing crazy is happening. I am gonna quite simply see what I can get away with without destroying the story. I hope most of you trust me enough to know that I won't wreck it since I just want to try and do something unique...or at least _more_ unique than what I'm already doing.**

 **One of those things are coming up soon, it has to do with the Riser Arc. Most of you will like this one I think however, but before we get there, there will be a bit of an interval. Mostly so that the story can thicken and new bonds can be forged.**

 **Another thing, I've been reading a couple of fics try and use themes or osts in order to help make important events stand out as more badass/sad/epic depending on the event. But I sometimes found them troubling as they break the 'flow' of the story, but I still thought that the idea was at least interesting. Then I thought; 'hey, why not leave a suggestion of a certain theme or ost for specific moments throughout the story in the AN at the bottom? That way it won't break the flow of the story and it can bring those moments to life if they want to use it afterwards?' The idea intrigued me, especially since the times that I will use any type of music will be few and far in-between. Just an idea so tell me what you think?**

 **Also, I now know what I want to do with the question of the harem. The info for that is in my profile now and hopefully most of you understand my reasoning when I chose what I did.**

 **Lastly, the next chapter will come a bit later than usual since I want to go back to my first few chapters and rewrite them since I think my writing skills have improved quite a bit. Hopefully it will all be comprehensive enough so even grammar-alert people can read ^.^**

 **-RekkingPride**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapters have been mostly revised as of now. Not completely done but almost.**

* * *

 _ **Earlier that day...**_

Mio opened the door towards Naruto's room.

She briefly looked inside to see whether there was something that could attack her, the sheer fact that it was 'forbidden' allowed for a minor sense of danger and mystery to the area. Essentially, her imagination filled in the question of 'Why can't I go in there?' for her.

She felt silly for feeling that way but it was true.

After making sure that there wasn't some sort of rabid dog about to attack her or anything, she fully entered the room. She frowned when she couldn't see anything due to the lack of light and how dark it was getting outside.

She quickly fumbled for the light switch to find her missing companion, before she quickly retracted her wandering hand when she felt it getting nicked.

She opted to just use a minor fire spell to illuminate the area for herself, if she was gonna get it when the blond got back home for trespassing, might as well go all in. Though even she knew that was slightly faulty reasoning.

She made a small fire with her left index finger, it helped illuminate her surroundings a lot better. She moved said finger to where she nicked her finger and saw something rather...strange.

A metal star.

A _very_ sharp metal star, likely made from similar material as the metal knife that the blond carried on his sleeve.

But unlike that slightly familiar metal knife that Mio saw before...there was no mistaking the iconic weapon that she was looking at.

Shuriken.

Mio frowned as she stared at the object, why would Naruto have shuriken? They were pretty old weapons that ninjas used back in the day right?

Her confusion only rose as she looked around with her small fire, she saw many strange things lying around the room.

There were shuriken and 'metal knives' that were lying in small pouches, rolled up scrolls that had strange seals placed on them, he even had several books on a desk which seemed to be focused on methods of teleportation. She was pretty sure that some of those books were fake though...

None of these things were really strange per-say...if they were by themselves anyways. The shuriken can be explained away as a hobby for collecting ninja-wear, the seals could be seen as a magician-thing that she wasn't aware of, and the books that were focused on teleportation could be another facet of learning that magicians were known for.

But all together...it paints a _very_ bizarre picture. She just wasn't sure what to make out of it.

The only thing that she found that truly helped her indicate that this was Naruto's room rather than some weird alternate dimension, was the fact that she found his ramen stash hidden behind the bookshelf.

Sneaky.

But after making that discovery, she found something else that made her doubt the authenticity of the room's owner all over again.

She found a scroll which was lying open with a lot of writing on it. It was laying on Naruto's bed with several ideas of...

...of how someone can travel between worlds.

"...What...

* * *

 _ **Present...**_

-is this...? Naruto...?" Mio asked quietly to the blond in front of her. Was this an elaborate prank? Maybe a fit of imagination for some kind of story?

She didn't know. She wasn't sure if she _wanted_ to know.

But shortly after her discovery, Maria came home and she shared what she found with her. They both reached the same conclusion.

They had to hear the truth from Naruto.

There were many things that were still unknown among the supernatural, so Naruto's already strange abilities, strange items, and strange plans were all pointing to some sort of cover up on his part.

Maria for her part was slightly worried and upset about the fact that Naruto-sama hid something obviously important from them. Although she wasn't _too_ worried, he has shown himself to be trustworthy in the fact that he genuinely tries to keep them safe and sound. But it doesn't change the fact that a lack of knowledge of Naruto-sama's identity could prove to be a bad idea, if only for the fact that they don't know what kind of baggage he could be carrying.

She hoped that Naruto-sama would come to the same conclusion and just share his true identity with them. He must have hid his identity for a reason right? Maybe like Mio-sama, he has a past that prevents him from being able to share with others too liberally?

Naruto for his part was silently staring at the evidence placed on the table.

His multiple written attempts at getting back to the Elemental Nations.

When he first got this home in order to plan his escape from this world in peace, he made sure to make a list of ways to get back home. Whether they were real or not, he placed them down, including stuff that he tried already like the _Kuchiyose no jutsu_ with notes on their effectiveness.

He sorta didn't need it anymore because it was meant to keep track of the ways he have checked or was going to check on getting home. But now the _kuchiyose_ for the toads seemed to be getting better over time...now he was placing his bets on a _Gyaku Kuchiyose no jutsu_ (Reverse Summoning jutsu) in order to get home.

So...maybe he should have just destroyed the damn list by now.

Bit late for that though.

More importantly though...how did they get their hands on that list? He was _sure_ that he kept it in his room where they were told specifically _not_ to enter...besides the room was always...

The room was always locked...

...

Oh shit.

His eyes sharpened as he gave the two girls to the opposite of him a hard look.

"...Did you go into my room?" Naruto asked quietly, he honestly wasn't sure how he would react if they actually did...

Mio bit her lips for a moment, unwilling to concede that she did indeed go in his room. But the simple fact that she stayed silent rather than deny the charges was proof enough she knew. So the least she could do...

"...Maria didn't know." Mio mumbled quietly.

Only then did Naruto feel his own anger begin to bubble up to the surface, causing him to step forward and slam his hands on the table in anger.

"...What the hell Mio! I specifically asked you guys to _not_ go in there! Two things; not to blow it up the house and not to go into my room! What the hell!" Naruto raised his voice in anger, unbelieving that Mio would take advantage of his rush to the battlefield. She may not have known the circumstances but it was still pretty messed up!

Mio's own hackles were raised at the blond's rising tone and she stood up in to retort angrily and slammed her own hands on the table. "I was _worried_ about you! You left school early and completely disappeared off the face of the Earth until now! I thought that I could find out where you went if I checked your room!" Mio shouted out in her defense, unwilling to back down. "Also you're dodging the question! What does this paper mean Naruto!?"

Maria quickly got up and tried to separate the two from each other, both of them were among the most stubborn people she has ever met...there was no way they'd back down if they thought they were right.

She was sure that Mio-sama thought that Naruto-sama was trying to focus on the fact that she entered his room to dodge the question she asked. She was also sure that Naruto-sama felt justifiably upset about how his privacy was violated without any sign of an apology, especially since he was still a teenager that probably stilled desired personal space.

"Wait wait! Both of you please calm down!" Maria cried while physically getting in-between the two. Hoping that at least one of them would back down so the other could take a breather and think more clearly.

Everything was silent for a few moments as the psuedo-siblings stared each other down in a clash of wills.

But slowly, ever so slowly...Mio backed away from the contest while keeping her eyes locked on the blond's.

While staring at her eyes, Naruto understood.

She wasn't backing off because she was intimidated or anything. No...

She was acknowledging her mistake. It may not have been put into words, but the feelings were at the very least conveyed.

So Naruto, slightly pacified, backed off to get a quick breather for himself. Internally he was bonking himself on the head for getting so upset, even if it was justified, he still didn't like getting angry at a friend like that.

Honestly though, if this was back at Konoha and his room was entered without his permission?

He probably would have been upset at the perpetrator, but not _this_ upset.

Over here on the other hand...where the knowledge of being a ninja was likely to bring in some unwanted attention?

His anger was more about the fact that his _last_ safe haven where he can be Uzumaki Naruto; the shinobi of Konoha...was _breached_. The last place where he didn't have to worry about hiding the fact that he was a ninja was suddenly...not so safe anymore.

 _That_ pissed him off.

It was only after the anger left his body did he wince and grab his right hand. He just slammed that hand on the table in frustration and he completely forgot that he was still hurt there.

Though it seems he wasn't the only one who noticed the wound.

"Naruto-sama...how did you get hurt like that?" Maria asked with a small frown, she's seen him take on stray devils without any effort at all. So what exactly could have hurt him like that?

Mio also frowned at the wound as she moved around the table and walked up to the blond to examine it. It was only after she got closer did she notice some strange things about Naruto that she didn't notice earlier.

His clothes.

The Kuoh Academy-issued jacket was pretty singed at the cuffs, as if they were nearly burned off. His clothes in general were pretty ruffled up and dirty...as if he had gotten into a fight.

Mio then looked up at Naruto's eyes as the boy began to sweat bullets at this cross-examination.

Ah...yeah...at this rate he may as well throw in the towel for hiding who he was.

But...he really didn't want to.

Although they have been together for a short time, he couldn't help but grow a little attached to the two freeloaders in his house. Life was boring while he was trying to find a way back home. The simple fact that he had no choice but to interact with them while they lived here helped in making him attached to them as friends.

So what would happen if he announced that he was a ninja?

He seriously doubted that they would really consider the fact that he was a ninja from a different world...even with the proof literally right in front of them. So more likely than not, they would think of him as a ninja from _this_ world.

The ninjas from this world were known for being assassins and back-stabbers, something that he really didn't want to be associated with on a normal day...let alone with people he cared about.

But more importantly...

"Naruto?"

Naruto blinked as his musings were interrupted, he looked at Mio who was staring back at him with concern.

"...Are you ok? You blanked out there for a minute there." Mio said with fresh concern, how could she not? The blond was missing since earlier today, then he comes back with a singed arm and clothes. Now he is flat-out blanking out on her!

This was all very concerning for the young girl.

Maria walked up to the pair as well, focusing her inquisitive eyes on the blond. "Naruto-sama. Obviously _something_ happened to you today. While I'm sure that you had your reasons in hiding your activities from us...I think that we have a right to know anyways. Please tell us what is going on Naruto-sama."

Naruto glanced at the succubus for a moment before glancing at his psuedo-sister.

"Ok ok, fine. Just sit back down and let me think for a second ok?" Naruto complained while rubbing his temples. This cloak and dagger stuff was hard enough on the shinobi when considering his personality, holding it all up against this scrutiny was flat-out impossible now.

Suspicion would be the only emotion that wouldn't be in short supply if he didn't explain himself. But he wasn't ready to explain himself entirely just yet.

After both Maria and Mio sat down again, he began to talk.

"Look, there has been a lot of stuff that has been going on around Kuoh Town lately. I wanted to keep you guys out of it because of your circumstances, but I guess I can't do that anymore." Naruto said while scratching his cheek, he was actually going to try and train them anyways. He couldn't help but remember how much Azazel-san liked interesting things, and while he trusted the man to an extent...that didn't extend to his friends' well-being.

After all, wasn't someone like Mio a _very_ intersting person?

There were inevitably going to be people like that, that isn't even including the stray devils and the devils that just wanted to kill Mio. So they both needed training eventually, the question was when and how?

Well, he didn't need to worry about those questions anymore. Especially since he has a favor from the little sister of a Maou.

At least...he will tomorrow anyways.

The ninja thing on the other hand...

"Look...there's a reason why I'm not just explaining the entire situation to you two. Part of it is kinda personal and the the other part is for your safety. So if I explain the circumstances behind the burnt clothing...then can you drop the questions for a little bit? I promise that I will answer your questions as soon as I can." Naruto promised while eyeing the duo cautiously.

Maria and Mio locked eyes with one another. All evidence was pointing to some secret that Naruto knew that he wouldn't share. It was a pretty safe bet that it was quite serious as well, the wound on his arm was proof of that.

Mio closed her eyes in resignation. The blond simply never made things simple did he?

She opened her eyes with determination, Naruto took them in during bad circumstances without any hassle or questions. The least they could do was to return the favor by giving him time to answer their concerns.

"Ok Naruto...we get it. We won't ask about who you are anymore. But at least tell us what is going on. Maybe we can help!" Mio said with her hand to her chest, wanting to convey her honest thoughts. Maria nodded energetically to her words and made her own thoughts known.

"Yes Naruto-sama! You've been nothing but good to us for the short time we've known each other! If you're having trouble with something...don't hesitate to come to us!" Maria said with enthusiasm.

Naruto gave them both grateful smiles at their understanding. He needed time to reconcile with something that he has been ignoring for a long time...

His fears.

He knew...he _knew_ that he shouldn't be afraid. These two trusted him and he trusted them in return.

But sometimes it wasn't enough. He once thought the same thing for his closest friend after all...

He shook his head to move away from the darker thoughts which began to cloud his head. He would deal with it _later_.

At least he kept telling himself that.

"Alright. What do you two know about the fallen angels?" Naruto asked seriously, while settling down into his own chair. Mio's eyebrow rose in confusion at the seemingly random question, but Maria caught on to the implications of the sentence and had her eyes widen in alarm.

"Naruto-sama. Are you saying that fallen angels attacked you?" Maria asked hesitantly, were the fallen angels aware of their presence here? That was the only thing that she could think of that could cause such hostility if it was true.

Naruto shook his head in the negative though. "Before you get confused, let me finish with my explanation. None of this will make sense until I'm done and I ask that you guys keep your questions until then."

Both young devils nodded and let him continue with his explanation.

"Well, the fallen angels weren't the one who attacked me...if anything I sorta attacked them now that I think about it." Naruto stated with a sweatdrop forming on his head, he seemed like a bad guy if you didn't take into account his motives...

Mio gave him a dull stare, it really sounded stupid no matter how you framed his actions.

"Now give me a second to explain! The fallen angels were not supposed to be here in Kuoh Town ya know? So I beat up this first group at a abandoned factory, that led to another fight with them at an abandoned church..." Naruto continued before being interrupted.

"THAT WAS YOU!?"

Naruto gave Mio a light glare as she gaped at him.

"...You didn't let me finish." Naruto deadpanned at her.

But the young red-head wasn't having it. "Hey! You do realize that your little battle made the news right!? You absolutely obliterated that factory! What happened in there? Why didn't you tell us? Heck, why did you even attack them to begin with!?" Mio asked relentlessly, with her unconsciously leaning into Naruto's personal space.

"Calm down, calm down! The entire thing sorta just...blew up without warning! The factory blowing up wasn't my fault ya know? That was the fallen angel; Vretiel's fault not mine." Naruto explained, ignoring the now gaping mouth of Maria who knew that name and continued. "Also, I was gonna explain why attacked them. So shush! Let me finish."

Maria was speechless and Mio calmed herself down enough to go back to her chair. She could already tell that she was gonna be tired after this.

* * *

Yuki was staring at her phone as if it was a bomb that was set off to blow any second. She received some troubling news.

There were rumors of infighting beginning to crop up among some heroes back in the village.

At first she thought that the infighting began because of her actions following her clash with Naruto. But it seemed that there has been tension for quite a while, simmering just underneath the surface over what the Hero Tribe should be doing.

Her actions just happened to have brought that tension out.

Now the current village leader wants to meet with her in order to get a full debrief of what has been happening in Kuoh Town, especially after the fallen angel debacle.

But now he also wants to see someone else.

Now the leader of the Hero Tribe wants to meet with Uzumaki Naruto. For what purpose she had no idea...

But she didn't have much choice in the matter, she would broach the subject with Naruto tomorrow.

Although she couldn't help but rub her temples, she wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting her foster father so soon...with a boy no less.

* * *

Naruto sort of expected the gaping reactions from his listeners, a _lot_ has happened that they weren't privy to.

"N-Naruto-sama. Are you _sure_ that the leaders of the two devil groups are little sisters of Maous?" Maria asked hesitantly, obviously finding it hard to wrap her head around the fact, they were so close to close relatives of the current Maous.

Naruto simply nodded in affirmation.

Mio for her part, was combing her bangs from her her forehead in frustration. The real status of the devils of this territory, the knowledge of Yuki's true affiliations, the fact that these groups have managed to form an agreement with one another, and the debacle of what amounted to a _series of battles_ against the fallen...

Yeah, she was mentally exhausted from all of this information.

"Naruto. I still don't understand why you didn't tell us earlier?" Mio asked with a questioning gaze. The blond glanced at her for a moment before turning his eyes to the ceiling.

"You two...you two went through a lot in such a short time. All that has happened had nothing to do with either of you, so I wanted to make sure none of you were worrying over what was going on. I'm sorry if I worried you two." Naruto said apologetically.

The young daughter of the original Lucifer didn't say anything, she just stood up and walked towards the blond with a blank face.

She then moved into his personal space in order to look at him in the eye with a deadpanned expression.

"Are you an idiot?" Mio asked incredulously.

How rude.

Before Naruto could complain however, Mio continued. "The second that you were involved in all of this Naruto...we became involved too. Don't forget, we are your friends too, and as friends...we will worry about you. You _don't_ have to do this alone, let us help!"

The shinobi blinked at her words, was he really making them worry?

Then he scratched his head in irritation, maybe he was being unfair to them. Maybe the fact that he has been working by himself for more than two months have made him less reliant on others.

Even when he should be.

Pink eyes regarded blue as they thought on her words, she then shook him physically so that he could pay attention to her next words. "Naruto...promise me you that you won't do something stupid like this again...ok? Promise me that we will face whatever we have to face _together_." Mio pleaded, with her fists clenching the blond's clothes.

Maria walked up to the duo and placed her hand on Naruto's hand in reassurance. "Yes Naruto-sama! You don't have to do this alone...let's do this like a _family_." Maria said with a large smile.

Naruto stared at the two for a moment.

Then he grinned...maybe he could be a big idiot sometimes.

"Alright alright...you two win. I promise that I won't hide stuff like this from either of you from now on. But you _do_ realize what this means right?" Naruto asked cryptically, much to the confusion of both devils. "Now that means you gotta be able to defend yourselves against more powerful enemies. So I think it's time to train." he concluded.

Mio would have likely balked at the idea, but the very fact that so much has happened around Kuoh Town without her knowledge helped to make it easier to accept.

"But Naruto...I can understand how you can train Maria. But what about me? I use magic and that can't be trained by someone that doesn't know it's uses, at least not trained very well." the teenaged girl wondered aloud.

Naruto gave her a thumbs up in response.

"Leave that to me!"

* * *

After their enlightening talk, the group agreed to go to bed. Two out of the three people living there had to go to school after all.

When morning came, Mio couldn't help but notice how twitchy Naruto seemed to be.

"Naruto? You ok? You seem...tense." Mio asked with a wondering stare.

Naruto decided to reassure her with the most empty reassurance of his life.

"...I'm fine."

The young girl called bullshit on that one. But decided to let it go and kept a 'wait and see' posture.

The moment they left the house for school though, she found out the source of her pseudo-brother's anxiety.

"Naruto?"

Naruto accordingly froze up and began to sweat bullets. He knew this day would come...but he hoped he could delay it.

Tutoring.

Mio blinked as Yuki appeared out of nowhere in front of their home. Was she waiting for them? Also, why did she seem to be strangely happy? Heck, her facial expression didn't even change much, yet she seemed to be practically _sparkling_.

She was internally happy though, Yuki was still Yuki despite being a hero, there was nothing to fear from a friend.

"Naruto." Yuki said quietly, before a small smile graced her face. "I'm glad that you have embraced the light."

Although Mio seriously needed some context here.

Naruto was crying with grief internally. Ever since he promised Yuki that he would take tutoring sessions from her after she explained her Sacred Gear, she would pester him on when they would actually start. He managed to avoid the issue and avoid his incoming hell-on-earth.

But then he had to promise her that they would start the _very next day_ in exchange her help at the forest.

Just like that, he had no way out.

"...Huuuuu..."

Mio gaped as Naruto fell on the floor in a heap with waterfall tears flowing down from his eyes. She had no idea what the hell was going on.

Maria for her part, just watched the entire proceedings with amusement. A confused Mio-sama, a happy Yuki-san, and a remorseful Naruto-sama was a pretty good day for the young succubus. if only she had her video camera...

"...I don't know why...but I really want to hit Maria!" Naruto shouted out on his position on the floor.

 _Eh!?_ She was innocent this time!

* * *

Naruto was having a bad day.

He was going to school, that was already bad enough.

He had to take tutoring sessions from Yuki, another negative.

Now he could add another negative to that list.

"Stop! In the name of the student council!"

With that big-ass butterfly net!? I don't think so!

"You will never take me alive! I refuse to take my classes willingly! Not unless I'm bored!" Naruto exclaimed while dodging the swings of numerous members of the student council.

"It's your duty as a student to take classes! Stop being a delinquent Naruto-san!" a boy named Genshirou Saji called out in anger.

"NEVER!"

"Catch that delinquent!"

""""RIGHT!""""

The chase was attracting the attention of many students who were taking classes, many of them couldn't help but laugh or snort at the scene.

A pair of blue-green eyes seemed particularly interested, they watched on with barely concealed amusement as Naruto continued to frustrate the members of Sona's Peerage by using unique ways to get out of their grasp.

Who knew that a water hose could be so effective?

Rias was happy that Naruto seemed to be completely unharmed though. Both Issei and Nonaka-san also seemed to be unharmed as well, so Naruto obviously managed to deal with the fallen angels. But what happened in there exactly?

She supposed that they had much to talk about in the future.

"Ara ara? It seems that foxy-kun is in trouble. Should we save him Buchou?" Akeno asked with amusement, the scene looked to be straight out of an anime.

Rias just smirked at Akeno. "It isn't too bad if we wait and watch the fireworks for a little bit longer is it Akeno?"

Akeno giggled into her hand. "No, I suppose not Buchou."

* * *

"Damn it. You know the student council president right Rias-san!? Tell her to get off my back!" Naruto complained as he stood face-to-face with the red-headed Gremory.

Rias rolled her eyes at the demand, it wasn't like she could stop Sona from doing what she thought was good and just. She was stubborn in that regard, _especially_ when it came to her role as student council president.

"Sorry Naruto-san. I'm afraid you're on your own with that one." Rias claimed with an apologetic smile. Though admittedly, even if she could stop Sona...she probably wouldn't.

It was too fun to watch.

"So. I suppose you came here to talk about what happened at the abandoned church the other day." Rias stated while folding her hands on her desk. The moment of truth has arrived it seemed.

Naruto nodded at her statement, best not leave her out of the loop. "Yeah, I don't want to explain absolutely _everything_ that happened at the abandoned church. But I will give ya a rundown. After that, a friend of mine will be coming here, he's someone that I want you to meet face-to-face."

Rias raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but quenched it. She would find out later. "Before you begin Naruto...what happened with Vretiel? Is she dead?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, Azazel-san picked her and her followers up. Apparently their actions weren't sanctioned...or something like that."

"Oh I see. Well then-" Rias started before stopping herself prematurely, she only just registered his words. "Wait! Azazel was there!? As in the leader of the fallen angels; Azazel!?"

The shinobi scratched his cheek, he did kinda just throw that in from out of nowhere he supposed. "Well...yeah. Azazel didn't want to start a war, so he met with me and allowed me to take out the rebels. Strange how these things work out eh?"

Rias couldn't help but agree, but then that would mean that the blond took out not only Vretiel...but all of her followers as well.

That was _insane_...!

She was immensely glad that Naruto was seemingly quite passive, she doubted any of them could live from a confrontation with the teen. But before she could continue to think on it, she heard the door being knocked on.

"Buchou, you have an interesting visitor." Akeno called out from the other side, when it was opened to reveal her visitor...she couldn't help but agree.

She glanced at Naruto, she supposed this was his doing?

"Um...you're Rias-sempai right?" the human boy asked as he walked up to the high-class devil. He was being led by...

...Another Naruto?

"Oh, by the way. I can make corporeal clones of myself." Naruto said blandly, as if it wasn't serious news at all. Ah, another strange thing in a list of strange things about Naruto it seemed.

But for now she turned her attention to the human boy that the other 'Naruto' led here.

That boy was none other than Hyoudou Issei.

Issei was actually quite scared at the moment. He could be brave for Asia if he needed to, but now he was in front of beings that could probably kill him without any effort if they wanted to. He was _terrified_ that he might piss them off enough that they would...

"Issei, whatever you're worried about...don't. These are good people. I promise nothing bad is going to happen here." Naruto said in reassurance, receiving a concurring nod from both of the 'Great Ladies' in agreement.

The perverted boy took a deep breathe to calm himself, being in several near-death situations made him a little...wary of the supernatural. He's been living a normal life before that, so of course he'd be like that. Hell, it was so hard...that it made it difficult to concentrate on their lovely oppai!

That was really saying something!

"Um...Rias-sama, right? I just want to tell you that I'd like to join your Peerage as a member." Issei said while bowing, hoping that he didn't cause his own death sentence. But hr was instead shocked to feel the female devil's hand on the back of his head in comfort.

"Issei. You don't need to call me 'Rias-sama' or anything like that. If you become my servant, then you become a part of my family. On that note...I'd love for you to join my Peerage." Rias said with a genuine smile. But before she could continue, Issei stood back up and stared into her eyes with a serious expression.

"But...I have a condition."

Rias blinked at this about-face, a condition?

"Rias-sempai...I want you to promise me...that you will help me protect Asia!" Issei announced, hoping that the devil in front of him would be lenient and help him.

The young Gremory was quite confused, she had no idea who 'Asia' was. So asking that from her was a little...

Thankfully, Naruto intervened. "Ah, Rias-san. Asia is the name of this guy's friend. She was about to be sacrificed in a ritual by the fallen angels to take her Sacred Gear...thus killing her. They are...pretty close." Naruto said wryly, much to the sputtering indignation of Issei.

As the two bickered for a moment, Rias thought about her options. This 'Asia' had a Sacred Gear? One that the fallen angels specifically wanted for their own? It must be quite the powerful one then...perhaps she could convince her to join her Peerage as well? It's almost too good to be true.

"Ah. By the way Rias-san, she's a nun." Naruto stated offhandedly, while ignoring Issei's words denying that kind of relationship with Asia.

Turned out it _was_ too good to be true.

If she was a normal christian then it would be fine...but a nun? The only way she could ever get away with getting a nun into her Peerage...was if they died through some incident and she revived them afterwards. Even then, the Angel faction and the Church might take offense to it if that nun was unsatisfied.

Add the fact that a holy nun would probably be used to doing things that could hurt them accidentally and you have a bad idea for a Peerage member. Things like reading the bible out loud, praying, or even carrying holy water.

Well money wasn't exactly an issue for the extremely wealthy female devil...

"Alright Issei. How's this sound? I will pay for Asia's induction into Kuoh Academy, where she will attend classes. That way not only will you continue to associate with her, she will also have immunity from most threats due to her close proximity to all of us. I promise as a Gremory...to keep Asia safe from the supernatural. I accept your terms Issei." Rias stated seriously, willing to pay for the girl if she could gain Issei and his powers for her Peerage...she was quite desperate for power at the moment.

Issei looked _ecstatic_ , Asia would be safe and he could get stronger as a devil! "Thank you Rias-sempai! I won't let you down! I promise!"

Rias nodded at his words, she was positive that Issei would be strong one day. She glanced towards the blond human who was watching the entire thing. Looks like she 'owed' him...well that was fine, she learned a lot about the strange teen from this experience. "Issei, we will begin the ceremony for your induction into my Peerage once everyone is done with classes. So for now...can you please leave so that I may speak with Naruto here?"

Issei blinked for a moment before glancing at the blond, Naruto encouragingly nodded at him. Telling him without words that everything was fine.

Akeno was still standing by the door to make sure no one listened in on the important conversations, she opened the door to lead Issei out once Rias had asked him to leave.

Naruto decided to disperse his clone as well for Rias' benefit.

The two remaining occupants of the room stared at each other for a minute before the high-class devil sighed.

"Looks like you did it Naruto. I don't really know how...but you did it. Now I owe you favor within reason now, right? So what is it that you need?" Rias asked while leaning back into her chair.

Naruto tilted his head in thought for a moment before replying. "Right now...nothing to be honest. Although I do have something that I'd like you to do for me. It's about my sister..." Naruto claimed, while moving closer to Rias to face her properly.

Rias raised an eyebrow in interest, he mentioned that he had a younger sister. But she never had the chance to meet her before. But why would he want her to train his sister?

"Now Naruto...you do realize that training someone else is extremely time-consuming don't you? I still have my own responsibilities as the owner of this territory, so how can you ask something like that from me for absolutely nothing?" the female devil reasoned, it was quite the tall order after all.

The shinobi grinned and then dramatically swiped his arms to his sides in order to answer her question. "Why...that's because I think it's high time that we all go on a training trip!" Naruto declared enthusiastically.

...

"Huh?" Rias questioned with a dumbfounded expression, what was he talking about right now?

Naruto scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment, he let his mouth move faster than his brain again. "Well, I figured that it would be a good idea to go out as a group for training. Considering what has happened recently, it might be a good idea. Not only that, but we'd take your Peerage, Yuki, Mio, and her...uh..'friend' Maria! That way we can all bond together as a group! I figured that since I probably had the most experience among us that I could even teach all of you guys a thing or two. So whaddya say?" Naruto explained energetically, hoping that all of his new friends would get along better with this group trip.

Also, he wouldn't have to try and find a spot to train Maria and Mio properly. That was the biggest problem in this world...actually finding a place where normal humans don't go to. He was sure that Rias had _somewhere_ for that.

Rias blinked. It stunk that she would have to maintain contact with the hero...but she and her Peerage could get training from someone extremely powerful. Someone powrful enough to beat Vretiel...

They wouldn't be able to do anything for a while since this idea was brought up in such short notice but...the thought was very much a good one.

She thought she could stand Nonaka Yuki's presence long enough for that.

* * *

Diodora Astaroth. High-class devil and directly related to one of the current Maous. Currently aspiring to be far _far_ closer to the throne of the Underworld.

But until that happened, he had to content himself with playing his...'games'.

Games which involved emotionally and psychologically _breaking_ woman of the church into his slaves. It was his... _exquisite_ form of entertainment. He was even about to get a new 'toy' to play with...but as if he was a child again, that toy got snatched away at the last moment.

By humans.

 _By humans_.

That made him _furious_! How dare these filthy humans get in the way of his fun! He would have gone down there himself in order to teach them the meaning of _power_...!

But it seemed that at the very least...two of the humans were more powerful than they first appeared. It didn't change the fact that he wanted them dead though...just on the means that they would die.

 _Especially_ the blond male.

He heard the name spoken...a one; Uzumaki Naruto.

He would pay...he would pay for his insolence through the menacing hand of his master.

"Lucifer-sama. I bring news of the protector of the daughter of the original Lucifer...!"

Blue eyes regarded the kneeling Astaroth, information on the girl's protector hmm? "Well then...? Spit it out Astaroth."

Diodora shivered at the hidden threat underlying his tone. "Y-Yes Lucifer-sama! The boy...Uzumaki Naruto...he defeated a decent-sized fallen angel task force led by Vretiel of the fallen milord!" Diodora explained, with a slow and sick grin spreading on his lips.

If Lucifer-sama began to see this boy as a threat...then he wouldn't have to do anything...! The future Maou would destroy the human for him! Then without the powerful human backing them...the nun would be his to _break_.

The 'Lucifer' pondered on this information, while he was sure that the little cretin had a stake in this...it didn't change the fact that Astaroth wouldn't lie to him. He was far to afraid to do anything such as that...especially to his face.

'Uzumaki Naruto huh...? Well then...let's see how powerful you really are.'

* * *

 **AN: Back with the newest chapter! Now wanna get this out of the way by saying that one of the things I wanted to do in this fic, is explore Naruto himself a little more. Despite being the definition of sunshine and happiness, in my eyes he's still carrying a lot of baggage...some to his knowledge and some without it. Especially since he didn't come to terms yet with his inner darkness yet.**

 **Wonder if that's gonna be a future plot point...? *hint hint***

 **Not much more to say except this. I like Issei as a character, I like him a lot. He can be annoying at times, especially when his antics get a little extreme or when he never gets into any deep thoughts. However, I actually really _really_ dislike Issei as an main character. Mostly because I found a lot of his power ups, _especially_ later in the series to be complete and utter BS.**

 **So in this story, I'm gonna try to have him progress as I thought he should have...piece by piece. Although I won't be able to dodge _all_ of his power ups, but I hope I can do justice to what can be a legitimately badass character in the future.**

 **Another point I wanted to bring up is why Rias didn't get Asia to join her Peerage? Well besides the obvious that has already been stated, she also doesn't know that she has been exiled by the church. Also in canon, Michael was regretful for her banishment, so if it turned out that Rias was in fact treating her badly...well...that could be legitimate grounds for conflict.**

 **Lastly, if anyone has trouble in envisioning the characters I've added and don't want to look 'em up...I've decided to put their pics in my new photobucket in my profile. See how nice I am? Hah.**

 **Anyways, that's it for now! Until next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	13. Chapter 13

Yuki was walking in the hallways of Kuoh Academy with her bag, she was currently on a mission of great importance. A mission that several people seemed to have taken upon themselves to complete today...mostly due to her friend's bad luck no doubt.

The mission? Catch 'the Naruto'.

She ignored the fact that she just treated her friend as if he was an animal.

It seemed that the Student Council under Shitori Sona was currently hunting down her friend in order to force him to go to detention for all of the classes he has missed. Not only that, but detention seemed to include remedial classes for any students that were failing their classes. A measure seemingly directed by the kaichou herself.

At least that was the reason _yesterday_...she had no idea why they were chasing him now. Maybe for the same reason, or a new reason entirely?

Nevertheless, the moment he heard of their hunt, Naruto had ran as fast as he could to dodge these 'punishments from hell' as he called them.

So her mission was simple. Find Naruto before the student council caught him so that they could begin their tutoring sessions.

The kaichou should be reasonable enough to see that her tutoring would help make the blond a better student, he was a human that needed to integrate into modern society after all. Despite all of his ridiculous claims that he wouldn't need education for anything useful, she was sure that he just needed a friendly push in the right direction.

So she was searching for her blond friend, she figured that if she looked for the area that seemed to have the most commotion, then she would find her objective.

Where was that currently?

Well considering the dull roar of noise that was coming from outside the building, she thought that she could make an educated guess.

But before she could go down the stairs...

"Nonaka Yuki-san."

The hero immediately ceased her movements and briefly had her hand twitch.

It was itching for the comforting handle of _Sakuya_ on it's palm.

She sent a side-glance towards the one who called her name. Slightly wary that she would speak to her _now_ after all of this time. They've been doing a good job of ignoring each other's presence so far...so what changed?

"...Gremory-san. Himejima-san." Yuki intoned while unintentionally clenching and un-clenching her fists, while she now wanted to be on better terms with the devils of Kuoh Academy...she didn't feel comfortable facing them without her blade.

Old habits die hard it seemed.

Blue-green eyes trained themselves on yellow, as their owners continued to stare one-another down without speaking. The contest was ended abruptly though, as one person realized that they wouldn't be alone in that hallway forever.

"Buchou." Akeno said simply, trying to get her friend to concentrate on the task at hand.

It seemed to have done the trick.

Rias politely coughed onto her hand in order to collect her thoughts, this wasn't exactly easy to say. She has been taught to fear and consistently stay vigilant against the legendary heroes of old since she was a child.

Now there was one in front of her.

She didn't trust her. Not for one moment. _Especially_ when the lives of her Peerage were at stake on that trust.

But she trusted Naruto to be a reliable third-party. That was enough for her for the moment, but this still needed to be said.

"Nonaka-san. We have been enjoying somewhat of a...status quo haven't we?" Rias asked rhetorically, while inclining her head politely.

Yuki nodded cautiously, she knew what Rias meant. Despite her earlier conviction of making allies with the devils here, she was thoroughly uncomfortable with approaching them without either Naruto...or her sword. The devils seemed to share the same conviction as she did, so there was a somewhat unofficial status quo in effect.

They avoided one another like some sort of deadly disease.

That alone was actually very satisfying for Yuki, as the simple fact that they haven't attempted to kill each other yet was actually quite the achievement. Whenever devils and heroes have met, conflict _always_ ensued, so she was actually content with the baby steps regarding their relationship with one another.

Yet here Gremory was, doing...something.

"Yes. I suppose we have Gremory-san...that isn't a problem is it?" Yuki asked with a steady stare.

Rias did her best to ignore the annoyance that she was beginning to feel, she was the diplomat between the two. She had to keep her cool in such delicate situations, she was practically raised since she was a child to do such things.

Didn't make it easy though.

"...I felt that considering the circumstances...that we should resolve our differences for now in order to promote harmony with our little group session in the future." Rias said simply with a politician's smile.

Yuki stared at the red-headed devil blankly. Circumstances? "I fear that I have no idea what you are talking about Gremory-san."

Both devils turned towards one another in confusion. Did Naruto not tell her about the training session he proposed yet?

"Hasn't Naruto told you...? Well, if not then the responsibility falls to me it seems. Earlier today Naruto has suggested that everyone involved in our little 'pact' should go on a training trip. All in order to better prep ourselves for future conflicts and to improve relations with each other. You aren't aware of this?" Rias asked with a curious look. They literally talked about it yesterday...so surely.

Ah.

Nonaka wasn't here yesterday was she? They don't live together either, so school was probably the only time they can meet each other.

He was currently dodging the relentless student council at this very moment as well. Apparently he pranked the student council room in retaliation for the morning chase that they instigated yesterday...so he probably wouldn't have had the chance to tell her.

Yuki widened her eyes at the new information. When had this happened? Why didn't Naruto tell her?

Looking at the hero's shocked reaction, Rias concluded that Naruto definitely has not spoken to her yet. "I see...you two have much to talk about. I only wished to propose a...'truce' for lack of a better term. That way we could all get the best experience from this trip, what do you think Nonaka-san?"

Yuki was still slightly stunned from the rather new and abrupt information, but she was cognizant enough to nod her head at the high-class devil's words. A truce sounded like a good idea considering the circumstances.

But she still couldn't quite believe that she was agreeing to what amounted to a _cease-fire_ between a group of devils and a hero...

"...It's quite surprising that we are even talking about this isn't it?" Yuki voiced her own amazement at what they were even contemplating. Her words caused Rias' eyes to widen slightly as well.

She didn't really think about it but...yeah. A truce between supernatural factions was one thing...but a truce with a human hero in any capacity was something of a far-fetched idea.

Yet here they were.

"...Yeah...you're right Nonaka-san. Let's work hard together ok, 'hero'?" Rias said with a small and tentative smile. She then extended her hand to shake.

Yuki stared at the hand.

She took it in a handshake. "Yeah...let's work hard 'devil'." Yuki said with a small smile of her own.

Akeno couldn't help but smile warmly at the sight, it seemed that the times were changing. Who would have thought it possible?

If this was possible, what else was possible she couldn't help but wonder? Real peace with the other biblical factions?

For a split-second a gruff-looking man with black hair and beard appeared in the forefront of her mind, she shook away the image and frowned darkly.

...Yeah right. As if that was possible.

"Hey! Yuki!"

Everyone immediately became stiff as a voice called out to the hero. The hero in question knew that voice however, and couldn't help but internally sigh at her friend's bad timing.

Especially when considering the company she was in.

Naruse Mio finished walking up the stairs and spoke again. "Hey hey Yuki! Have you seen Naruto? We were going to talk about something, but he disappeared again..." the young girl complained before stopping herself after realizing that the bluenette wasn't alone.

Rias stared at the girl that was addressing the hero, she felt like she was looking at a mirror for a moment. They shared quite a few physical similarities with each other. But was more important to her at the moment was the fact that she felt that the girl wasn't _normal_.

She couldn't feel what energy the girl had, but it was definitely _something_...why wasn't she aware of her before now?

Mio for her part was panicking slightly, of all of the times to meet the little sister of the current Maou Lucifer...especially when she wasn't as good as Maria at hiding energy signals.

She was good enough at it that they wouldn't sense her, as long as she wasn't close by anyways.

At the very least she doubted that the older devil could sense her demonic energy. So she could simply play ignorant for now...just in case.

"Ah Mio...now really isn't the best time." Yuki mumbled, hoping that the younger girl would take the hint and leave. But it seemed to be too little and too late.

"I'm sorry. We haven't met before, my name is Gremory Rias and this is my friend; Himejima Akeno. Pleased to meet you." Rias said with a pleasant smile, still slightly shocked at the presence of what was very likely another supernatural being. Seriously, she was beginning to worry that she wasn't very good at governing her territory...

Mio immediately bowed in a show of respect to her senior. "My name is Naruse Mio, I recently enrolled into this school thanks to my...onii-san." Mio said with slightly gritted teeth, still embarrassed that she had to call Naruto that in public.

Rias pondered the name for a moment, she could have sworn that she heard the girl's name before...

Wait...a brother?

"Wait. Your older brother wouldn't happen to be Naruto right?" Rias asked with widened eyes, so this was the blond's elusive sister?

Considering Naruto's penchant for surprising people, she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised at his little sister's lack of presence until now.

Mio simply nodded in confirmation, unsure of whether admitting to the fact would be good or not. All she knew about the high-class devil was the fact that she had formed a pact with Naruto...but she had no idea if she was genuine in her positive demeanor towards the blond.

Well, she would find out in a moment she supposed.

Rias nodded at this and smiled at the younger girl, if she used the same reasoning with Nonaka then it was very likely that the girl in front of her had no idea of her brother's scheme.

"I see! Well then it's very nice to meet you at last Mio-san. I was just speaking to Nonaka-san here about your brother's newest hare-brained idea, do you know about it?" Rias asked cheerfully, wishing to make a good first impression on her fellow red-head.

If she had to guess after seeing Mio's twitching eyebrow though, she'd say that she had no idea either.

"Let me guess...I'm involved in this little idea of his aren't I?" Mio groaned while pinching the bridge of her nose.

The 'Two Great Ladies' just smiled at her guess while Yuki just shrugged.

Awesome.

"Mou! Naruto _always_ does this! He does whatever he wants without anyone's approval or anything! What if I have plans or something when this was gonna happen!?" Mio complained, feeling a small headache begin to coalesce.

If she brought up the issue to her psuedo-brother, she could already imagine his response...

' _Eh? Whatcha mean I promised to not do anything stupid? Are you implying that my plan is stupid!? Oi! My plan is absolute genius dattebayo!'_

Mio placed her head into her hand...he would definitely do that...

"Ufufu...it seems that foxy-kun can make things quite difficult for little Mio, doesn't he Buchou?" Akeno giggled with hand covering her mouth daintily. But her _king_ didn't respond to her words.

Though the _queen_ couldn't help but be slightly surprised at the thoroughly _understanding_ look that her _king_ was giving the younger girl.

Rias walked up to the girl and placed her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"...It's tough right? To have such an energetic older brother that constantly does random things without telling you? To have him do things that embarrasses you all the time?" Rias asked softly with an understanding smile.

Mio looked up at her fellow red-head with slightly teary-eyes. She understood the trials of a little sister with an overly energetic, but still well-meaning older brother? That could only mean...

"You have one too...?" Mio asked hesitantly.

Rias nodded solemnly, an unfortunate truth.

All was silent for a moment as both young teens stared at each other in the eyes, conveying their understanding of one another before...

"Rias-sempai!"

"Mio-chan!"

Both girls suddenly embraced each other! Tearing up as they finally found someone to share and understand their frustrations over their big brothers!

"Ara ara, it seems that they will get along just fine." Akeno said with a small smile, she supposed that considering the shenanigans of Sirzechs-sama and foxy-kun...they couldn't help but bond quickly over their shared 'pain'.

Yuki for her part just sighed melodramatically, she was worried for nothing it seemed.

Now that the introductions were taken care of, she supposed that she should re-focus her objective back towards finding that elusive blond friend of hers.

"Where are you Naruto?" the hero wondered aloud.

* * *

Naruto was running back inside the high school section of Kuoh Academy.

Why was he running you ask?

Well...

"Today is the day I catch you Uzumaki!"

Yeah, the student council was at it again. His current chaser; Saji-san, was trying pretty desperately to catch him this time around.

He wasn't doing a good job at it.

Apparently this latest chase was started because of the prank he pulled on the student council...which in turn was caused by their attempt to take him to detention yesterday.

Why this guy was crying angry tears while has was chasing him was beyond him though.

"Damn it Uzumaki! Because you flooded the entire room, the kaichou had the _entire_ student council stay behind and redo all of the paperwork that we have done! You soaked all of our work in that flood damn iiiiiiiiiittt!"

Ok...so maybe he did have a somewhat geniune reason for getting angry at him.

"But more importantly...your prank got everyone wet! That would have been a perfect staring opportunity with their clothes sticking to their skin...but you did it while I was out! WHY!?"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU"RE PISSED ABOUT!?" Naruto shouted out incredulously, the water thing wasn't meant for peeping shots!

Speaking of water...this guy wasn't caught in his prank in the student council room...

That had to change, his title as a pranking master was depending on that.

That's why he grabbed a water bucket from a student that was holding it up for punishment outside of a classroom. Rebels gotta look out for one another anyways.

After that, Naruto ran into a art class that was still in-session, much to the students' and teacher's frustration.

"Uzumaki! What the hell are you doing!?" the balding teacher roared out in anger as he saw the blond menace run into his classroom.

"Sorry teach! Needed something real fast! See ya later!" Naruto shouted in response with an easy-going grin. While he was responding, he quickly grabbed some super glue for his newest prank and left the class as fast as he appeared.

Saji kept chasing after the troublemaker, intent on catching the blond and giving him _sooooo_ many detentions...

Detentions for _the rest of his life_.

But before he could catch Uzumaki and extract his vengeance, the delinquent came running back at him with a bucket of water! Saji immediately got ready to tackle the blond, but before his very eyes he vanished in a burst of speed.

Naruto quickly pushed the bucket filled with water over Saji's head and then with incredible speed and practiced hands, _glued_ the teenaged boy's collar to the bucket.

The end result was a soaked Saji that was flailing around trying to get the bucket off of his head.

"Grblganslgh!? UZHUGAKI!" the bucket-head screamed out.

The shinobi admired his handiwork and gave himself a pat on the back for protecting his title as 'master of pranks' before running from the student council member. Time to get away before any of his comrades found him.

He decided to just hide inside the classroom that he was close to, better than finding a new place or staying 'on the run' so to speak.

He opened the door to the classroom and shut it before anyone saw him enter the room from the hallway. He turned to face the students inside the room in order to-

"Naruto?"

Naruto glanced at the source of the voice and waved lazily in greeting.

"Yo Issei, sorry for barging in but kinda in a hurry." the shinobi said with a toothy grin, completely ignoring the flabbergasted looks he was getting from the other students.

"You! I remember you!" a boy with glasses shouted out and pointed an offending finger towards the blond. Naruto looked at him for a moment, feeling like he met him before...

Then it clicked.

"Ero-megane!" Naruto said with wide eyes. "I totally forgot you existed for a while there!"

The dubbed 'perverted glasses' just scowled and retorted. "Never mind that! You promised me something right!? You promised that you would get me a woman! Where is she!?"

Naruto blinked.

"...I just said I'd try to see if there would be any offers. I never promised you that you would lose your virginity or anything..." Naruto said with dull eyes, he quickly glanced around the room to see if there was anyone who would take said offer.

As he thought, the second he looked around all of the girls there immediately crossed their arms in an 'X' in order to announce their refusal.

Naruto just gave the perverted boy a helpless shrug. "I tried."

The teen just sat down in gloom at his 'horrible' loss in fortune, but another boy immediately went by his side in order to comfort him. "Don't worry Motohama! You can get rid of your frustration with a new porn video that I got! You're not alone in this battle against popular guys!"

"Matsuda...!"

The two boys hugged each other and reveled in their own pathetic pain.

Naruto just scratched his head, thoroughly confused at the turn of events that have happened. He turned to ask Issei about what's up but...

"I know right you guys!? Death to all popular guys in the world! How dare they experience the wonderful sensation of losing their virginity!"

He forgot that Issei was an idiot too.

"Get away Issei! You are a part of the popular group now too! Don't think we didn't notice that blond beauty that was in your house...!" ero-megane shouted out in a jealous rage.

Ah...he must be talking about the nun; Asia.

Issei tried to deny the charges, but the accusation was already out.

"Huh!? That beast has a beautiful girl in his house!? He must have blackmailed her! Or maybe he's keeping her captive! You better let her go Hyoudou!" a brunette girl called out when she brought out a shinai to attack with.

Naruto quickly decided that this class was a bit too insane, so he decided to make his escape and find refuge in another class. But before he could leave, he noticed that there was a girl with glasses standing close to him. He couldn't help but notice the glint in her pale yellow eyes.

She was staring at him _very_ intently.

"...Not bad Uzumaki Naruto. Not bad at all."

He shivered.

Why did he suddenly feel so...violated?

* * *

Yuki figured that she was getting close to Naruto after walking past some evidence of his recent...actions.

One of which happened to be a rolling around Genshirou Saji, who was trying to get a glued bucket off of his head. He was even screaming quite a few obscenities while he was at it.

Ignoring the strange scene, she kept moving forward. That seemed to be relatively recent so he shouldn't be too far...

"Sorry! Gotta go...like... _now_!"

A blond bullet sped off from a classroom and crashed into the hero, nearly sending the two sprawling to the ground.

Yuki blinked as she recognized the blue eyes that met her own.

"...Found you Naruto."

Naruto groaned. From the frying pan...into the fire huh?

The worst part was that he promised to do these tutoring sessions with her. So it wasn't like he could just escape or anything.

The only reason that it didn't happen yesterday was because Yuki happened to be absent, now he had no excuse!

Well, he supposed he could do his best to postpone it...

"Hey wait Yuki! I got classes still so can we do this-"

"You are already skipping classes and you are obviously going to _keep_ skipping classes." Yuki retorted before he could finish his sentence.

...

"Yuki! As class representative, you shouldn't be skipping classes! Let's do this lat-"

"I have received the full support from our sensei in my endeavor of tutoring you. He allowed me to skip classes today." Yuki relpied quickly.

Damn it sensei...! You definitely allowed her to cut class _just_ to fuck with me!

He'd add him on his hit-list later!

Naruto tried to think of another excuse to latch on to but he immediately felt himself getting dragged through the school hallways by the hero of Kuoh.

"Let's begin our first session Naruto. We have a _lot_ to catch up on." Yuki said with a comforting smile, trying to convey how beneficial this would be in the long run.

But in his fear, all Naruto saw was a distorted smile from the young hero.

"Nooooo! I don't wanna learn damn it!"

* * *

Classes have officially ended.

Mio was quite happy today, she made a new friend that she could share her embarrassing stories to! To think that her new friend would be directly related to the current Maous though...

She shrugged her shoulders, not like it was too big of a deal. Rias seemed to be a genuinely good person, so she wouldn't judge her because of her family. Especially when considering all of the shit that _her own_ family relations have caused her.

Speaking of family...

Now that her classes have officially ended for today, she could now search for her constantly missing brother. Hopefully he wasn't out fighting life-and-death battles like the _last_ time he went missing...

But she trusted him to keep his word, more likely he was just running away from the student council again.

As she was looking for her missing sibling however, she ran into a rather interesting sight.

The student council was escorting what looked like...a bucket-man away.

Well...not something you can claim to see everyday, but this was a good chance to ask about the blond's whereabouts.

"Kaichou! Wait up!" Mio shouted out to the retreating backs of the group as she jogged to reach them.

The entire procession stopped in order to wait for the red-headed teenager. The student council president moved up to acknowledge the young half-devil as she rushed towards them.

"Do you need something Naruse-san? We are rather busy at the moment." Sona said crisply, she wanted to get that silly bucket off of Saji's head as soon as possible. It wouldn't exactly reflect on the student council too well if one of their members was looking like this.

"Of course kaichou. I'm looking for Naruto right now, he said he wanted to talk to me and I can't find him. Do you know where is?" Mio asked quickly, hoping that they might have a clue.

Sona sent her a small and inexplicable smile, one of genuine happiness. But she couldn't help but notice that her eyes seemed to be taking some slight sadistic pleasure from something...

"Why...I do actually. Check in the library and you will find your missing brother." Sona said slyly, immediately afterwards she motioned for her student council to move again.

As they left, Mio was greatly puzzled over what Sona just said. Naruto...Uzumaki Naruto...her foolish _foolish_ brother was in a _library_!?

Also, the Shitori Sona she knew _never_ acted like that before...

Well, she knew where to head to next at least. So she quickly jogged towards the library in order to find more clues to this mystery.

* * *

"Uhhhhh..."

"Come on Naruto. When was the first shogunate established?"

"...Damn it...I don't know! I'm not too good with names..."

Naruto had his hands over his head as he tried to stop the colossal headache that was forming.

Yuki sighed at his answer. "The family that formed the official shogunate won overall control of the country in 1185, but only established official control in 1192."

...

Naruto moaned into the table as he repeatedly bonked his head onto wooden surface. He could only remember this kind of stuff with sweeping generalizations, not the very specific stuff!

...Like dates and names of dynasties...and stuff.

"Damn it Yuki...this isn't going to work. You should be proud that I even remembered the heai...no wait...heyia? No! Heian Period! You should be proud that I remember about the Heian Period instead of pushing me to remember more ya know!?" Naruto complained with a twitching eyebrow.

But this only received a passive stare in return from the bluenette. "We wouldn't have to cram all of this information if you _studied_ in the first place." Yuki intoned with a slight glare.

He truthfully had nothing to say against that.

"But still Yuki! I really don't have to learn any of this! I'm telling ya that I will never use this information _ever_ again-!" Naruto started before wincing as a flying projectile hit him in the forehead. He glared at the perpetrator, that devil woman over there...

The librarian.

The elderly woman just glared at him while throwing an eraser in the air and catching it, it was a show of force. She was threatening to throw another of those damn rubber erasers at him again...!

She'd get hers!

Yuki sighed at the blond's hostility to the chief librarian. The elderly woman hated when the silence of the library was broken and all perpetrators were punished with a precisely aimed eraser to the forehead. It legitimately hurt as well.

Mostly because no one expected such a frail-looking woman to throw so hard.

Naruto just grumbled to himself and sat down again to continue glowering at the history textbook in front of him. He was actually making a lot of progress, the problem was that she had to deal with his continuous and ridiculous claims that he would 'never use the information' once he was done in Kuoh.

Didn't he know that it would look suspicious if he worked at a low-end job while he was extremely wealthy? As humans they needed to fit in the modern world, so he couldn't be uneducated in the basics!

As a friend, it was her duty to stop Naruto from making silly decisions because of laziness!

"Hey Yuki...can we take a break? My brain is fried and I _really_ don't want to keep reading about the Kamakura..." Naruto said tiredly while scratching his head.

Yuki stared at the blond for a moment before nodding at his request, she had something to talk to him about anyways.

"Alright Naruto. But first there are some things that we have to talk about." Yuki said quietly while moving up from her seat opposite of the blond to the seat right next to him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the move and couldn't help but remember that the hero had no sense of personal space. But her tone shifted to a more serious one, so he assumed that she moved so that there wouldn't be any eavesdroppers. "Alright. What is it Yuki? Sounds serious."

Yuki nodded. "Remember that call that I received at the abandoned church? Well it was from the leader of the Hero Tribe...he wants to meet me in order to discuss the recent events surrounding Kuoh Town. He also wanted to personally speak with you Naruto."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at that, the leader of a faction wanted to talk to him? Personally? Guess he got big names interested in him now. "Any idea why he might want to meet me Yuki?"

The young hero simply shrugged, she honestly wasn't sure.

"But...I _do_ trust him Naruto. He's a good man." Yuki said with a comforting smile.

Naruto's eyes softened at that, so he's got Yuki's approval then...

The shinobi nodded decisively, meeting with such an individual could be nothing but good for him. He could get information on the individual who is leading the heroes and maybe find out more about the faction as a whole. The only thing he had to truly worry about is a double-cross...but since Yuki trusts him, he would trust his integrity.

"When can I meet him?"

Yuki smiled at Naruto's question. "The coming weekend."

Naruto nodded at that and began to think about meeting with such a person...he doesn't have much experience with treating important people with a lot of respect that their positions granted them. At most he treated such people formally, but never with outright _deference_ like most people...

He wouldn't start now either.

Before he pondered the question further, he heard the library door creak open and saw Mio enter the library.

The young daughter of the original Lucifer pinned Naruto with a stare before walking towards his table.

Yuki glanced at the teenaged girl with interest as she stopped before the two of them with her hands on her hips. Obviously at least somewhat annoyed.

"Naruto. I can't really believe what I'm seeing right now...but I will ask later. For now, we have to talk about your lack of information-sharing skills." Mio said with a dry expression.

Yuki blinked at her words. Wait...

Naruto widened his eyes at her words. Wait...

"Ah right! Mio I forgot to tell you that-!" Naruto began, but was quickly silenced when an eraser smacked him in the head, most likely caused by the evil old lady.

"Ah. So you were going to tell me at least. But when were you planning on telling me this Naruto? This was pretty important to know about, especially when it involved...well...who _it_ involved." Mio said while consciously trying not to talk about supernatural things in a library.

Naruto was about to defend himself, but he felt a sharp poke hit him in-between the sensitive juncture of his rib cage and his hips. He glanced at Yuki who was responsible for the annoying feeling.

"...You forgot to tell me too." Yuki said with dull eyes.

...

"I know! I was _going_ to tell you two, but I was distracted by the evil student council and-!"

Another eraser was all he got before he finished his fast-tracked explanation.

He mentally decided that the librarian was going to go onto his hit-list.

No...she was going onto his shit-list. She was just _that_ annoying to him right now.

As Naruto was distracted by the flying rubber projectiles, Mio only just noticed how the two individuals in front of her were sitting. Literally arm-to-arm, with no personal space being considered.

Mio blinked for a moment.

"...Yuki? Aren't you sitting too close to Naruto?" Mio asked hesitantly, pointing out how close they were to one another.

The hero looked to check her current proximity with the blond. They had to sit like that in order to talk without anyone hearing their conversation, plus they were friends right? This was what friends did, at least she was pretty sure they did. "I don't see what's wrong with how close we are Mio. Is there something wrong?"

"Uh...no not really. Just wanted to point that out I guess, not really a big deal or anything. Yeah, forget I said anything." the young half-devil reassured quickly and somewhat clumsily.

The hero looked at the young red-head with a tilt of her head before shrugging and watching the spectacle of the librarian face off against Naruto.

Mio just plopped down onto another chair, inexplicably annoyed for some reason.

* * *

 **AN: Not much more to say about this. Sorry for slightly slower updates, but important test time for me. So the next chapter might be a little later than usual as well.** **Welp, we will see. Anyways, this was kinda written without as much diligence as usual. So point out any errors if there are any please!**

 **Also there has been questions about why Maria hasn't brought up the whole Master-Servant Contract thing. Well considering the obvious effects and _why_ she even brought it up in the first place in canon, I decided to either not do it at all or to hold off on it. Mostly because the optics of those sexy scenes would make all of the slow relationship-building that I have been doing...kinda worthless.**

 **That and Maria had no reason to have Naruto or Mio use it to find one another in case of danger. Naruto's house was stated to have fuin seals that muffles energy signals earlier in the story.**

 **As for if I will do it in the future? Maybe. Sounds like fun tbh. :p**

 **Finally for plot, the meeting with the leader of the Hero Tribe is really soon and will probably be the main focus of the next chapter, so cya then!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	14. Chapter 14

The streets of Kuoh Town were packed with people of all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Why shouldn't it be? It was a Saturday after all.

So most people who had nothing to do today were now outside, trying to actually _do_ something.

Naruto was not one of those people.

He was a man on a mission, a very important one at that.

Of course, you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him. He was decked out in a black t-shirt which was covered by a burnt-orange sleeveless hoodie. The hoodie was badass to the blond because he managed to get a stylized red swirl on the back as well!

He completed his set up with dark blue jeans and a pair of white-blue sneakers. He didn't care enough to check out what brand it was though.

Naruto frowned at that, he was beginning to _sound_ like he belonged in this world. It would take him a while to get used to life back at Konoha when he got back...

Back to serious stuff though.

After their most recent...torture session. Yuki proposed that they meet in front of the mall in order to go meet the Hero Tribe leader together. So he left on his own in order to meet her.

...At least he was _supposed_ to.

"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Who are you gonna meet in this super-secret date of yours? Are you gonna elope!?"

The blond felt the tick on his head grow slightly bigger.

"Maria! How many times must I tell you! Naruto is obviously _not_ going on a date! He said it himself didn't he? He's going to meet some sort of spy! Get your facts straight Maria."

The shinobi felt his annoyance begin to bubble up to the surface. He wasn't doing either of those things! They were both literally just making stuff to suit their own crazy imaginations!

"Eh!? Awww...that's so boring!...Unless! That's what Naruto-sama _wants_ you to think Mio-sama! Maybe he's going to go the red-light district in order to have some fun time...! Mio-sama! What will we do!? Naruto-sama is going to have an illicit relationship that doesn't involve you!"

"Wh-!? What the hell are you talking about Maria!?"

Naruto finally stopped walking and immediately turned heel in order to face the two followers. "...Why are you two following me?" Naruto deadpanned with a slightly twitching eyebrow.

Both young devils glanced at each other for a moment before turning to face the blond.

"...We were heading in the same direction?" Mio said, but her attempt at a decent excuse caused her statement to be framed as a question.

Honestly, they legitimately were just heading at the same direction as her psuedo-brother, but his mysterious meeting with... _someone_ had piqued their interest.

But it seemed that Naruto wasn't amused by their active attempt at finding out what he was up to. So he decided to express his disapproval.

Naruto walked up to Mio and grabbed her cheeks, much to the girl's confusion.

Then he _pulled_.

"Ah...ah! Ah! Ow! Owwwwww!"

The shinobi kept his deadpanned expression as he pulled his psuedo-sister's cheeks, much to her discomfort. His brand of punishment for not listening to him.

"Mioooo...listen to me. I gotta meet with someone important, so you _can't_ come. I'll tell you two about it as soon as I can, but I really _can't_ mess this up." Naruto said seriously, he wasn't willing to lay the fate of this meeting to chance.

He also just flat out didn't like the idea of either Mio or Maria being close to the Hero Tribe leader. He led an organization that essentially specialized in killing devils after all, that was more than enough of a reason to be wary.

Mio held her aching cheeks with a cute pout at the blond, slightly upset that she was denied her curiosity. "...Fine. But you promise to tell me all of the juicy details later?"

Naruto sent her an amused smile. "I practically promised not to keep you out of the loop already didn't I?"

The red-headed half-devil crossed her arms with narrowed eyes. "...Promise not to forget this time?"

"Hey! It happened _once_!...You're not gonna let this go are you?" Naruto said with dull eyes, he wanted to pull her cheeks again.

Mio flashed him a wry smirk at his question. She'd definitely hold that over him for a while.

"...So...there _won't_ be any super-ecchi time...?"

Naruto and Mio glanced at a depressed Maria, she seemed to be thoroughly despondent at the lack of spicy get-aways.

"...No Maria...there will be no 'super-ecchi time'...By the way, what's with the video camera?" Naruto mumbled with a wary glance at the little camcorder, whatever she intended to use it for...he could guess that he wouldn't like it.

The silverette beamed at the question. "I'm glad you asked Naruto-sama! You see...as a responsible guardian of Mio-sama and as a succubus, it's my duty to catch any and all ecchi scenes! Especially ones that involve Mio-sama!"

Naruto simply stared at the proud succubus while the red-head gave her a blank stare.

"...So that's why you bought the camcorder..." Mio mumbled with a sporadically twitching eye. She should have known that Maria would do something like this.

The shinobi finally made a response by moving towards Maria and pointing his index finger in-between her eyes.

"Oi. The fact that you genuinely thought that I was going to do some racy stuff while I was out has already made me question your sanity. So I think it's better for _everyone_...if I take that thing away from you before you do something that _someone_ will regret." Naruto stated dryly, and by 'someone will regret'...he meant that _Naruto_ would regret.

The thought of a video camera-wielding Maria was just a terrible and horrifying idea.

The succubus' purple eyes trained themselves on the offending digit pointed at her, before she gave Naruto a dull stare in response.

"...You say that...but aren't you much more dangerous with that weapon right there?" Maria asked seriously while looking at his pointing finger.

Naruto stared at her in dumbfounded confusion, he had no idea went through her head sometimes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Kuh...! So you are still playing innocent Naruto-sama? Well you can't fool me! You intend to use that finger to violate my mouth don't you!?"

...

...

"HUH!?" Naruto exclaimed with wide eyes, he quickly turned around to check if anyone heard her words...

"Mommy! Mommy! That girl said something weird about that boy's finger and her mouth! What is she saying?" a little boy asked his mother, before said mother quickly tried to steer him away from the scene.

Not before she sent Naruto a dirty look though.

She wasn't the only one though, as several civilians around them were giving the blond dirty looks.

Ah...his reputation...

As Naruto lamented the loss of prestige he was receiving, Mio was currently facepalming and shaking her head. She _really_ didn't want to get involved with this conversation right now...

But if she didn't want the situation to escalate further, she'd better try and stop her annoying guardian.

"Hey Maria...don't you think that you should stop now?" Mio said with a horrible attempt at a comforting smile, her annoyance at the whole situation made it difficult for her at the moment.

Her guardian stared at her for a moment before her eyes lit up in realization.

For some reason the thought didn't comfort her.

"Can it be Mio-sama...that you're jealous that Naruto-sama wanted to use his finger on me...? Does that mean that you want to be violated by his finger...?"

"THAT'S WROOOOOONNNNGGG!" Mio screamed out with her face as red as her hair.

But before the red-headed devil could get any sort of vengeance on her guardian, she stopped and checked to see if anyone heard Maria's words...

The dirty looks that she was receiving from the civilians around her was answer enough.

Ah...her reputation...

Maria blinked as both; Naruto-sama and Mio-sama sat on the ground. Seemingly depressed over something.

"...Did I do something wrong?" Maria wondered aloud.

* * *

"...We'll be on our way now Naruto. Be safe ok?" Mio said with a slightly strained smile.

Naruto nodded before waving goodbye, ignoring the indignant cries of a certain succubus that was being dragged away by the daughter of the Original Lucifer.

She was upset that Naruto confiscated her camcorder.

Too bad. He needed some compensation and that was one of the few options.

He grinned though, despite how tired he was from the debacle...those two helped make his day more lively. A sharp contrast to what will lay ahead with this meeting he was sure.

So he shook his head and refocused, he left early in the first place so he had time to meet Yuki so that they could meet the Hero Tribe leader.

But he had to mentally prepare himself for it first, he had no idea how close they would be to where they were supposed to meet the leader. The time for psychological preparation had already begun!

So he pumped himself up for the inevitable showdown as he jogged towards the meeting place.

* * *

By the time he arrived at the agreed upon place, he was a little bit early on the agreed upon time.

He was currently waiting in front of practically the _only_ mall in Kuoh Town; literally dubbed the Kuoh Mall.

Creativity...some people seriously needed some of that.

The mall as a building wasn't something too large for him, but as a shopping center...it was pretty damn big.

So that was why he was standing in front of the structure in order to wait for his friend. She should be here soon.

He glanced up to watch the many pedestrians that was passing through the area, many of which happened to be young people that attended the many branches of Kuoh Academy.

College students, high schools students, middle school students...

Huh. He guessed that this was a pretty popular place to hang out.

"Hey! Guys, it's Naruto-san!"

Naruto blinked as a group of teenaged boys walked up to him. He didn't recognize them at all.

"Hey...uh...can I help you?" the blond said with a questioning gaze.

"Hey, you probably don't recognize any of us since we're just a bunch of normal guys. But we sure as hell remember you!" the lead boy said before he raised a clenched fist and threw it at Naruto.

Naruto tensed as the fist went sailing but...

The fist landed on his shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Man! That prank you pulled on the student council the other day was hilarious! I was dying! Ain't that right boys!?" the boy said to his buddies, much to their roaring approval.

Naruto widened his eyes at that. Someone actually _liked_ his pranks?

That was kind of new.

"Hey Naruto-san! We're gonna hang out at the mall today. Wanna come with?" another boy spoke up with a grin on his face.

"Uh...sorry. I'm waiting for someone, thanks for the offer though." Naruto said with a hesitant smile, he wasn't used to such friendly greetings from total strangers yet. On the contrary, he was more used to their hostility than anything else.

This was...nice.

The group of boys seemed slightly saddened by his rejection, but before they could speak further.

"Naruto. Sorry for making you wait."

The group of boys gaped as they were graced to see a beautiful sight, to them at least.

"Ah. Glad to see you made it Yuki. Should we get going?" Naruto asked with a smile and a wave towards his friend.

Though he couldn't help but stare, as the prospect of a 'casual' Yuki was pretty new in his head. She was wearing a light-pink cardigan and a pair of white pants, it gave off a very wholesome picture of her.

"...Naruto-san...you gotta teach us your ways." one of the boys said seriously.

The shinobi just ignored them in favor of walking up to Yuki. "Ready to go? Where we headed?"

Yuki nodded and went inside the mall. "Follow me Naruto. The meeting place is inside."

Naruto made to follow her, but he couldn't help but sweat-drop at the comments that were made by the group of high-schoolers.

"...You...! To think that Naruto-san managed to get a date with the school's ice queen...! You truly are a man among men...!"

"Banzai! Banzai!"

"Show us the way Naruto-dono!"

He really didn't know how to handle their cheers...

* * *

"So...what should I be expecting in this meeting? Any ideas?" Naruto asked while they were walking around the mall.

Yuki shook her head in the negative. "No idea. All I know is that he's very interested in the happenings surrounding Kuoh Town lately and that he's _very_ interested in meeting you Naruto."

The shinobi sighed before brushing the golden locks on his forehead in frustration. He had no idea what to expect right now.

"...By the way Naruto. I've been meaning to ask, but I never had the chance due to all of the craziness of recent events...but is your arm ok?" Yuki asked quietly, she glanced at the blond through the side of her eye in order to gauge his reaction.

Naruto caught Yuki's eyes with his own and grinned at her. "Well, those burns that I got were pretty superficial so they wouldn't stay with me for very long. But I also have a very fast healing rate. So no worries, I've been fine ever since I went to sleep after the battle."

The young hero's eyes widened, Naruto could heal himself that quickly? Her curiosity of the blond's abilities just continued to grow the more she knew about him.

Well, maybe she could learn more with the training trip planned.

Naruto in turn glanced at Yuki in curiosity, her question reminded him of something. "Hey Yuki, where were you the day after the incident with the fallen angels? I was honestly surprised that you didn't take advantage of our agreement the second I got back to school."

Yuki gave him a dull stare at the reminder of her absence. She's skipped class so that she could help her blond friend _and_ she's skipped school entirely the following day!

Not a good day for the serious class representative.

"I was busy coordinating with the higher-ups back home on when the meeting should be and where it should start. I didn't exactly have a say in the matter." Yuki mumbled, upset at the turn of events.

Naruto just gave her a strained smile, unsure how someone could possibly be upset over missing school. The concept was thoroughly foreign for the young man. So he decided to try and change the subject.

"So. Where are we supposed to be going?" the whiskered teen asked, he has been following Yuki the entire time and had no idea what they were looking for or searching for.

"Here." Yuki said quietly while staring at a café that they were approaching.

Naruto glanced towards what Yuki was talking about and felt a sweat-drop begin to form on his head.

"...It couldn't be more obvious Yuki..."

"...I think that this is a play at reverse-psychology Naruto. A case of 'no one would be stupid enough to do this'...at least I think."

The café that they were looking at was dubbed the 'Café of Heroes'.

This world was too much for Naruto sometimes...

The duo broke through their temporary stupor and entered the building to meet with who was possibly one of the most strongest individuals in this dimension.

Naruto was pretty underwhelmed when he entered the restaurant though, it looked so...ordinary. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it didn't really look like somewhere where such a high-level person would stay.

Yuki walked up to the cashier, a woman that gave her a warm smile in greeting. "Welcome to Café of Heroes. How can I help you?"

Yuki didn't respond until she leaned towards the cashier and whispered something to her.

Naruto looked on in interest as the cashier's expression turned serious for a moment before the happy smile from before was plastered onto her face again.

"Oh! If it isn't one our best patrons! Please please! Come in to the VIP section!" the cashier lady announced as she used a key to open the door to the back of the restaurant.

When he looked inside, the door led to a more elaborate eating area but...that was pretty much it.

Yuki motioned for Naruto to follow her as she entered through the door, the blond followed shortly after while ignoring the stare of the cashier lady.

The second he entered the door though, the scenery... _changed_.

What was once a more elaborate dining area transformed into a very fancy hall which was occupied with men and women in capes.

"How...?" Naruto gaped as he didn't sense any of this prior.

"Remember Naruto...you didn't sense me while I was guiding you around Kuoh Academy when we first met. Heroes practically specialize in hiding any energy signals that they may emit to the supernatural, it was a necessary measure to ensure that our organization didn't get destroyed." Yuki stated as she walked past several of her comrades-in-arms towards the meeting place.

"Also...although I'm sure you know about this...humans happen to be the best species when it comes adaptability."

Naruto just grinned at that statement.

The duo finally reached a set of doors that was made from some sort of metal that the blond has never seen before.

Yuki knocked on it.

After a few moments, the door was slowly opened by an elderly man with a seemingly permanent scowl on his face. "What do you want?"

If Yuki was offended by his rudeness, she didn't show it. "The Great Hero has summoned me. Please let me through. Also, tell him that _he_ is here as well."

The elderly man glanced at Naruto for a moment before looking back at the young hero.

"...You come in here first, girl. The blond stays put until the Great Hero allows him to." the elder hero grumbled as he motioned for Yuki to enter.

The bluenette gave Naruto a small smile as she entered through the door.

The old man slammed the door on Naruto's face.

...

"...So damn rude." Naruto grumbled to himself, he really hated to wait when the action was literally happening behind the door. Although he hoped that he has matured enough to be more patient in that regard.

But he had to be at least a little polite here, maybe this was how they did things?

* * *

Naruto was staring at the ceiling as continued to wait for these bastards to come out already.

It's only been about about fifteen minutes, but he was still incredibly _bored_. It seemed that he still had no patience when something interesting was happening nearby.

As he contemplated whether he should act out on his frustration, the door... _mercifully_...opened.

Game time.

"...Uzumaki Naruto? The Great Hero of the Hero Tribe is ready to see you now." the elderly man from before said, although he seemed to be more subdued than before.

The blond internally shrugged though, he had to worry about something far more important at the moment.

The old man made to let him pass as Naruto entered the room.

The first thing that he noticed was the fact that the room only held held a small table with food on it and two chairs.

One of which was currently occupied.

He looked around with a frown, Yuki was seemingly on standby as she stood near the wall and didn't acknowledge his entrance at all. While the guy on the chair was probably not the man he was looking to talk to, he just looked way too messy.

The man he was referring to was a brown-haired man with messy long hair, kinda like his as a matter of fact. He had brown eyes which was framed by glasses and two scars on opposing sides of his chin. He was of average size and wore a plain white dress shirt which was unbuttoned at the collar. He finished off his look with plain brown pants and plain brown shoes.

Obviously not someone that looked very classy.

Although Naruto didn't believe for a second that he was here for no reason at all. The man was probably one of the elite heroes that this Great Hero-guy...well...led.

Kakashi-sensei always did tell him to look underneath the underneath after all!

So he walked up to the man with a frown marring his face and pinned him with a stare, which the man seemingly ignored for picking up a cigarette and lighting it.

Naruto's eye began to twitch at the treatment that he has been getting.

"Oi...where's this Great Hero guy? The old man said that he wanted to see me now, so where is he?" Naruto asked with slight annoyance.

The messy man didn't say anything, he just continued his own devices and began to puff out smoke from his cigarette.

The shinobi was about to try again with more insistence before the man spoke.

"...Uzumaki Naruto huh?...You look like a total idiot." the man spoke blandly while glancing at the whiskered teen.

...

"...Are you picking a fight with me?" Naruto asked with a pulsating tic on his head. He was ready to throw down with the old man.

The man didn't say anything for a moment as he continued to stare at the irritated blond before speaking again.

"...You're some kind of delinquent aren't you? I mean why else would you conveniently have those perfectly shaped whisker marks on your face? Also, what the hell is up with you spiking your hair? The simple fact that you're asking if I'm 'picking a fight' would suggest that you're pretty violent..." the man wondered aloud.

The man looked surprised when he was hoisted up by a clenched fist grabbing onto his collar. The source of the fist was an eerily calm Naruto that had another fist reared back, ready to fire.

"...Clench your teeth asshole."

But before he could make due with the punch, he felt a small hand land on his shoulder.

He looked back to see Yuki give him a stern look.

"Naruto. Please put down the Great Hero." Yuki said sternly.

All was quiet for a moment as the shinobi blanked out at that piece of information.

He took a quick glance at Yuki for a moment before turning back towards the messy man with a hard stare.

The man just waved his arm in greeting. "Yo. Say, care to let me down anytime soon?"

Naruto was silent as he stared at the man before turning back to Yuki with a horrified expression plastered on his face. "...You're joking right? I didn't just make a stupid mistake right!?"

Yuki shook her head. "Naruto...this is Toujou Jin; current leader of the Hero Tribe, the strongest hero alive...and my adopted father."

Nothing more was said. The shinobi simply let go of the older man and began berating himself for his stupidity, he was also internally apologizing to Kakashi-sensei for not looking further underneath the underneath. How his sensei would be ashamed!

The bluenette sighed as her friend berated himself, to be perfectly honest...it wasn't exactly unreasonable to assume that her adopted father wasn't the leader of a faction. A powerful one at that.

Even the worst leaders had to at least look like a higher-up, her father looked more like a lazy salary man than a very powerful hero...

Toujou for his part had simply sat down and lit another cigarette, his last one fell off of his mouth in the confusion.

After Naruto had regained his bearings, he immediately turned to the the confirmed 'Great Hero' of the Hero Tribe.

"...Sorry old man. I thought that you were just some random asshole that was talking shit. I didn't know that you were some high-class asshole that was talking shit." Naruto said gruffly, annoyed that he was tricked.

The man just guffawed at the roundabout insult.

"Ha! You sure as hell don't mince words do you? I mean...shouldn't you be trying to win me over to your side or something, instead of insulting me?" the older man asked humorously.

Naruto sighed, unwilling to admit that he was right. "Hey...I just call it as it is ya know? I treat others as they treat me no matter who they are. I only give the 'deference' treatment if it's completely necessary and that person isn't a bad person."

It was true. One of the few times he ever bowed to someone was to Rias, and that was because he needed to convince her in his sincerity. He needed her to give him a chance to earn her trust when she had absolutely no reason to.

Another example was with Azazel, while he was annoying...he wasn't really an asshole about it. More like it was friendly ribbing.

So he treated the man well because of it.

This guy was just a flat-out asshole. How could he _not_ call him out on it?

"Hoooh? So you're an honest guy huh? Well, I don't dislike people like you." Toujou said with a small grin. He then motioned for the blond to sit down. "Come. Take a seat."

Naruto nodded and sat down, quickly taking a quick survey of his surroundings just in case.

The 'Great Hero' then motioned towards his plates, in a split-second a man came in and took the plates. He blurred away once he was finished.

The blond looked at the old hero with curiosity, why didn't that man from before interfere with his manhandling of their leader?

He narrowed his eyes, unless he was ordered not to by him...just what was his game exactly?

"...Uzumaki-san. I hear that you were responsible for my daughter's change in outlook. I have to thank you for that." Toujou finally spoke with a small smile.

Naruto snapped his head back to the older man. "Ah...there's no need to thank me for that. I wanted to be her friend anyways so it wasn't too big of a deal..." the blond said while bringing his hand to scratch the back of his head.

"...Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to ask you something Uzumaki-san. What is your ambition in regards to the world as a whole?" Toujou asked bluntly while he steepled his fingers together.

Naruto gave him a dubious stare.

"Don't give me that look kid. Don't you know how irregular you are?...No one knows much about you. Not even Yuki-kun here knows that much..." Toujou said with narrowed eyes and a serious voice. "In a world where everyone knows what their enemies are and their basic abilities...you are an ' _unknown_ '. You are _dangerous_ in more ways than one Uzumaki-san, for the simple fact that we have no idea who or what you want. So...I'm asking you about your intentions."

The shinobi blinked at this, he didn't think that his entrance into the limelight could cause these many issues. So basically he was messing up the balance of power or something like that...?

"...When you put it like that, I can understand I guess. Well Toujou-san...I want to promote peaceful talks between as many supernatural factions as possible. Not really anything more than that to be honest." Naruto said seriously.

The older man stared at him for a moment, keeping eye contact without saying anything. He finally leaned back into his chair with a thoughtful look on his face.

"...I suppose that makes sense. Your actions against the fallen angels speak well of your intentions. So I have a proposal for you then, if you're so intent on continuing your path." the old hero said with a smirk.

The blond looked on in interest at this, not at all noticing that someone was giving the 'Great Hero' a disapproving frown.

Yuki wasn't happy about what her father was about to do. But he told her to stay out of these talks, she just hoped that Naruto would understand later.

"So what do you suggest then Toujou-san?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"I suggest that you kidnap the little sisters of the current Maous."

Naruto felt his blood suddenly turn cold.

"...Wait...what?" Naruto asked hesitantly, unsure that he heard what he said correctly.

The older man looked on in curiosity, seemingly not aware about the magnitude of what he just suggested.

"You didn't hear me? I suggested that you should kidnap the little sisters of Lucifer and Leviathan." he said again simply.

Naruto shook his head slowly. "No...I heard you. But...are you insane? How the hell can that promote peace in any way...?"

Toujou gave him a wicked grin at that question. "Think about it. If you team up with my faction and hold the little sisters of two Maous...you can force them to the bargaining table. Force them to offer a favorable peace deal with one or both of the other biblical factions. If the other factions are provided with a favorable and binding peace deal...then even if there are some who don't want peace, many of them would accept for the excellent terms wouldn't they?"

The shinobi just stared at him, wide eyed at what he was suggesting.

Toujou continued. "It's not like many _don't_ want such a peace you know? Despite the methods, it wouldn't be totally against their collective wills to make peace. All you'd be doing is pushing it along. Besides...it's not like they'd be able to stop you could they?...My daughter told me of your _creative_ ways of getting out of danger...if you wanted to...you could do this couldn't you?"

He could.

He _could_.

He could see it in his mind's eye...it wouldn't be hard.

He could crush Rias and Sona as well as their Peerages. He could hide them away, use fuinjutsu to muffle their energy signals so that they couldn't be found.

Once the ransom was sent out to the Maous, Lucifer and Leviathan would no doubt do their best to locate their missing siblings...but they wouldn't find him. Not unless he wanted them to.

He could meet them in person...and they would no doubt attack him and retrieve their sisters from him...

Only to find that they were clones and _henged_ versions of their precious family members.

The stalemate would stretch out, with the Maous desperately searching for their lost loved ones, until he finally gave them an ultimatum.

Bargain or they die.

He wouldn't be serious, but they didn't know that.

Maybe Lucifer could resist the threat, but he doubted that Leviathan _could_.

He _could_ do this...

"...You could see it now can't you? The peace deal that's formed between factions that _loathe_ one another so thoroughly could begin a chain-reaction. It could be the jumpstart that could cause other supernatural factions to follow their example. Isn't that what you want Uzumaki-san...?"

Yeah. He _did_ want that...

"...Yeah I do want peace between the supernatural factions...that is one of my end goals." Naruto said quietly, acknowledging that fact.

Toujou grinned. "Then we are in agree-"

Naruto slammed his hand onto the table, turning the small wooden structure into splinters.

The old hero stared in shock as he peered into cerulean eyes that... _changed_.

Blue eyes that now had a slit instead of the usual pupil.

"...But more than a simple peace between the supernatural factions...I want _long-lasting_ peace...! One that promotes coexistence rather than teeth-grinding tolerance!" Naruto snarled, thoroughly pissed off at this man's words.

"Your way...do you really think that everyone will just accept it with a smile!? That the Maous who felt the fear of the loss of a family member would be ok once all is said and done!?" the shinobi shouted, enraged at the idea. _Furious_ at the idea.

"More than that! Do you really think that devil society would have no idea about what was going on!? Or maybe, you're thinking that the Maous will just hide the fact that two high-class devils were kidnapped because of their loss in prestige? How the hell do you know that their anger and rage at what has just occurred won't push them over the edge and make them _want war!?_ Push them over the edge and do whatever is necessary, destroy those that threatened those that they cared about!?"

Naruto knew...he _knew_ how easy it was to shift from ideal to ideal, to _change_ irrevocably over one event.

Nagato quickly appeared in his head...the prime example...

Leviathan and Lucifer...they would feel the hopelessness and fear of losing someone they dearly care about. That fear...would very _very_ quickly turn into _hate_.

Hate against those that nearly took those loved ones away.

Prestige loss? Thousands of casualties?

No...Rias told him herself.

Devils were selfish creatures by nature. They could so easily be capable of such mindless destruction if pushed hard enough.

The cycle of hate would continue...

Nothing would _change_...

They wanted peace for their loves ones...if he went through with this...they would want _war_ for their loved ones.

"...I'm leaving." Naruto said quietly, golden locks shadowing his eyes.

He had to leave. He was too pissed off to try and reason with him rationally.

He would explode again, best to just leave.

Naruto couldn't help but be bitterly disappointed though...was this really what the _leader_ of heroes thought?

Toujou said nothing, he just waved his arm towards the door and let the blond walk past him.

The room was silent as Naruto left the room.

"...Why did you do that otou-sama?" Yuki asked quietly.

"...It was necessary Yuki-kun." the old hero mumbled quietly, taking another cigarette to light it.

He said nothing for a while, just allowing the nicotine to calm him down. Once he was calm enough, he turned towards his expectant protégé.

"...I don't dislike honest guys like him. As a mater of fact...I like them a lot." he mumbled quietly, staring up at the ceiling.

Yuki said nothing, she just continued to stare at her adopted father.

"...But I needed to know if he was the real deal Yuki-kun. He was dedicated to his mission, but how far would he bend before the cost of his dream would be too much?"

The young female hero widened her eyes in shock. "You...you wanted to test how far he would go for peace?"

The male hero shook his head. "No, I wanted to see if he would take the easy way out for peace. To see if he was stupid enough to take a shortcut when taking the long road to peace is the only way to ensure anything long-lasting..."

Yuki walked up to her father and gave him a steady stare. "...That's not all is it?"

Toujou Jin stared at her back, giving her a sad and quiet look. "...I have many enemies in the Underworld you know...? How easy it would be for many of them to promise that boy a peace treaty if he got back at me...by taking away someone I dearly care about..."

An image of a boy, a small boy with vibrant green eyes and wild brown hair appeared in his head.

"...Otou-sama..." Yuki said quietly, empathizing with all of the pain he has gone through in his life.

"Yuki-kun...please forgive this foolish old man. I...just don't want to lose anyone else. Please tell your friend that I'm sorry..." the Great Hero apologized quietly.

Lithe arms wrapped themselves around the man as Yuki placed her head on top of his.

"...It's ok otou-sama...Naruto is a good person. He will forgive you once he hears why you did what you did."

"...He really does sound like a good man. I'm happy that he's your friend Yuki-kun..."

Yuki smiled.

"Me too...me too..."

* * *

Naruto was staring at the ceiling inside his room.

He's calmed down a lot since his talk with the Toujou Jin. But he was still pretty sore about how it all ended up.

Those thought would keep gnawing at him for the rest of the day, he had no doubt of that. He seriously needed a distraction or something...

As he was thinking of that, someone knocked on his door.

The shnobi got off of his bed and walked to the door and opened it, not too much to hide that wasn't seen already so not too big of a deal by this point.

"Mio? What's up?" Naruto wondered, his moodiness was pretty obvious so both female half-devils seemingly decided to give him some space.

"Naruto? It's Rias-sempai. She wants to talk to you." Mio said while holding out the home phone towards him.

The whiskered teen blinked. Rias was on the phone?

Naruto thanked Mio and took the phone from her. He placed the device on his ear and spoke.

"Yo Rias, what's up?" Naruto said blandly.

"Naruto. First off, I can't believe I never asked but do you have a cellphone?" Rias asked.

Naruto deadpanned even though there was no way Rias could see it. What the hell would he have needed a cellphone for? He was trying to keep a low profile for a long-ass time, no need to have something like that.

Although it did look badass.

"...Nope." Naruto said without a change in facial expression.

"That has to change. I'm going to get you one since it's way too hard to contact you without it." Rias said with exasperation on the other end. Though she quickly coughed to get back to her original topic. "Naruto, everything is set up now. We can leave to our training trip on Monday at the earliest. Still up for it?"

Naruto blinked. This was a pretty good distraction as far as distractions went. Not only that...but he got to skip school!

"You bet I am! I'll drag Mio and Maria with me if I have to as well!" Naruto said with exuberance.

"R...Right..." the red-headed devil said, she still had no idea who Maria was though.

"Alright then, meet you at front of Kuoh Academy. See ya then!" Naruto practically chirped, before hanging up the phone.

This was it! This was what he needed!

No annoying protocols! No ridiculous diplomacy! No double-dealing!

Just straight up fights.

This would be one hell of a stress reliever.

He couldn't wait to get started!

* * *

 **AN: Hey peeps! Another chapter here! This one was pretty tough to write, had to make sure everything made sense without it causing people to just roll eyes at the flawed logic. Hoped I did a god job in that endeavor.**

 **So the training trip begins next chapter! Much easier to write so look forward to it. Technically the Riser Arc should be starting soon, but of course it won't really end like in canon for obvious reasons .**

 **Welp, cya all then!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	15. Chapter 15

There was something to be said about rich people.

But really...Naruto could say absolutely _nothing_ about the Gremory and their wealth.

To say that the Gremory family was filthy stinkin' rich was overwhelmingly downplaying the sheer magnitude of their amount of cash.

He just had to look around at the friggen' mountainside that they owned in this summer home of theirs to prove it...as well as the forest.

"Hey! Naruto, slow down!"

The shinobi stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to face the stragglers.

"Slow down? I'm not even walking that fast ya know? I think that you lot should move faster! Move those muscles people!" Naruto announced in defiance, before turning around and walking forward.

Mio just sighed at his stubborn refusal. It wasn't that _they_ were moving too slow...it was more that Naruto was moving way too fast.

He seemed to be in high spirits, for better or for worse.

"Sorry Rias-sempai. It seems that Naruto's having one of his eccentric moments. I'm sure that you must be annoyed of it because it reminds you of your own brother's eccentrics right?" Mio said apologetically to her fellow red-head besides her.

Rias just smirked at her, Naruto's eccentrics was absolutely _nothing_ compared to her brother's. Until the blond began using a videocam to record Mio's sleeping face, her nii-sama was very much the biggest sis-con in the entire world.

Although she was sure that Sona would object to that quite harshly.

"No worries Mio-chan. Instead of getting annoyed at him...his enthusiasm is pretty refreshing. It makes me feel like we're going on an adventure rather than training, isn't that right Akeno?" Rias said before turning to her best friend.

"Right Buchou! His demeanor is quite infectious." Akeno agreed with a gentle smile.

Mio glanced at the bright ball of energy that was Naruto at the front.

Despite her words, she did agree that Naruto was simply the kind of guy that would bring smiles through his upbeat attitude.

She was lucky to have him as a friend.

But it was also her duty to make sure that his head didn't get too big! He already had an insane amount of self-confidence as it was!

"...Hurry up pervert-sempai. You're moving too slow."

"...Damn it...it's not...my fault that...everyone is so crazy strong!"

"Ah...sorry. If you'll excuse me Issei-kun."

"...Even...even the pretty boy is stronger than me!?"

Speaking of having too much self-confidence...

Whereas Naruto had a lot of self-confidence but still managed to come off as personable and likeable...this one...

Came off as _very_ annoying.

She of course was referring to Hyoudou Issei, the newest member of Rias-sempai's Peerage. Recently inducted and was being forced to join the training trip to improve his abilities.

He wasn't the only newcomer to tag along though.

"I-Issei-san! Be careful! Do you need help?"

"Eh? No way Asia! You don't need to help! I'm doing just fine on my own! Just...give me a second..."

Mio had _no_ idea why a blond nun was hanging out with one of the biggest enemies of womankind...ever.

At least...before she would've had no idea. Now that her blond brother has filled her in on what has been happening around Kuoh...she knew why.

It warmed her heart to know that under that extremely perverted exterior, that there was a genuine good heart in there. She would have liked to become friends with him if it wasn't for the fact that she was sure that he would try to peek under her skirt...

Although she made a note to try to get to know both Asia and Koneko, especially Koneko. They had a shared distrust and disgust of perverts.

Fast-friend material right there.

Although...she should be worrying about the friends she already had rather than ones that she could make.

She chanced a glance at the lone wolf among the group, concerned at her friend's reticence.

Yuki was very distant with everyone at the moment, she's been in her own little world for a while now.

If she didn't break out of her funk soon, then some friendly intervention might be called for soon enough.

"Mio-sama, what do you think Naruto-sama has planned for us? It shouldn't be too strenuous right?"

Mio glanced down at her guardian; Maria. The red-head absolutely had no idea.

Though considering how strong he was and his pranking inclination...she'd guess that everyone was in for a rough couple of days.

* * *

When the ragtag group finally made it to the summer home itself...it didn't disappoint.

"...It's literally a mansion..." Naruto said in awe, genuinely looking forward to sleeping in high-quality beds during their stay.

"I'm glad that you're enjoying this Naruto...but I'm pretty sure that I will get lost in here." Mio said quietly while looking at the mansion

The blond grinned at her, they _would_ probably get lost while they were here. But that just gave it a feeling of excitement to him!

"So...what torture do you have planned for us today Naruto? Run hundreds of laps? Don't eat for several days? Stand still as you pelt us with objects to increase our pain tolerance?" Mio asked partially in jest, she was sure that he planned _something_ difficult for them. But nothing quite up there.

"...Admittedly I was giving that last idea some thought." Naruto mumbled while glancing away uneasily.

The young half-devil just gave him an incredulous stare. Was he serious?

"Hey. Don't give me that look. I need to have as much fun in this trip as possible, by the time I come back...the student council will try and give me detention again..." the shinobi said mournfully, feeling physically tired from the imagined stunts he'd have to pull once back at Kuoh Academy.

"Well, you _have_ been skipping quite a few classes Naruto-san."

The duo turned to see Kiba Yuuto walk up to them with an easy-going smile.

"Yo Kiba-san. Ready for training today?" Naruto asked cheekily.

Yuuto just gave him a grin. "I'd like to think so Naruto-san. I'm eager to see what you have in store for us."

Naruto's grin turned slightly predatory. "Ya sure? I might be planning to absolutely wreck you guys ya know? I'm honestly not too sure you guys can handle it."

"You have nothing to worry about Naruto."

The whiskered teen watched as the rest of the Gremory group joined the conversation.

"Despite how we look...we are actually quite competent. If anything, _you_ should be careful Naruto. We might just catch you off guard." Rias said while puffing her chest up. Her competitive nature was beginning to take hold it seemed.

"Ara ara. Don't take us lightly foxy-kun." Akeno chirped with a sly smile forming on her lips.

"...We won't lose easily Naruto-sempai." Koneko said quietly with a determined stare.

Naruto grinned at their enthusiasm, he was interested to see how strong they were. He'd also learn more about how devils fought as well, so it was pretty win-win in his books.

"Alright, get changed and we'll get started. That goes for everyone! Let's get our training session on the road!"

"""YES!"""

Outside of the group, a certain perverted boy was giving them a dull stare as he wondered if he would survive this training session at all.

After all...if Naruto claimed that the powerful members of Buchou's Peerage were going to get wrecked...then what the hell did that mean for him?

He looked at Asia through the side of his eyes, she looked really nervous because everyone here were new to her. She wasn't used to them yet.

So that meant that she was fretting.

Ah...she was so cute.

Issei hardened his eyes and nodded decisively, he promised that he would protect her smile! It didn't matter what that prankster from hell had in store for him! He would rise above it!

Later that day, he would question his sanity for agreeing to train with the horrifying sensei known as Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

"Alright! I guess everyone is prepped and ready to go huh?" Naruto called out with a grin.

He received various affirmations from the assorted group that was facing him.

By this point, everyone has changed into more comfortable clothes for training. Well... _mostly_ everyone.

A certain succubus was holding out.

He stared at Maria with a raised eyebrow, giving her a questioning look.

She turned her head resolutely in defiance. "You have no right to question me in my clothes Naruto-sama. You're wearing your casual clothes from before aren't you? So why can't I wear my dress?"

Naruto smirked at her. "It's because unlike the lot of you...I won't get my clothes dirty at all."

That got their attention.

"Naruto...are implying that none of us here can even touch you?" Mio asked while narrowing her eyes. _This_ was what she was talking about...he was way too cocky!

"How cruel Naruto-sama! If you're like this...then I have no choice but to steal all your clothes and leave you naked as punishment!" Maria cried out in outrage.

The shinobi sweat-dropped at the retorts he received...actually he didn't mean his words to be a boast. He was saying that he was gonna use clones to train them...so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty at all.

But he _wished_ he thought of that though! That was a badass boast!

It seemed that the Gremory group was keeping their cool though, so they knew not to let themselves get pissed off from a stray comment? Good.

"Alright alright calm down...now let me tell you about what I have planned for all of you today!" Naruto exclaimed, he sounded much like an overenthusiastic sales pitcher.

"I'm going to split all of you into groups, those groups will have a single clone to train with. That clone will spar with that group as a whole so that we can focus on what needs improvement!" the whiskered teen continued.

Everyone nodded at this reasoning and allowed him to continue explaining.

"The groups will be the following; Mio and Maria will stay as one group, Issei will be by himself, the Gremory group besides Issei will stay as a group, and...Yuki will be with the real me." Naruto said, hoping that no one noticed his slight hesitance.

Yuki was seemingly keeping to herself ever since this morning, he decided that they had to talk before anyone really noticed her odd behavior.

"Umm...Naruto-sama? Why are we being separated into groups? Why not just have us all spar individually with you?" Maria asked while raising her hand.

Looking around, Naruto decided that she asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

"It's for one simple reason Maria. Outside of wanting to find out how you guys are individually...I also want to see how well you function as teams. The only people who aren't in groups are those that have no experience with working together with other people here." Naruto explained patiently, he then made a cross hand-seal.

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Immediately, three clones appeared next to Naruto in a puff of smoke.

"Asia-san. Please stay behind for now so that you can heal anyone who gets hurt from their spars ok? I'd also like Mio to stay behind as well."

Asia nodded decisively, wishing to help out in some way.

But Mio looked confused.

"...You're an aspiring...uh...what was it called...? 'Wizard-type' right? Well Rias-san and Akeno-san are both wizard-types. This is your chance to see how it's done and learn from people who have more experience." the blond teen said with a smirk.

Mio widened her eyes and nodded in understanding. Indeed, while she's very powerful when considering how little time she had to learn...she still lacked a _lot_ of experience. Maybe she could learn something by watching the two 'Great Ladies'of Kuoh Academy fight.

Finally, Naruto turned to face the Gremory group and pulled out something from his pocket.

* **j** **ingle~** *

Everyone stared at the small bell that was on Naruto's hand in confusion, what was that for?

"This...is the sound of hell ladies and gentlemen. One day you will _flinch_ at the sound of this little bell. It will be your objective for everyone here. You don't have to do anything more than either; beat me, take the bell, or destroy the bell. That's it." the shinobi said with an easy-going smile.

Mio narrowed her eyes at that, it was _too_ easy-going...

"...Aren't you taking us lightly Naruto? It's one thing if you yourself fought us, but just your clone?" Rias asked with a frown, slightly offended that the whiskered teen thought so little of their abilities.

Naruto just gave her a lazy smirk. "Then please...prove to me that I'm taking you lightly. If not...then I _will_ lord it over your heads that you lost to my _clone_."

Rias turned towards her Peerage to confirm if they were feeling up to the challenge.

"Buchou...I want to prove Naruto-sempai wrong." Koneko said while putting on her cat-themed gloves.

"Yeah. We can't let him underestimate us too much Buchou." Yuuto said while jumping on foot-to-foot, prepping himself to fight.

"Absolutely Buchou. We can't let foxy-kun get too ahead of himself. Let's show him why he's _our_ kohai." Akeno said with a sly grin.

Their opinions in hand, Rias gave Naruto a determined look.

"Alright everyone! Let's show him the power of the ORC!"

"""YES!"""

Naruto nodded in approval at their determination. He turned to his clones and nodded for them to begin meeting with their assigned groups.

His group was...

The blond sighed as he began walking towards the recalcitrant young hero, things were getting awkward between them...

He kinda hoped that the matter with Toujou could be dropped but he guessed that they needed to talk about it.

"...Welp, come on Yuki. Let's find our own little spot in the forest so that we could get started." Naruto said while tapping on her shoulder to get her attention.

Yuki looked at Naruto as if she was just registering his presence for the first time.

She must have been _really_ out of it huh?

"Oh..ye-yes. Let's go." the young hero replied before following the blond deeper into the forest.

Mio watched as the two left silently, wondering why Naruto decided to personally train with the young hero.

As a matter of fact, from what she has heard...Naruto has been hanging out a lot with Yuki right?

Why?

"Mio-sama? Are you ok?" Maria asked worriedly, the red-head looked like she swallowed something sour.

"I'm fine Maria. Let's just focus ok?" Mio said with a slightly irritated tone. She had to focus on the spar, whatever was annoying her would go away once the battle started.

* * *

"Alright! You can call me 'Naruto-1' from now on. I'm the clone that will kick you all into shape! Hope you prepped your butts because they're about to get kicked!" the now dubbed Naruto-1 clone declared with a massive smirk.

But he stood still for a moment, obviously waiting for the roaring laughter that would come from his obviously humorous remarks.

...

"...You're jokes has taken a downturn."

"Ara ara. This clone isn't good at making jokes it seems."

"Sorry to say Naruto-1-san...but your jokes aren't too funny."

"That wasn't a joke Naruto-1."

Naruto-1 was shocked at the thoroughly unanimous opinion of the crowd. His joke sucked!?

He sat down, legitimately shell-shocked at this revelation.

But Rias widened her eyes at this.

An opening!

She turned to Yuuto and Koneko and gestured for them to take advantage of the situation.

They both nodded and quickly charged towards the unsuspecting blond.

They were about to attack...

But he almost as if he was an illusion, he vanished!

"...I didn't say start dattebayo."

Both Yuuto's and Koneko's eyes widened as they wheeled around saw that the blond had somehow gotten behind them!

Rias herself was shocked at the display in speed, she didn't see him move at all...

"At least you guys got the right idea, you won't be able to even touch me unless you take this seriously. So you better go all out!" Naruto-1 exclaimed before casually stretching the muscles in his arms.

"...Looks like this won't be easy at all Buchou." Akeno said with a rare tone of seriousness.

Rias couldn't help but agree.

"Akeno." Rias said, an inflection in her voice changed that simple statement into an order.

The _queen_ understood immediately.

Akeno and Rias spread their bat-like wings and took flight into the sky to gain some distance, with the Naruto clone just standing there watching in curiosity.

He needed to see what they were capable of, so no blitzing until he wanted to end this.

The clone then turned to face Yuuto who had a slight grin on his face.

"I'll admit Naruto-san. I severely underestimated your abilities...even after I heard what happened at the abandoned church. You just didn't seem that strong at first glance. I won't make that mistake again." the bishōnen said with a confident grin on his face.

Naruto-1 wondered where all that confidence came from?

He was eager to find out.

"Well then, show me what you got Kiba-san." the blond clone goaded while making a 'come at me' gesture with his hand.

Yuuto obliged by slamming his sword to the ground.

" _Sword Birth!_ " Yuuto shouted out.

Naruto-1 immediately had to move out of the way, as several swords ripped through the ground where he was standing.

The clone grinned at that, it was fitting for the 'Prince of Kuoh' to have such a power.

As he was sliding away from the sword attacks, he quickly allowed himself to fall onto all-fours in order to duck below the sailing tree that was aimed at him.

He could guess that Koneko was a power type...sounded familiar.

After dodging the large projectile, he got ready to defend himself as Yuuto dashed towards him with a sword covered in fire.

The bishōnen made to stab at the clone's torso, but he side-stepped the attack with minimal effort. Yuuto then quickly attempted to turn the stab into a horizontal slash.

Though he was way too slow, as the clone ducked under the slash before the arc could be completed.

Naruto-1 swiped his feet under Yuuto's legs which caused him to lose his balance and fall over. But before the maneuver could be completed, the clone had to get back from the incoming loli.

"Hei!"

Quite the battle cry from the quiet girl.

As Naruto-1 back-flipped away from danger, Koneko smashed the ground where he once laid.

The result was a small crater as big as she was.

She was _definitely_ a power type.

"Alright. You two have some interesting abilities. But that won't be enough to defeat the great Naru-!" Naruto-1 was about to say, but before he finished his declaration...

Both devils immediately turned away from him and _ran_!

...

"Huh!? What the hell!? Where are you going!?" the blond clone called out in confusion.

Then he felt it.

Ohhhhhh...so _that's_ what they were up to?

Naruto-1 looked up into the sky as Akeno and Rias had strong auras of their preferred demonic energy encircling them.

"Now Akeno!" Rias called out as she was covered in an aura of black-red demonic energy.

Akeno didn't respond, she only smirked and pointed both of her hands towards the clone and fired her concentrated demonic energy towards him.

What appeared was a large magic circle above his head.

"...That's probably not good." Naruto-1 guessed with a indulgent smile.

He had no doubt that they were getting their kicks out of this.

The large magic circle then released a large lightning bolt that screamed through the sky and shot towards the blond.

He was grinning when the magic lightning struck down to earth.

* * *

 ***BOOOOM***

Mio covered her face, as the debris from the lightning strike smashed towards where her brother's clone stood. The smoke from the explosion was easily covering up the entire area!

No way did the clone survive that!

But more importantly...was she really _this_ far behind?

She supposed that she shouldn't be too hard on herself, she's only been studying and using demonic energy at _all_ for about half-a-year.

But seeing Himejima Akeno destroy the entire field with her attack was kind of disheartening.

She looked back towards the field as the smoke began to disperse...

Then Mio widened her eyes as something shot out of the plume of smoke!

It was the Naruto clone!

"But...how?" the red-headed half devil asked in shock. He was literally _standing_ there, waiting for the attack to hit. There was no way he had enough time to dodge!

"Well...it's possible that he dodged, he just dodged so fast that you couldn't _see_ him do it."

Mio gave the Naruto clone next to her a dull stare, she was getting vertigo at seeing so many versions of her pseudo-brother around...

"...I'm gonna call you Naruto-2. That ok?" Mio asked rhetorically, she was probably gonna call him that anyways.

The newly dubbed Naruto-2 shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to the skirmish. That attack by Akeno-san was pretty impressive, if looking at explosive damage...that attack was better than his _Ōdama Rasengan_.

Not including grinding damage of course.

But despite the superior damage...it took her quite a bit of time to concentrate that much demonic energy for that attack. Time which would have left her wide open if the clone was taking this seriously.

The Gremory team so far was without a doubt a highly offensive team...but they had some _serious_ flaws that were easily exploitable.

Hopefully he'd get them to realize that before the training sessions were over.

* * *

Naruto-1 slid across ground using the momentum from his jump, he used it to get away from the wreckage of what was once a nice little patch of open ground.

Welp, it was a crater now.

Before Akeno-san's attack reached him from before, he made to move away from the blast radius of the attack. Faster than anyone there could have seen, he sped away from the attack at the last moment in order to hide behind a patch of bushes.

Far enough to get away from the explosion, close enough to get caught in the plume of smoke.

Simple and effective.

Although he was a little wary, there was one more individual who hasn't made their own attempts at attacking him yet...

"Got you!"

There she was.

Rias aimed her considerably concentrated demonic energy into the magic circle in front of her, all aimed at the blond that was sliding away from the smoke.

' _I knew it would've been too easy! That's why I waited for you to come out! I've got you now!_ ' Rias thought with a victorious grin.

The Power of Destruction grew in strength until the magic circle released the condensed ball of power towards the clone!

Naruto-1 knew full well that the trajectory of that attack _would_ hit him if he stayed as he was. Rias was most likely counting on the fact that he had too much momentum to dodge it in time.

Too bad he knew just how to stop that plan.

He concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet...

Then he stopped dead in his tracks, the chakra sticking him into the ground, seemingly ignoring the momentum from before.

Rias' eyes bulged as the attack that she has been planning for has been dodged completely, how did he stop himself!?

The ball of demonic energy impacted itself into another patch of land that was untouched and...

 ***BOOOM***

Once more the land was destroyed in an explosion of energy, with nothing more than a crater to indicate that it was once a nice little patch of greenery.

Though the Naruto clone narrowed his eyes at the crater...

There was no debris there...

At all.

It was all obliterated.

That wasn't normal, so he guessed that the black-red energy probably had something to do with that.

Sheesh...they weren't trying to get the bell at all...they were obviously trying to destroy him.

Well, he allowed them their fun so that he could get a basic grasp of their abilities. Now it was _his_ turn.

The first step?

Take away their home field advantage. Open spaces were obviously playing in their favor since they could coordinate better and use their destructive attacks more liberally.

So...

"I think it's time to move this fight to the forest!" Naruto-1 exclaimed with a grin, immediately after this declaration he sprinted inside the forest.

Rias widened her eyes, he was getting away!

"Everyone! After him! Don't lose sight of him!" the high class devil ordered, their objective was to get him. If he got away then it wouldn't do them any good at all!

The entire Germory group immediately gave chase after that order was given. Koneko and Yuuto on the ground...while Rias and Akeno stayed in the sky.

Mio watched them all disappear into the forestry, she wondered what was going on in Naruto...or rather...his clones' head right now?

"Alrighty then, I think it's time that we begin _our_ training session huh?" Naruto-2 said with a smile, hopefully Mio got some good experience while watching two strong wizard-types work their magic.

Since they were gone now, there was no point in staying there any longer.

Yuki and Issei had already been sent into different parts of the forest with their own 'Naruto'...so they were the only one that needed to get started.

Although she did appreciate the chance that she had to see how strong Rias-sempai and Himejima-sempai were.

Now she had a goal to aim for.

* * *

"Alright Issei, Rias told me on the way that you managed to unlock a Sacred Gear? Well show me." the Naruto clone asked with his back leaning to a tree.

The perverted boy nodded enthusiastically. "Right! Get ready to be amazed Naruto! My Sacred Gear!"

Issei's left hand glowed red for a moment before his Sacred Gear manifested itself.

"Huh? What do you think Naruto? Impressed aren't ya?" Issei asked with a puffed up chest, obviously proud of his achievement.

The blond clone just stared at the small gauntlet on Issei's hand, it didn't seem like much.

"So what's it supposed to do exactly?" the clone asked hesitantly, he had no idea.

The perverted boy rubbed his scalp in an attempt to scrounge up the memories of what he remembered from Buchou's explanation.

He was too distracted by the sexy...

"Uh...I think it's supposed to double my abilities. _Twice Critical_ or something...she said that this may not be the final form of my Sacred Gear though." Issei said while scratching his chin in thought.

The clone sighed at this, Sacred Gears were too complicated sometimes. So what? Sacred Gears could _evolve_ now?

Speaking of complicated stuff...

"By the way Issei, call me Naruto-3. No doubt the other clones took one and two already..." Naruto-3 grumbled, before returning back to topic.

"So if your Sacred Gear in the future is anything like the one you have now...then you have to train your base stats. That way the doubles will be a hell of a lot more effective." the clone explained.

Issei nodded with enthusiasm, what did he have to do? Did he have to train using a sword? Maybe learn to use some magic? Maybe get some kind of armor for protection?

His imagination was running _wild_ at the moment.

"So all you gotta do is some physical workouts. From spars to regular push-ups and sit-ups." Naruto-3 said with a reasonable tone.

The perverted boy blinked. "That doesn't sound so bad..."

Kinda boring though.

"About fifty of them since you're a beginner." the clone said with a small grin.

Issei's eyes widened to saucers at the request. "...Uhhhhh..."

He changed his mind...boring was fine.

Naruto-3 didn't either didn't notice or didn't care about the brown-haired boy's reluctance. "No worries Issei, in case you begin to lose motivation along the way...I got a little something here that will get you back on track."

The Naruto clone dug his hand into his pocket which had a noticeable bulge inside it.

He took out a little bag.

"...What's that Naruto...uh...3?" Issei asked, his head was beginning to hurt from all the copies.

The clone raised the bag into eye level with Issei. "This...is a bag full of erasers."

Issei took a step back with wide eyes...he _wouldn't_...

Naruto-3 shook his head. "Sorry Issei, this is the best way to motivate you. You may have a trauma of erasers for a while but...it will be worth it in the end! That's a promise!"

The old librarian taught him something worthwhile...even an eraser can be a deadly weapon in the right hands.

The perverted boy gave the clone a dull stare, he wanted to get stronger too...but he didn't want to die from over-exhaustion.

"Let's start Issei!" Naruto-3 said with a grin before taking out an eraser and waving it threateningly.

"...I'll feel this in the morning." Issei grumbled before getting started on his push-ups.

* * *

Mio and Maria were staring down a thoroughly passive Naruto.

Well...one of the Naruto clones at least.

It was pretty confusing suffice it to say.

"Alright...show me what you two can do. Your objective is like the Gremory team's, either; defeat me, take the bell on my waist, or destroy it." Naruto-2 said calmly while crossing his arms.

"You got it Naruto!" Mio said with a determined expression, she turned to Maria. "Let's go Maria!"

"Yes Mio-sama!" Maria shouted as she changed into her fighting attire.

Naruto-2 groaned at the sight, her clothes...or lack-thereof...made it hard to look at her.

Maybe that was the point though.

"I'm gonna take out all of my frustration on Naruto-sama now! This is for all your pranks against me! Don't think that I forgot!" the succubus shouted out while throwing a punch at the clone.

Naruto-2 twisted his body to dodge the sailing fist and grabbed her wrist.

"Too slow!"

He quickly threw the succubus back towards Mio.

The red-head widened her eyes as her guardian was sent towards her while she was concentrating her demonic energy. The silverette's body hit her in the abdomen and sent them sprawling to the ground in a heap.

The clone looked on in amusement, their teamwork was...questionable so far.

"Ugh...damn it...take this!" Mio shouted out while aiming a magic circle at the clone. It released a fireball as large as her head towards the blond.

'Naruto' rolled to the side to dodge the flaming projectile and righted himself for another round.

The devil team didn't disappoint.

Maria once more came charging in with sharpened eyes and her fist clenched, obviously to throw another punch.

Naruto-2 prepped himself for the blow.

However...

Instead of throwing her fist at the ground like was expected, she smashed it into the ground right _next_ to him!

The clone widened his eyes slightly at the tactic, so she wasn't all brawn and no brains then huh?

He nearly lost his footing but 'Naruto' recovered quickly, the damage was already done however since Maria took advantage of the slip-up.

"Now Mio-sama!" the succubus cried out while moving out of the way.

Naruto-2 grinned as Mio had a _blue_ magic circle in front of her now with water from a lake nearby charging towards him.

Smart. Keep him on his toes.

But...

"Not good enough!" the blond clone cried gleefully as he jumped up on top of the water stream and allowed chakra to flow to the soles of his feet.

He began to _run_ on top of the artificially-made water stream towards Mio.

Mio's eyes bulged at this unforeseen ability and quickly tried to form enough demonic energy for another spell...

But it turned out that she didn't have to.

The Naruto clone jumped _over_ and behind her instead of taking advantage of her open position.

Mio turned to face the clone with wary eyes as Maria returned to her side.

...What was he up to?

She tried to replay the short battle in her head in order to see if she was missing something important, but she couldn't think of anything.

Just what was going on in his head?

* * *

Yuki was staring at the back of her closest friend's head.

She had _no_ idea how to talk to him...

No matter how many times she went over the conversation in her head...she just couldn't talk to him.

Just talk to him...

Just _talk_ to him...

"Yuki?"

The young hero blinked as she was broken from her trance. She looked to see that the boy that was occupying her thoughts was giving her a worried look.

"...You ok? You've been out of it since this morning." Naruto said with a slight frown, she's been acting pretty dazed and distant for a while now. It's obvious that something was happening in her light-blue head.

He had an idea of what.

"...I'm fine Naruto. Just tired." Yuki lied through her teeth. Internally, she was annoyed at just how _hard_ it was to say something... _anything_ about what happened.

"...Does it have anything to do with what happened the other day?" Naruto asked quietly, staring ahead as they continued their trek to find a good spot to spar.

The young hero didn't say anything, she figured that he knew already.

She hoped that he would continue the conversation, to say what had to be said but...

He didn't say anything.

He just kept walking, his eyes continuing to look ahead.

...

Why wasn't he saying anything?

Did he hate her father that much now?

Why didn't _she_ say anything?

She knew what she had to say...she's been going over it ever since last Saturday.

' _Otou-sama didn't actually mean what he said Naruto. He was just afraid that you would do anything and everything for your goals. Even sacrifice his only daughter. I know his words hurt but...if you can...please forgive him.'_

It wouldn't solve the problem but it would be a _start_.

They could converse from there, talking about the genuine grievances that the blond no doubt had instead of letting them fester.

But...she just couldn't speak.

"Hey Yuki..." Naruto finally said after a moment of silence.

The young hero perked at her name being called.

"Look...I know that you want to defend your father or something like that. But let's leave that for later ok? Let's go and-"

"I'm sorry." Yuki interjected quietly, her bangs shadowing her eyes.

Naruto turned to face Yuki in confusion, what was she apologizing for?

"I'm sorry..." she repeated again.

"Woah woah Yuki...what are you saying sorry for...?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.

"...Otou-sama asked for cruel things from you. Although he wanted to test you...he still said something terrible..." the young hero said quietly.

Why though? Why was she saying those things? She herself had no idea why...

"I know it doesn't excuse him but...he didn't say those things because he believed in them. He said those things for my sake..."

Why was she saying this? She wanted to give him a precise and thorough explanation of what really happened as well as an apology...

So why was she rambling on?

"He lost so much... _so much_...he was afraid that he would lose me too..."

Why...? Why was she so...so...

"Please...don't hate him Naruto..."

...Afraid?

"...Please...I don't want to lose you as a friend... _please_ _don't hate me too_..."

...

Were those her true thoughts?

Was she afraid to lose Naruto's friendship?

Why? It wasn't logical. She said it herself.

Naruto was a good person, he wouldn't break their friendship because her father had done something like this.

Yet...

The thought alone terrified her.

Just the chance...just the _sheer_ _chance_ of that even happening made her hands clench and un-clench with stressful energy.

Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at the female hero. He honestly needed a second for his brain to catch up.

Then it finally did.

"...Hey Yuki."

Yuki looked up to face the blond...

* **flick** *

"Ow." the young hero complained as her forehead received a flick from an irate blond.

"Oi...do you take me that lightly? You're obviously underestimating me here Yuki. Like it or not...for better or for worse...you are my comrade now. To me, a bond like that is not so easily broken." Naruto said with an annoyed glare towards the female hero.

Yuki turned away uneasily. "...You say that but...my father said such horrible things and I didn't do anything to stop him. Even if it was for my sake, you should be pretty upset right?"

Naruto nodded. "Damn straight I'm upset. But if you expected me to take out my anger on you then you were dead-wrong. Nope...I was just planning on beating the crap out of your dad."

The bluenette blinked. He... _wasn't_ upset at her?

"Why aren't you upset at me Naruto?" Yuki asked quietly.

The blond just rubbed the back of his head in a bashful gesture. "Well...despite how the so called 'Great Hero' seems...he's your superior right? It can't be easy to disobey him at all. Also, while you didn't warn me or anything, you also didn't take part in his little scheme of his. So why would I be upset at you?"

Yellow eyes stared at blue. Clear and crystalline blue, just like fresh spring water.

Those eyes wouldn't lie to her at such a moment.

She allowed for a slightly bitter smile to appear on her lips. How could she doubt her friend so easily?

Her friend...was the best kind of friend there was. Even though she didn't have much experience with such people...of that she was still absolutely sure.

She gave him a smile, one that truly came from the deepest recesses of her heart in gratitude.

"Thank you...Naruto."

The shinobi gave her a wry smirk in return.

"Don't thank me yet...you won't be so grateful once I kick your ass in our spar."

Yuki gave him a small grin in return, allowing for the familiar banter to ease her troubles.

"I wouldn't be sure Naruto...I might win this time."

They both lowered their center of gravity, with the hero equipping her hero's armor and weapons and the 'unknown' grabbing his kunai.

They were about ready to charge at one another...

"Wait. Time-out." Naruto said blandly, making the 'T' sign for a moment.

Yuki nearly tripped over herself at the abrupt end to their battle before it even began.

"Totally forgot to do something. No worries, this will be just a second!" the shinobi continued while grabbing an arbitrary rock from the ground.

The hero leaned against _Sakuya_ as she gave him a dull stare in annoyance, the build-up was completely ruined and she was left feeling annoyed.

Naruto wrapped a small piece of paper around the rock and then threw it into the air.

Yuki watched in curiosity, what was he doing?

Naruto grinned as he set the exploding tag on the rock to explode when he made the hand seal.

The rock made a small explosion in the air, seemingly accomplishing nothing except lighting up the sky.

"...What are you up to Naruto?" Yuki asked with a suspicious stare. No way he did that for no reason at all.

The blond just gave her a cheesy grin. "Well...let's just say that we aren't the only ones who are about to fight seriously."

* * *

Naurto-1 was jumping from tree branch to tree branch, purposely leading the Gremory team further into the forestry. If he was a betting clone...he would say that...

A small explosion lit up the sky for a moment, coming from where the boss was.

Perfect. It was time huh?

He stopped on his most recent tree branch and turned back to face his sparring partners.

It was time to ramp up the difficulty!

* * *

Naruto-2 was grinning at the two half-devils that were prepping another attack against him. He wondered when the boss would give the signal...

His gaze was drawn upwards when a small explosion lit up the sky.

Ah...so it was time huh?

"Alright Mio...Maria...time to take the kiddy gloves off..."

* * *

Naruto-3 was staring at the brown-haired boy that was panting on the floor.

Issei looked pretty exhausted, especially after doing about three-quarters of the requested push-ups.

Even as a devil he was pretty out of shape...

The clone noticed that a small explosion lit up the sky for a moment.

...

"Damn it..." the Naruto clone cursed, Issei was way too weak to be any fun to fight against. Looks like he got the short end of the straw here...

Lucky bastards...

* * *

Asia had no idea what to do.

She was asked to help heal anyone who had any wounds from these spars, but she was currently on standby until then.

She didn't have to be, she could also proactively go to where one of the battles were taking place and heal someone as soon as they were hurt.

But she was having trouble choosing where to go...

She could go to where the Gremory group was since that battle had the most people and very likely the most wounds that needed healing.

She could go to where Mio-san and Maria-san were since they were had to face Naruto-san alone.

She could go to where Issei-san was since she really didn't like the idea of him getting hurt.

So she was stuck worrying over which choice to make and who to help first, moving from one side of the clearing to another in her indecisiveness.

One gets the feelings that because of her indecisiveness...she's about to get swamped by many wounded patients.

There was only one thing anyone with a heart could say...

 _...Good luck Asia._

* * *

 **AN: Yo everyone! Managed to scrounge this up in my spare time. I think I managed the scenes pretty well.**

 **Now if it wasn't obvious, Naruto and his clones are about to take their fights more seriously. I'm sure most noticed it, but none of the clones used weapons or jutsus yet.**

 **That's about to change.**

 **Also, this was the first time Naruto was getting a glimpse at the almost everyone's abilities. So he was playing observer during these clashes, next chapter is when he begins to note their major weaknesses, look forward to my impeccable logic!**

 **Lastly...holy crap! I think this chapter will break the 100k barrier! Not only that! But I have over 1k followers and nearly 1k favs! All of you are awesome! Especially the reviewers! :D**

 **Milestone reached!** **To think that I almost didn't start the story at all a bit more than a month ago...**

 **Who knew eh?**

 **Until next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	16. Chapter 16

The clone dubbed as Naruto-1 was laying low as the Gremory team was scouring the forest for him.

They'd never find him at this rate, not unless he was close enough for Koneko-san to use her sensor skills to find him.

Their last clash was meant for the clone to study how they fought and then make counterattacks for them, fortunately for him...their attacks were full of weaknesses.

Easily exploitable ones at that.

Those weaknesses had to be revealed to them or they _will_ be used against them.

Like in about...oh...a few minutes?

By yours truly of course.

The best way to find out about your weakness...was to have it used against you blatantly.

He had their best interests at heart after all, as allies in their 'Kuoh Pact' he would help them.

It totally wasn't true that he was getting his kicks by poking fun at their fighting skills...

Honest.

With a grin, he made a familiar hand seal that made the shape of a cross. He didn't need jutsus to beat them really...but if he wanted to have the most fu-...he meant help them out in the best way...he had to show them...

Show them just how _bad_ it was that they showed a _ninja_ their weaknesses!

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_ "

* * *

The 'Two Great Ladies' of Kuoh Academy were currently floating in the air, looking around for their quarry.

"Damn it...how did he get away?" Rias questioned with an annoyed frown.

Obviously they lost their quarry.

"He was quite fast Buchou. Honestly, I'm surprised that we managed to follow him as long as we did. What with the canopies and all." Akeno replied while looking around. The crafty clone was jumping from tree branch to tree branch while using the canopies to cover his escape.

Was he playing the waiting game or something else?

Rias didn't reply, she just looked down to check on Yuuto and Koneko.

They were a bit more tired than them, running took more energy than flying. So they were resting for a moment before returning to the chase.

As Rias was checking on her cute servants on the ground, she failed to notice something come flying out from the canopies towards her.

Fortunately someone else did.

"Buchou! Watch out!" Akeno cried out while pushing her _king_ out of the way of the projectiles.

She was successful, as both teenaged girls narrowly dodged the small rocks that were set against them.

But they weren't the only ones under attack...

Several rocks that had suspicious tags on them were sent towards Koneko and Yuuto, while they were distracted with what was going on in the air.

By the time either of them realized what was going on, explosions rang out near them which forced them to move out of the widespread destruction.

The entire group was left in disarray as flying rocks continued to pepper the flying _king_ and _queen,_ which prevented them from fighting back. Meanwhile, explosions forced the _knight_ and _rook_ away from one another due to the danger of providing a perfect target opportunity.

Just as was planned.

The Naruto clone decided to _really_ drive his point home however.

Two clones more clones appeared next to Naruto-1 and began working together to form a _rasengan_...

But no ordinary _rasengan_...

" _Futon: Rasengan_...!" Naruto-1 whispered as the orb coalesced on one of the other clone's palm.

Now for their plan's fruition!

Naruto-1 nodded to the clones to continue as he backed away and dashed to find a safe location. He was a clone that would pop if he took damage after all.

The remaining clones then began to work together to _destabilize_ the wind inside the jutsu...

Just a little more and...

* * *

"Akeno! Are you ok!?" Rias shouted out towards her best friend as they reformed back together after dodging the numerous projectiles.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you Rias." Akeno said gratefully, forgetting about their gap of social standing for a moment due to the circumstances.

Rias nodded at that and glared towards where the rocks came from, she could take a good guess on who threw them...

She was about to use her Power of Destruction to destroy the tree which no doubt housed their target but...

Before she was able to, the tree _exploded_ and a _tornado_ formed right on top of it!

She gaped at the gale-force winds that appeared all of a sudden, where the hell did that come from!?

The elemental forces began to pull her in and about as her wings were getting caught in the powerful suction of the wind.

She quickly turned around in order to find Akeno and coordinate a counterattack, but she couldn't find her.

No doubt she was caught in the winds herself and sent flying somewhere due to the sheer power behind it...not even mentioning how it thoroughly caught them off guard.

She had no control over her flight and was at the complete mercy of the winds, she wasn't even able to concentrate on using her demonic energy to get herself out of this mess...the winds were _very_ distracting.

It didn't help that the winds carried sharp wind blades that attacked her body and left superficial but still painful wounds. It was a constant attack that kept getting spun around inside the artificial tornado.

As she was trying to find a way out of her predicament, she spotted something punch their way through the winds...

She widened her eyes...it was the Naruto clone!

She tried to use her wings to move out of the way, but he was moving too quick to dodge even if she wasn't handicapped as she was.

She clenched her eyes shut...this was going to hurt.

But instead of the painful blow that she was expecting, all she felt was a pair of arms snake their way around her. Keeping her arms bound close to her body.

She opened her eyes in shock to stare at a face that had a toothy grin plastered all over it.

"Sorry Rias-san...better luck next time! You'll get your test scores afterwards! Until then...take a nap!"

That was the last thing she heard before she felt a hard chop hit the back of her neck, knocking her out instantly...

* * *

Naruto-1 watched in satisfaction as the _king_ was carried away from the slowly dying tornado. The clone was no doubt going to take her to a safe place so she didn't get caught in the crossfire.

Well, the _king_ was taken out, he didn't know much about chess but he assumed that was pretty good right?

Now to mess with the other members of the Gremory team, let's see how they did in such a bad situation.

After all...if he was their enemy right now...then he would milk this advantage dry.

Good thing he wasn't eh?

"Hey! Boss-1!" a blond clone called out to the original clone that the original made...originally.

Yeah, he just confused himself with that one too.

"What's up? Everything ready to go?" Naruto-1 asked with a grin, he wanted to get this show on the road.

The other clone nodded with a grin. "Yep! All that's left to do is spring the trap! But...we actually have a little bit of a problem."

Naruto-1 raised an eyebrow, what could possibly be the...?

"Some of the clones got bored and decided to start sparring with one another to pass the time...they are kinda destroying pieces of the forest right now..." the clone said with a sweat-drop and dull eyes.

...

"...Seriously...?" Naruto-1 asked with a stupefied sigh, seriously...the only problem with clones that could think for themselves...

Wait. Did he just call himself a problem?

Nevertheless, he better fix this problem before it spills into the lesson he was trying to teach here.

* * *

Kiba Yuuto; the _knight_ of Gremory Rias was currently scouring through the forest to find his comrades.

They were all separated by a surprise attack, which was no doubt the strategy of their sparring partner.

If that was his goal, then it was imperative for the _knight_ to regroup and plan for a counterattack.

Yuuto stopped for a moment and closed his eyes, allowing for his hearing to guide him to either friend or foe. Wherever the sound of battle was...it was very likely he would find both of his objectives.

It would be faster than sensing for them at least, he simply wasn't that good of a sensor in general.

After a moment of silence, he heard something, the muted sounds of battle coming from...

"There!" Yuuto said with confidence, before running towards where the battle was raging.

When he finally made it to the clearing where the battle was taking place, he stopped to stare.

"...What is this?" the _knight_ asked with an incredulous stare.

He was sure that his question was quite justified due to what he was seeing right now...or rather who was fighting right now.

"Ha! Do you really think you can defeat me!? The great Naruto-27-sama!?"

"Pfft! You're just a cheap copy of Boss-3! That's why you suck! Boss-3 has to take care of the pervert...you should join him!"

"You both talk a lot of shit...but in the end...I'll be the one to take the original Boss' ramen!"

""Like hell we'll let you!""

Yuuto had no idea what the _fuck_ was going on...

But he immediately had to move out of the way as several metal weapons were being thrown at one another at alarming speeds between the clones.

Unfortunately for him, those metal weapons were veered off course due to the fact that they were impacting one another. Thus some of them were heading towards him!

The _knight_ immediately used his immense speed to redirect some of the metal weapons that were going to hit him, getting quite a few.

Key words; _quite a few_.

While some of them were moving at speeds that he was able to respond to, some of them were way too fast for him to stop with his blade.

The end result of those failed attempts were several nicks across his skin and clothing from the sharp weapons.

He grit his teeth as the pain from those cuts began to overwhelm his senses, the pain was excruciating...! So this was the warrior known as Uzumaki Naruto...!?

To think that he would use his clones in such a manner...he made them act like petulant fools in order to catch him off guard for an attack...

His respect for the whiskered blond had skyrocketed due to his uncanny tactics.

But before he could create a sufficient plan to combat these clones, they exploded in * **POOFS*** of smoke.

Yuuto narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to make of the sudden destruction of his enemies.

"...Heh. Glad to see my clones caught you off guard. Totally part of the plan!" a voice crowed from inside the remaining smoke that was left from the deceased clones.

Another Naruto emerged from the smoke with a wicked grin on his face, obviously playing the part of an evil mastermind.

Although he looked the part...inside was an entirely different story.

'Gotta make it look intentional...gotta make it look intentional...gotta make it look intentional...no way in hell will I ever admit that I _didn't_ do it on purpose! I'll take it to my grave if I have to!' Naruto-1 thought while he began sweating bullets.

He would ignore how his clones were acting like idiots, he had a reputation to maintain here.

"...Are you the original Naruto clone? It's quite confusing after a while you see." the bishōnen said while lowering his center of gravity for quick movement. Just to be sure.

Naruto-1 grinned at his fellow blond. "Yep! I'm here to hammer the lesson that I'm trying to teach home."

The blond clone then lowered his own center of gravity while crouching, all with a smirk adorned on his face.

"But before we begin...let me ask ya something. Among Rias' Peerage...you're the one which specializes in speed right?"

Yuuto nodded his head warily.

Naruto-1 then gave him a pleasant smile in response.

"Well then...what will you do..." the clone started.

Then in front of the _knight_ 's eyes...the blond clone vanished without a trace and without a sound.

His sense of touch was telling him that someone had a hand placed on his shoulder...

 ***POP***

But only after he felt that hand did the air that Naruto-1 displaced flood back into the void...that was made from the blond's movement.

He moved so fast that the air _couldn't keep up with him_.

He didn't know much about how gas particles in general worked...but he knew that gas particles in an open space...on average...can move far faster than sound...!

The size of Yuuto's eyes was similar to the size of dinner plates, that was _insane_...!

"...When there is someone faster than you?" the clone finished with a grin.

Yuuto immediately tried to stab his sword into the clone's torso while he was distracted, but all he felt in response was a hand wrap itself around his wrist. Stopping the blade from completing it's deadly intention.

"Ya see, the problem with the way you fight is obvious. You are a speed fencer who can use swords really well, but not only do you over-rely on your speed to defeat your enemies...you rely on the swords themselves to do any damage." the clone continued while casually twisting Yuuto's arm behind his back and pushing him to the floor.

The bishōnen grit his teeth in pain as he was pushed to the floor with his arm held captive behind him. The clone then began to _sit_ on him in order to hold him down presumably.

"Besides the obvious question of 'what will you do if there's someone faster than you?'...there's also the question of 'what will you do when there is someone who can take hits really well?'. Unless you begin to take these questions seriously, you will get overwhelmed by people who can think outside the box ya know?" the clone finished while bringing his arm up for a chop.

"Welp, lesson learned. You will get your grades at the end of class. Take a nap."

With that, Kiba Yuuto felt a hard chop onto the back of his head and closed his eyes for the rest of the sparring session.

* * *

Despite the seemingly pleasant atmosphere inside the forest, there were quite a few exceptions to this serenity. A young teenaged girl that was running at top speed was among those exceptions.

That girl was Toujou Koneko; _rook_ of the younger sister of the current Maou Lucifer and an excellent hand-to-hand combatant. More specifically, the hard-hitter of the team.

Although recently, she hasn't been able to utilize her immense strength effectively. Mostly because of the annoying strategies of her sempai.

She could _very much_ sympathize with the Student Council now.

More importantly though, instead of focusing on fighting the blond menace...she had to focus on regrouping with the rest of the Peerage.

Unfortunately, it was rather difficult to sense her allies' whereabouts. Unless they flare their power she won't be able to find them, the only other way is to use her enhanced nose...

But she wasn't anywhere close to finding anyone close through that either.

So she had to find everyone the old-fashioned way, by running around and searching for them. If they were close then she should be able to catch their scent...

"Koneko-chan! Thank goodness I've found you!"

Hazel eyes turned to face the source of the voice and the smell...

"...Buchou!" Koneko said with relief, glad to see her _king_ safe and sound after the surprise attack.

The high-class devil emerged from the forestry with a happy smile etched on her face, obviously glad to see her. But her positive expression fell away to a more serious one.

"Koneko-chan, have you seen Yuuto and Akeno? I'm afraid that the tornado that Naruto created have separated all of us..." Rias said with a downcast expression, seemingly upset that her plans were foiled.

Koneko nodded with a frown and clenched her fists. "...I'm sorry Buchou...but it's rather difficult to find anyone unless they flare their demonic energy. But that's fine isn't it Buchou?"

Rias gave her _rook_ a curious stare. "Why is it ok Koneko-chan? We need to form up in order to properly fight Naruto you know?"

The young silverette stared at her _king_ for a moment before replying.

"...Because you're not the real Buchou...!"

With that cry, Koneko jumped towards the 'Rias' in front of her with a launched fist. Hoping to take out the impostor before 'he' could do anything.

But 'Rias' gave her a foxy grin and grabbed her wrist, stopping her attack cold before it could connect.

"Very good Koneko- _chan_! You saw through my disguise! Tell me...what gave it away? I could've sworn that my acting was decent enough." 'Rias' said with an intrigued look in 'her' eyes.

"...You looked like Buchou...you act like Buchou...but you don't really smell like her." Koneko said with a monotone voice, while trying to wrench her arm free.

'Rias' widened 'her' eyes and then chuckled, so Koneko had an acute sense of smell huh...?

Looks like 'she' was wrong about Koneko, she wasn't a sensor...she just had better senses than her peers.

'Rias' then went up in a * **POOF*** of smoke, with the whiskered blond taking her place once the smoke receded.

"Smart. Bet that you not only have a good sense of smell...but that most of your senses are enhanced as well right? Makes me curious..." the Naruto clone said with a wondering look on his face.

But before the crafty clone could get any ideas, the young devil twisted the wrist that was being held captive and grabbed Naruto-1's offending limb. Once that was accomplished, she _pulled_ herself using his arm in order to propel her towards the clone's face!

Naruto-1 merely grinned in response and bent his back to dodge the blow and then let the girl go, allowing for her own momentum to send her sailing over him.

She recovered admirably as she set herself into a roll and got into fighting position again.

The blond clone nodded approvingly. "Good job, you have a good head for hand-to-hand combat. But even with a good head on _that_ front..."

Naruto-1 then twisted his wrist and received a small metal knife from his cuffs, he then used the metal object to cut a thoroughly obscure rope behind him.

Koneko looked on in confusion until she saw two tree trunks hurtling towards her!

"...Wonder how you'll fare against this?" the blond continued, seemingly ignoring the large objects sailing towards their position.

The petite girl reacted immediately, she jumped into the air in order to dodge the tree trunk that was sent hurtling into the ground. From there, she smashed the other massive log that was heading towards her.

She allowed a small smirk to adorn her face in satisfaction, now all she had to do was deal with...

"Looking for me?"

Koneko's eyes widened as the voice came from _above_ her rather than below her.

But before she could do anything about it, she felt a hard blow hit her upside the head and send her back towards the ground.

She managed to recover enough to fall on her hands and feet, but only once she reached the ground did she notice that the ground was littered with pieces of paper...

Pieces of paper that were on _fire_...

She wasn't even able to utter a word as the chain-explosion set off and engulfed her in fire.

* * *

Himejima Akeno was woken up by an explosion.

Not literally, but the sound of one _did_ knock her out of her unconscious state.

Violet eyes blearily took in their surroundings as the _queen_ did her best to gain some sort of cognizance of her surroundings.

What happened exactly...?

Oh. Right.

She was hit by a surprise attack by their blond enemy. Who knew that the little fox had it in him?

But now she knew that none of them had a chance of defeating the whiskered menace without the entire Gremory team working together.

It was somewhat humiliating to accept that fact though...if it was the _real_ foxy-kun then she could understand...but a _clone_?

She wouldn't accept something like that so easily!

Determination in hand, she spread her bat-like wings and flew towards the sky to find her comrades as quickly as possible.

The second she reached the sky, she spotted a rather sizable trail of smoke a ways away, that must be the explosion that she heard a while ago...

Considering the circumstances, the possibility was high that one of her comrades was currently engaging the wily blond.

If so, then she'd better hurry to help them.

With as much speed as she could muster, she headed towards the devastated piece of the forest, hoping she wasn't too late.

* * *

Koneko gasped as she gripped her damaged arm and knelt on the floor, she took some pretty heavy damage from those small explosions.

 _Rook_ or no...she sure as hell felt that.

"Lesson for Koneko-san." a masculine voice drawled out, with footsteps to help punctuate the imminent danger that the young devil was in.

"It'd be a good idea for you _not_ to depend so much on your enhanced strength and endurance. Seriously, while you are a very good close-range fighter...you are also _very_ predictable. Add to the fact that you aren't too fast and you should know that anyone who can predict your attack pattern or are faster than you would beat you easily." Naruto-1 said with a frown.

Koneko didn't respond, she was too busy trying to get back onto her feet. She was obviously at her last legs here.

The clone simply walked up to the white-haired girl and patted her head.

"...Though you held out admirably. So far, you're the one who has managed to truly use their head in this fight. Be proud of that. Now rest for a bit." Naruto-1 said with a smile.

He then chopped the back of her neck and knocked her out instantly.

Another one down it seemed.

He glanced up to the sky and felt the presence of the last member of the Gremory team.

One Himejima Akeno.

He placed Koneko onto the hands of a clone which was on standby, moving her away from the fight about to happen.

After waiting for a moment, he saw the tell-tale signs of someone approaching the area using bat-like wings...

Finally, the last member of the Gremory Rias' Peerage has arrived; the _queen_.

Naruto-1 gave her a flourish with a smartass grin on his face. "Welcome Akeno-san! Congrats on being the last member of your team left standing! Mind giving up instead of fighting though? I'd much rather finish giving you lot your grades than beat you up."

Akeno just revealed a slightly bitter grin at the information. So she was the last member standing huh...?

But her eyes revealed her determination to keep fighting.

Seeing this, the Naruto clone sighed. He shouldn't be surprised, but he could've hoped.

He supposed he knew the feeling though, this must be how ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei felt whenever he wanted to keep fighting them, despite how thoroughly outclassed he was as a kid.

Fine then, just like them...he'd honor Akeno-san's wishes as well.

He brought out a hand and made a gesture towards the violet-eyes girl.

The gesture meant one thing.

' _Come at me_.'

Akeno obliged.

Her body began to glow as lightning began to crackle around her body, she was preparing to fight.

Well...looked like it was up to him to bring the fight up-close and personal again.

The _queen_ brought her hands down towards the clone and created a magic circle. Lightning emerged from it and shot towards the ground with ill intent.

Naruto-1 moved out of the way of the incoming elemental attack and moved around to pick up some rocks, to utilize as projectiles. He flashed into the forest and back out of it in order to get a very specific rock as well.

The reason he was using rocks instead of...say...his kunai, was rather simple.

He had a limited supply of kunai and shuriken...so he really didn't want to waste it in something like this.

That...and he figured that it was safer. He didn't quite trust their abilities yet, so he didn't want to seriously hurt them or anything.

So he managed to gather enough rocks and quickly threw them towards the devil in the sky. But before they could reach her, she obliterated most of them with her lightning magic.

After dealing with the blond's most recent attack, she prepared a more powerful lightning-based attack by concentrating her demonic energy...

"Got ya!"

Akeno widened her eyes as she felt someone push against her from behind. It was...

"...Naruto! But how...?" Akeno wondered with wide eyes as she stared at the blond clone that was pushing her towards the forest ground.

"Heh! Another problem with the mindset in the Gremory group...and the wizard-types specifically! You don't pay attention to your surroundings enough! If you don't know that there is a danger...then you assume you're safe. But someone crafty like me can use that against you!" the Naruto clone cried out with a massive grin on his face.

The clone was one of those rocks that she didn't destroy!

Naruto-1 watched as his clone sent Akeno crashing to the forest floor, it was time for him to finish the job he guessed.

He raced towards the recently made crash site. Once he arrived, he saw a somewhat ragged Akeno that was unsteadily getting back to her feet.

"I'm sure that I don't need to mention another weakness with how you fight right? Despite getting improved defenses and speed as a _queen_...you never use them. You may as well be a _bishop_ for how closely you stick to ranged attacks. If you improved onto either defense or speed...then you wouldn't be hurting as much as you are now." Naruto-1 said with a frown.

He was hoping that the physical pain was drilling it into their heads right now. If they wanted to improve...they couldn't stay this one-dimensional.

Akeno gave him a shaky smile in return. "Fufu...to think that foxy-kun would be giving me a lecture about how to fight...how do you say...it's rather surprising and refreshing."

"Heh. Well I'm glad that you think so. But you should know that you definitely can't win now right? So..." Naruto-1 replied before trailing off.

The _queen_ gave him a confused look before several fast objects flew past her and began to circle around her. She couldn't even try and concentrate any demonic energy to retaliate as she felt something bind her body.

She looked down and noticed that she was bound by several wires!

"...Let's end this now eh?" Naruto-1 continued as if he never stopped.

Akeno chanced a glance behind her and saw...

"...I was wondering where you went." the raven-haired devil said as she stared at the grinning visage of the clone that brought her down. She assumed that he popped like what the blond said they would do when they received any damage.

Seems she _did_ assume too much.

"Alright, I think that's a wrap! Let me just knock you out now..." Naruto-1 said lazily and began walking towards the captive devil.

Akeno tried to concentrate her demonic energy towards her palm and possibly get herself out of this predicament, but the clone holding her down noticed what she was doing.

So he _pulled_ the wires.

Now both clones knew that there were some...unsavory stuff that some people were into. His trips with ero-sennin pretty much helped the whiskered blond with that idea.

But this was the first time that he heard someone _moan_ from being constricted by wire.

Akeno had the decency to blush a little at the somewhat inappropriate timing, and gave both clones an apologetic smile.

"Apologies boys...it just comes out at times."

Neither of the clones responded, they were too busy giving the _queen_ deadpanned looks.

...That was some kinky shit right there.

"...Yeah. Knock her out." Naruto-1 said while covering his face with the palm of his hand.

...There was just nothing that could be said about that. It was best to just...pretend it didn't just happen.

The clone did his job and chopped the back of Akeno's head and took her body to the rest of the collected Gremory bodies.

...That actually sounded much worse than he meant it to, but that was besides the point. The day's training with the Gremory team was finished.

Time to check up on the other teams!

* * *

Mio was concentrating heavily on finding an opening against the juggernaut that was her psuedo-brother. Maria and herself have been trying desperately to find one.

They hadn't found it yet.

Maria was sliding back towards the red-headed half-devil after another unsuccessful assault.

The dubbed 'Naruto-2' was literally just standing there and scratching the back of his neck. Seemingly not taking them seriously.

Well...she supposed that he had a pretty solid reason to do so.

"Mio-sama...we have to find an opening somehow...but I think I have an idea on how to make one." Maria said with a serious expression on her face.

Mio glanced at her guardian and nodded, when she was serious...she was actually very dependable.

"...I need you to jump up and down very quickly and distract him."

"Fuck no." Mio shot down the suggestion quickly.

She knew _exactly_ what Maria was planning with that _distraction_ of hers...the fact that she was staring at the red-head's chest was all the information she needed.

Maria clicked her teeth. "Damn. Well fine...be like that. Then can you at least take off your shirt...?"

"Maaaarrrriiiiaaaa...!"

The Naruto clone was watching in slight amusement as their planning session was falling apart. He was having fun.

Although he wasn't having fun just because of the funny antics the duo had, it was also because they were...surprisingly...doing pretty good.

It wasn't like he was fighting them at full strength, but he was taking them more seriously at the very least. Yet they managed to avoid any crippling attacks so far.

Mostly because they...

"Distraction success! Take this Naruto-sama!"

Maria created a magic circle and released several magic bullets towards the clone.

Immediately, Naruto-2 smashed his foot into the ground and created a rock pillar to defend himself. It did the trick, as the magic bullets were unable to completely pierce the rock formation.

But it also allowed for Maria to close the distance and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

At least that's what it seemed.

Before Maria could enter into combat range, she dodged to the left and allowed for the two fireballs that was following behind her to reach him.

So she used herself as a smokescreen for the fireballs huh? He definitely approved of this tactic!

This was why they managed to hold out despite him being a clearly stronger opponent...their teamwork worked _really_ well.

Maybe it was because unlike the Gremory team...they truly faced life-and-death struggles while they were on the run.

The Gremory team may have overall experience in fighting in their specific fields, especially when compared to Mio. But the duo in front of him truly worked like a team.

They covered each other's weaknesses well and chained their attacks together without any hesitation.

He was actually a little jealous! Why couldn't team 7 be like this damn it!

The clone was hit by the incoming fireballs which hit the ground and created a tree-sized pillar of fire. Though he emerged from inside the the flames completely unharmed. Unfortunately for the two of them, he was pretty damn good at withstanding fire-based attacks.

But just as he moved away from the attack, Maria came in and attacked him again. Most likely to buy time for Mio to launch another attack.

But just like most people in this world...neither of them had a good grasp of their environment!

So it came as a shock for Mio when _another_ Naruto came charging towards her from her flames!

Since the flames weren't too much of a threat in a short amount of time, he made a _kage bunshin_ inside the pillar of fire and brought Maria's attention towards the original clone.

This left Mio wide open!

The succubus realized her mistake soon enough and tried to back-pedal to help her charge, though Naruto-2 wouldn't give her the chance to!

He quickly caught her arm and threw her _away_ from Mio and separated the duo from one another.

In response to the tactic, Mio tried to use a lightning spell to push the incoming blond away. But she didn't have enough time to gather her demonic energy...!

"Got ya!" the Naruto clone cried as he threw a fist towards the unprepared red-head.

Maria ran back towards the battlefield, intending to help her charge, but was met by the visage of Naruto-2 again instead.

"It's over now. Mio's just been knocked out and without her, you're left wide open to my own attacks. So before I knock you out...got anything to say?" Naruto-2 asked as if he was asking for her last words.

The succubus just gave him a tired grin. "I got one I suppose...make sure your clothes are safe when you shower tonight Naruto-sama..."

The blond clone immediately knocked her out after that.

Damn...he has to hide his clothes when he showered now...that crafty Maria would no doubt steal his clothes in retaliation for this.

The other clone he made earlier was carrying Mio on his back and motioned for them to head back to the resident healer.

Wonder how everyone else was doing?

* * *

 ***CLANG***

 ***CLANG***

The hero and the 'unknown' were clashing against one another in a shower of sparks.

They were both using their sharp weapons to fight against one another, a katana against a kunai specifically.

They met again in another clash of blades with their faces inches from one another.

Playful blue was facing off against serious yellow.

Though the hero's yellow eyes had an interesting addition towards them...

It had cross-hairs over the yellow pupils.

This was the manifestation of Yuki's Sacred Gear... _True Sight_. She figured that in order to stand a chance against her closest friend, that she would need to use _everything_ in her disposal.

Which was why she was trying to retain eye contact with her sparring partner.

It seemed that Naruto was content to let her.

It turned out that Naruto was _very much_ content to let her Sacred Gear work it's magic.

Unlike practically everyone else, he was already well-versed in how Yuki fought. He fought her once before after all.

She showed him everything he had to know about her fighting style, so there was really no point in testing her like the others. Not only that, but compared to the others, she had relatively fewer weaknesses.

While she depended on her speed to overpower her opponents, she didn't over-rely on it...she used her elaborate sword-play as well.

While she depended on her blade to do any sort of damage, the blade had the ability to make those annoying green waves which could stack upon one another.

That Sacred Gear of hers was also another fall-back option when cornered.

He may not have gotten the clones' information about the other sparring sessions yet...but if he could make a guess...he'd say that Yuki has probably got the best chance to beat him among the entire group.

That wasn't saying much yet, but the girl had her bases covered and she wasn't one-dimensional.

Good for her.

So this spar was more about improving what she was good at rather than pointing out her weaknesses.

Which was why he was using his kunai to face against her _Sakuya_.

As they continued their clashing stalemate, Naruto allowed for the hero to push him back and overextend herself a bit.

Enough for a counterattack.

He allowed for her blade to push against his kunai and then as she was beginning to lose strength due to her extended posture, he pushed _Sakuya_ away from him and stabbed his short blade towards her torso.

After a quick recovery, she parried the blow away instead of facing the strength behind it and realigned her center of gravity for another bout.

The shinobi obliged by slashing his kunai in a quick motion.

The hero countered by using her gauntlet as a shield and aiming for a piercing blow with her blade.

Instead of countering it, the blond twisted his body away from the blow and caught the flat-ends of the sharp object between his arm and torso.

From there, he enhanced his kunai with wind chakra and made for another slash against the hero. Knowing full well that only her sword can stop the cutting power of his enhanced little knife.

But instead of dodging as he expected, she responded by bringing up her captured blade and using it's _hilt_ as a defensive measure.

After that maneuver, she brought her foot up and smashed it towards her friend, attempting to knock him off her sword.

But instead of smashing it into him, he caught the offending limb before it could have hurt him and held it steady.

Yuki only gave him a small smirk despite the fact that he thwarted her plan.

She then used that leg to push _against_ him and wrench _Sakuya_ away from Naruto.

Yep, she was definitely the best fighter among the group besides himself.

They were back where they started when they began the battle, both fighters staring one another down and their weapons brandished.

Naruto grinned at Yuki, she's improved. Not too much in ability...but in mindset.

She's far more creative in her attack pattern when compared to the last time they fought.

"Not bad Yuki! But..." Naruto began, before closing his eyes and preventing her from retaining eye contact with him.

"...Can you keep up with me without your Sacred Gear?" the shinobi finished, he wasn't exactly an expert when it came to fighting without using his eyes...but he was good enough not to let it be a huge problem.

The hero groaned at this tactic, there goes her use of _True Sight_...

Hearing her groan, the whiskered blond merely grinned and charged at the hero again. Intent on finishing their battle so that he could check up on the others.

* * *

 _Kage bunshin_ are known to be able to form their own personalities and thoughts once formed by their creator.

But that personality tends to be based off of the creator's personality.

This often makes for some...interesting instances when clones are left to their own devices for too long with nothing to do.

Naruto-3 being that prime example.

Whereas Naruto-1 and Naruto-2 were at least having fun, sparring and getting a little exercise...this clone in particular got the short end of the stick by...baby-sitting essentially.

So he decided to make his own fun.

"Issei! Dodge!"

Issei desperately moved out of the way of the projectile eraser that was sent speeding towards him.

That shit hurt when it hit him!

Naruto-3 decided to flick erasers at him in order to improve his reaction time, speed, pain tolerance...yadda yadda yadda...and have some fun.

...In that order.

Though he _did_ notice how fun it was for the person throwing the eraser rather than be on the receiving end of it.

"Hey Issei! If you want me to stop...you gotta at the very least touch me once! I'll take it easy on you! Remember that this is all for your sake in the end! You will definitely thank me later!" Naruto-3 called out to the perverted boy before flicking another rubber projectile towards him.

Issei was once more knocked off his feet with the eraser and onto his back. Although he knew that the blond meant well...at the moment he really just wanted to hit the bastard once.

He definitely wouldn't thank him later in life either...no...when he got stronger he plotted to get his revenge against him.

Another worthwhile dream to aim for!

But until then...

"Dodge!"

Another eraser smashed him in-between the eyes and knocked him onto his back again.

He was in for a painful training session...

If it wasn't for the fact that he remembered the traumatizing experience of feeling Asia's nearly dead body on his arms...he'd probably give up by now.

But he couldn't give up. More important than his dreams of vengeance on the evil trainer in front of him...he had to protect Asia!

He promised damn it!

"You...do you think that I will lose to this!? I won't lose to this torture session! I will beat the shit outta ya when I get my hands on you!" Issei shouted out with a clenched fist.

Naruto-3 just smirked at this exclamation. "Well...you got a long way ahead of you if you want to do that. But at least you have the fire to get there."

The clone then gave the perverted boy an annoyed look. "Despite the torture session I'm giving you, I've had worse you know? My teacher threw me down a massive cliff in order to help me learn to use a power that I had no hope of getting before. Would you like me to start doing that? Maybe you'd even like me to humiliate you emotionally and physically like my first teacher!?"

Issei paled at that information. There was training _worse_ than this? Just what kind of monsters were Naruto's teachers exactly?

"...Please don't."

"...Yeah...yeah I thought so. Now quit complaining and dodge the erasers. You have a lot of training to catch up on!"

* * *

Asia was watching in trepidation as a procession of blond clones were carrying the bodies of their recent victims.

She couldn't help but be intimidated by the sight, ignoring the fact that there were even _more_ versions of the teenaged boy walking around, ignoring how they seemed unharmed despite defeating their sparring partners...

There was also the fact that they were all seemingly converging towards her from _all_ directions.

So by the time most of them had arrived to her, she was pretty much a nervous wreck.

One of the Naruto clones decided to try and wake her from her seeming nervous breakdown and snapped their finger in front of her face.

It did the trick.

"Ha...Haaaauuuu!?"

...Kinda.

"Woah woah! Calm down there Asia-san. We were just wondering if you could heal those who got hurt. If you please." another blond clone said while trying to speak politely.

That finally snapped her out of her nervousness.

"Ye-yes! Please place them down on the mats so that I can start please." Asia said with a slight accent in her voice.

The clones nodded and gently placed their victims on to the many mats on the floor so that they could get treated by Asia.

So far it was only the Gremory team, Mio, and Maria who were accounted for. So the Naruto clone that led the charge against the Gremory team was about to order the other clone to disperse their chakra, in order to give their information to the boss.

But before he could.

"...Wait..."

Naruto-1 blinked as he felt someone grab his jeans, he looked down to stare at a pair of blue-green eyes.

"...Heya there Rias-san. Didn't expect to see you awake so soon. You doing ok? Not too badly hurt?" the clone asked with a comforting smile.

The combat was over, no need to be hard on them afterwards.

"...I'll live. The only thing that really took a heavy hit today was my pride." Rias grumbled, ashamed that she lost to a clone...a _clone_.

It wasn't something that you could really live down.

Naruto-1 just patted her head in his condolences. He knew that the boss meant it when he said that he'd never let her live it down.

"But...even though the thought that I would lose this battle had occurred to me...I didn't think I'd lose so badly. So...when you're...I mean when you have a chance...can you..." the red-headed devil stumbled over her words, trying to convey something to the clone that she wasn't used to.

The clone could take a guess.

"No worries Rias-san. That was the entire point of this, you'll get the full review when I make sure everyone gets here. Though I think that the boss would like that chance to talk with you. I also suppose that you don't really want your Peerage to hear this talk either...?" Naruto-1 asked hesitantly, she seemed to be someone who liked to have her dignity whenever she could. So if her Peerage essentially saw her getting tips from someone younger then her...

"...Yes please."

He called it.

Naruto-1 nodded and then gave Naruto-2 a meaningful look.

He caught on quickly.

They dispersed their chakra and allowed themselves to ***** **P** **OP*** , sending their information back to the boss.

* * *

Naruto was facing off against Yuki once more, prepping himself for another bout of blades-work.

Although Yuki looked pretty exhausted by this point and was covered with little cuts.

Compared to her, there was no indication that he was in a fight at all.

But it seemed that she was determined to score a hit on him as she gulped in another lungful of air and prepped herself to charge him again.

But he raised his hand in the universal symbol of 'stop'.

He just got information from two of his clones. It was time to go back.

"Yuki. I think this is good enough for today. Now that I got the information from the other clones, I can say that you are ahead of the class by a large margin. Congrats!" Naruto said cheekily before putting his kunai away.

The hero said nothing, she was too busy catching her breath and not falling over in exhaustion.

The shinobi walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulder with a grin.

"Need some help?"

Yuki glanced towards her friend's eyes. She smiled at the helping hand, she was pretty tired.

It was a good tired though.

So the two trudged off back towards where everyone was waiting for them.

* * *

It took a while for them to reach the little psuedo-medical center. But they made pretty decent time considering that Yuki was limping a little.

By the time they reached the group, the sun was beginning to set and mostly everyone was patched up by the resident healer.

Though the only one awake was still Rias at the moment, staring up into the sky in thoughtful silence.

Naruto dropped off Yuki into a mat and thanked Asia for her help, he decided that this was the best chance to talk to Rias-san in private.

So he walked up to her and sat down near her supine form as she was staring into the slowly appearing stars.

"...Well. I'm ready whenever you are Naruto. How bad was it?" Rias asked with a slightly self-mocking grin.

The blond couldn't help but wonder if she was being too hard on herself.

"Alright. Well, first off...you didn't do _terrible_." Naruto said, trying to start off on a good note.

It didn't seem to work though, as the Gremory seemed to just deflate at his attempt at laying it gently to her.

"By the Maous...Naruto...just tell me the truth." Rias grumbled before getting up into a sitting position.

Well...she asked for it, he supposed.

"Ok. Your teamwork is decent but your coordination was terrible. You attacked as if you were individuals rather than one working unit, like a team should be. This is especially bad when all of you depend on teamwork in _some_ way to fight stronger opponents. Not only that, but your tactics Rias-san..." Naruto began with a frown.

She wasn't _that_ worried about her abilities to make plans though. She was taught well by her teachers as a child to make excellent...-

"They suck."

Wait...what!?

"Wh-! What do you mean they suck!? The formation and the tactics used against you, especially in the beginning of the fight, were standard operating procedure with the pieces that I had on hand! So how could they-!" Rias began before getting cut off.

" _That's_ the problem Rias-san. That was standard...whatever the hell you just said. It's something to be _expected_ from your opponents due to who you have working with you. So standard and so expected...that I was able to figure out how best to counter it." Naruto explained with an annoyed look on his face.

Rias' eyes widened in shock at this logic. So precisely _because_ her tactics were so standard...they were easy to counter?

"I'm not saying that you have to be like me...who can make the most ridiculous plans on the fly. Nor do I mean that you have to be like a certain lazy genius at home. But you need to think about this kind of stuff, otherwise even though your Peerage has a lot of power...someone who knows how to use _their_ power or team more effectively could beat you." the shinobi finished.

Rias stayed silent for a while. Now that she thought about it...she never adventured further than what she was taught by her teachers. She always assumed that she knew everything that needed to be known about battlefield ideas and plans...

Yet someone who was doing terrible at school at the moment was teaching her about something relatively simple...but something she never thought about.

She was already seeing the benefit of the spar with the whiskered blond, despite her severely bruised ego.

Seeing that Rias wasn't going to say anything, Naruto decided to continue. "Another thing about the tactics you used...it's way too blunt don't you think? You and your Peerage literally did nothing but try to destroy my clone. You never tried to take the bells at all. Something straightforward isn't bad, but can you at least try to use a little variety here?"

The high-class devil could only look away at the admonishment, obviously feeling foolish now that her actions were relayed to her after the fact.

"Now that we dealt with that...we gotta talk about the powers that you and your Peerage use."

Rias glanced up to look at Naruto warily. "You yourself admitted that my Peerage has a lot of power. So what can possibly be the problem?"

The blond grinned at her, taking the challenge behind her question. "Easy. You and your Peerage...despite having great power...are waaaaaaay too overspecialized."

The red-head frowned at that, overspecialized?

"Rias-san, if someone managed to get close to you or Akeno-san and happens to be a close-combat specialist...what would you do? If either Kiba-san or Koneko-san faced off against a fast magic-user...what would they do? The fact that none of you have any _real_ way to deal with something outside of your field of specialization is just a very _bad_ idea no matter how you look at it." Naruto said with a frown and a pointed look.

"Huh? But _that's_ how most people fight Naruto! Most specialize in one thing and one thing only! You can't seriously expect me to learn another style of fighting so that I could cover my weaknesses better! Especially when I could just work with my Peerage to cover our weaknesses." the high-class devil protested hotly.

But the whiskered teen shook his head. "That argument would make sense if you _actually_ covered each other's defenses well. You just attack piecemeal and attack when one of your members are in trouble...there's more to teamwork than that. Chaining in attacks, messing with the enemy formation to help with those in the front line, support abilities...those kinds of things."

"Besides...who says that you gotta follow what everyone says you're _supposed_ to do? I'm not saying that you should learn a new style of fighting at all, I'm just saying that you should try to cover your bases better. Like...maybe work on getting your speed better, that way if someone manages to get through either your _knight_ or _rook_...then you could at least dodge them and buy yourself some time." Naruto said with a deadpanned look. Seriously, this wasn't anything new here.

He seriously didn't get what was so confusing about this. He wasn't the sharpest knife in the...knife drawer and even he knew this.

Hell, just to prove the point...!

"I hope you realize that even my twelve-year old self had a better grasp of this idea then you, right? I had very few techniques to call my own and I was only any good in close-combat, but I used my wits and made creative uses of my small amount of abilities. Seriously...I was even the dead-last of my class and I knew this, so I don't get how you can't." Naruto complained while scratching his head.

What the blond didn't notice was how pale-white Rias had become after he finished that sentence.

"...Wait...there are _more_ of you...?" Rias asked with a hesitant tone, unwilling to believe that there are more people like Naruto running around.

The shinobi looked at her, confused, but decided to answer her honestly. "Yep. A whole lot of people like me. Why?"

She didn't respond for a moment, she was too busy dealing with the implications of his words.

"...And...you were the _dead-last_?" Rias asked with an unintentional hitch in her voice.

Naruto didn't understand what was going on, but he wasn't afraid to tell people that he was once a dead-last. After all...he was without a doubt the best of his class now.

"Yep! The person who barely passed the test that was given to him. Even then, sorta failed it...I kinda got the right to get a team based on a whim now that I think about it..." Naruto wondered with a sweat-drop coalescing.

Yeah now that he thought about it...

 ***THUD***

Naruto blinked as he glanced at the formerly conscious red-head. What the hell happened to her?

...Maybe she needed some rest. No, maybe they all needed some rest.

So he stood up and was about to address the group...

But before he did so, he quickly grabbed a kunai and flung it towards the forest at a specific location.

...

He didn't hear any cries, all he heard was the ***THUNK*** of wood getting hit.

Was he imagining things...?

Well, good thing no one saw that then. The last time he made a mistake like that was when he nearly killed a poor defenseless snow rabbit in his first C-rank mission.

So...no one had to know about this one.

The whiskered blond chanced a glance at his fellow blond, who was currently nodding off due to the amount of energy she was expending healing so many people.

Yeah, time to get some shut-eye.

"Asia-san! Once you're done, I'm going to use my clones to take everyone inside the mansion. You should get some rest too ok?" Naruto called out to the nun.

The only response he got was a sleepy affirmation, man...she was out of it.

He began to pick up all of the unconscious bodies of his allies using clones and personally helped Yuki up so that they could get some rest.

The only one unaccounted for was Issei, and he trusted his clone to get him home.

...Hopefully.

* * *

"...Uh...Iseei?...You gonna be ok?...Oh geez...I hope I didn't kill the kid...come on then, let's get you home."

"...Urgh...just kill me already..."

* * *

Bleary pink eyes slowly opened up to stare at the ceiling.

Where was she...?

...Oh yeah.

Training.

Training with _Naruto_.

Terrible idea. Horrible idea. Never doing it again.

She was hurting in places that she didn't know _existed_ at the moment.

Really...all she wanted to do was stay down and fall back asleep in this nice and cozy bed...

...Wait. Bed?

Mio looked around and noticed that she was inside her appointed room inside the mansion. When did she get here?

She was about to shrug it off when she felt her stomach rumble.

She was hungry.

"...Damn it." Mio grumbled as she did her best to ignore the aching feeling of her body and leave her bed.

She stumbled outside of her room and traversed the _massive_ mansion in search for the elusive kitchen.

All she wanted was a quick bite and she was lost in this stupid place. It seriously sucked right now.

After what felt like hours but was probably no longer than ten minutes, she found the kitchen.

As well as the source of her current aches and pains.

"...Naruto." Mio said quietly, her annoyed expression seemingly becoming more sour at the sight of the blond.

Naruto immediately froze up, as if caught in the act of something very bad. He turned to face her with a slightly shaky smile.

"Well hello there sleepy-head. How are you right now?" the blond said with his best attempt at a cheery smile.

He couldn't be more suspicious if he tried.

"...What are you up to Naruto?" the red-head asked with a scowl, she _really_ didn't want to deal with his antics right now. His antics was what caused her so much trouble earlier today damn it!

Naruto genuinely looked offended by the question. "Hey! I'll have you know that I am not always up to something dattebayo! Why can't you place more faith in me as your nii-chan!?"

That did it.

She was exhausted, aching all over, hungry, and knew that whatever Naruto was up to...she'd have to deal with it _somehow_.

That was simply the general trend that she discovered after a while.

Now he used the single most embarrassing thing that has happened to her in recent memory.

Her face was expressionless as she walked towards the blond with twitching eyebrows.

Then she went and pinched her psuedo-brother's cheeks.

"Whatever you're up to...you better cut it out or I swear...I'll-!"

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

Soon after she pinched the cheek of the blond in front of her, he went ***POOF***.

He was a clone.

Bad.

That was _really_ bad.

That meant that whatever Naruto was up to...he was already doing it.

If she didn't stop him soon, then her morning...no... _everyone's_ morning would be consumed by it! She had no doubt!

To save everyone's sanity...she had to stop Naruto now!

With that in mind, she was about to leave the kitchen to search for the elusive blond...

"Wait."

Mio stopped and turned to see another Naruto waiting for her with a deadpanned expression.

That was faster than she thought.

"...I know that you're about to go searching for me out of a weird sense of responsibility for my actions...but don't. You'd never find me. But I _also_ know that this plea wouldn't work since you're way too stubborn to stop. So how about I just _show_ you what I'm up to and you let this drop once you find out that this isn't a prank or anything." the teenaged boy explained before extending a hand to her.

Offering to show her the way.

She glanced at the hand, trying to make sure that the hand didn't have any traps waiting for her.

Man, he must have done a real number on her during training to make her so paranoid.

"...Fine. Please do." Mio agreed, accepting the compromise.

Naruto nodded in agreement and led her outside the mansion...and back inside the forest.

* * *

Mio's eyes were wide in wonder and astonishment.

"Now do you see Mio? This isn't for pranks...this is _my_ training."

...This was Naruto's training?

Mio was referring to the large open space, a perfect place for a small battle.

The perfect place for practically _hundreds_ of clones to practice and train.

There were hundreds upon _hundreds_ of Naruto clones that were training harshly under the moonlit sky.

This was...incredible. There simply was no other word for it.

So all of the information that they gather...they transfer over to the real Naruto huh...

"...Say. You're not the _real_ Naruto right? Where's the real one?" Mio asked while glancing at the 'Naruto' next to her.

The blond clone grinned. "Boss is doing some personal training at the moment. Follow me."

The duo walked past some clones that were doing training, and the half-devil couldn't help but stare at what some of them were doing.

Some were using a single hand and concentrating heavily on doing... _something_ to the small leaf on top of that hand.

Some were clasping their feet together and concentrating on doing... _something_.

She had no idea on what they were trying to accomplish exactly, yet another mystery to the blond.

Though after passing by these clones, they finally reached the _real_ Naruto.

He was currently concentrating on something in-between his hands...

"...So pretty." Mio said with wonder, looking at the small blue ball that was in-between his palms.

The ball then dispersed into nothing as Naruto looked at Mio in surprise, seemingly having no idea that she was coming.

"Uh...heya Mio. I sorta thought that you were just gonna check that I wasn't up to no good and leave. Didn't really expect to see you here." the shinobi said sheepishly.

Oh yeah. She was hungry.

But...

"...Naruto. What you're doing here is...incredible." the red-head breathed, incredibly impressed with what she saw before.

It was like seeing a parade or fireworks for the first time...it was something truly extraordinary. Seeing all of those copies work towards some goal, all to help out the original to better himself.

But more importantly than that...was _who_ was doing the training.

She may no act like it, but she always saw Naruto as something...higher.

Someone who didn't need to try hard, didn't need to be tough, didn't need to _act_ strong...cause he _was_ strong.

He was overwhelmingly strong, so strong that the concept of him needing to train at _all_ was...strange.

Yet here he was.

It was...inspiring. Seeing someone so strong train to get stronger.

"Heh. I know right? I can be so awesome sometimes that I surprise myself at times." Naruto practically bragged while sniffing his nose.

She shook her head, he always managed to bring down people's perceptions of him accidentally, especially with his cocky attitude.

But...it was so _Naruto_ of him to do that.

"...Hey. Do you mind if I...stay a little bit? I won't get in the way. I'd just like to watch." Mio asked with a hesitant tone.

The shinobi grinned at her question. "Sure. Why not? Just stick with me though ok? The clones could be trying more dangerous things later."

Mio gave him a happy smile at his acceptance and settled herself down to watch Naruto make another of those pretty spheres.

She may miss a late night snack...but this wasn't a bad replacement.

* * *

 **AN: Hey there! Another chapter here for this story!**

 **Not too much to say, just that the Riser Arc is fast approaching. Also due to some changes to canon already...something may or may not happen because of a very specific change.**

 **It's shit like this that I really wanted to have in this story, domino effects I guess?**

 **Also...1k favs! Yes! I'm so happy that I unintentionally made a bigger chapter than usual :p**

 **Well, I'm going to stop rambling. Onward to the next chapter!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	17. Chapter 17

It was morning.

Those who were sleeping inside the summer 'home' of the Gremory family were finally beginning to stir.

Many of them with aches.

But none of them were sleepy, rather...precisely because they were exhausted the other day...they actually had an excellent rest.

Most of them.

Naruse Mio managed to get a little more rest, since she fell asleep soon after she discovered what Naruto was up to last night.

But the blond himself...

"...Damn it...I hate the sun sooooo much right now..."

He wasn't doing so hot.

Mio gave Naruto a pointed look. "This is what happens when you stay up practically the entire night. Maybe you should take a shower? That might wake you up."

"I don't want to take a shower though...I'm too hungry..." the teenaged boy complained as he laid his face down on the table they were sitting on.

The half-devil merely rolled her eyes in exasperation. He could act like such a child at times.

They were both sitting down at the table where everyone had unofficially dictated was the 'eating table'.

Since it was about time for everyone to wake up and get something to eat anyways, they decided to wait here for everyone before they started eating.

Well...Mio decided to wait here for everyone. She thought that it was common courtesy to wait.

Naruto didn't give a shit about 'courtesy'...he was hungry and wanted to eat.

Problem was...he sucked at cooking and he didn't want to poison himself. So he was stuck until someone came in and cooked.

Man...how did he survive without Maria and Mio cooking meals for him again?

Naruto's eyes lit up.

He just remembered how!

The blond immediately stood up with a large grin on his face and sped off towards his room to get one of his bags.

Mio just watched him leave warily, unsure what to think of a suddenly energetic Naruto running around.

She decided to stay on standby until stuff started blowing up. Only then would she drag herself out of her chair to deal with it.

Luckily, her patience was rewarded when she _didn't_ hear any explosions. But she did hear Naruto lumbering back with heavy footsteps.

The blond in question came lumbering back with a large luggage bag strapped around his arm. He had a smug expression on his face, as if he solved a question that has eluded everyone for the longest time.

This should be good.

"Naruto...I ignored it back when we were getting to Rias-sempai's summer home as one of your 'Narutoisms'...but what's with the bag?" Mio asked while staring at his bag suspiciously.

She had every right to, the bag was practically as big as Naruto was.

"Nothing much, just the bare essentials of traveling." Naruto said with a careless shrug.

The red-head glanced at the blond with a doubtful expression, a bag of this size did _not_ classify this as the 'bare essentials'...

He placed the bag down and began taking out several objects and placing it onto the table.

Those objects happened to all revolve around one thing...

Ramen.

He literally brought a _luggage bag_...filled to the brim with _ramen_.

Just...what could be said here?

Before she could even make a comment about it, Naruto quickly cut her off.

"Hey, I know that you're about to say something about my sanity because of your expression...but before you do...consider something." the shinobi said with a serious expression on his face.

Mio, despite her knowledge to her psuedo-brother's antics, leaned forward due to the passion behind the blond's words...

"Should you truly question the food that even the God of the Bible claimed as his signature dish?"

...

"...He must assuredly did _not_ say that Naruto." Mio replied with dull eyes.

"...Well I'm sure he would have if he knew about the majesty of ramen." the shinobi retorted with nary a doubt in his eyes.

The half-devil could only sigh, when ramen was involved, Naruto would always speak passionately about it. One gets the impression that he could have been a ramen preacher in another life.

As the whiskered teen began to pull ramen cups out of his bag to place into the microwave, Mio heard another pair of footsteps heading towards the room.

"...Good morning everyone." Yuki yawned out as she dragged her feet towards the table.

It wasn't too surprising to see Yuki up and about before anyone else, she was among the few who had received not much more than superficial wounds in their training session. If anything it was probably expected.

"Good morning Yuki. You seem sleepy, did you take a shower yet?" Mio asked as she glanced at the hero.

Showers were definitely Mio's go-to option when trying to wake herself up.

Sleepy yellow eyes regarded the red-head for a moment before responding. "It's currently in use. So unfortunately I didn't manage it yet."

The half-devil raised an eyebrow. "I thought there were like...three bathrooms?"

"There are. They are all in use." Yuki said with a sigh. Obviously annoyed that she lost her chance for a nice and early shower.

Mio could sympathize.

The hero turned her head to stare at Naruto, who was currently standing in front of the microwave, waiting impatiently for his ramen to finish.

"Should you really be eating something so unhealthy so early in the day Naruto? Let's wait for the others to wake up so that we can have a healthy meal." Yuki said reasonably, wishing to help her friend out in his eating habits.

Naruto looked at Yuki with a befuddled expression. "Huh? Ramen is a good choice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! All day and everyday. Stuff like whether it's healthy or not doesn't matter since ramen gives me it's blessing in return!"

His proclamation was met with nothing but silence by his audience.

This was the scene which Koneko walked into after she just finished taking her shower.

She looked around for a moment in confusion at the meaningful silence and glanced at the blond who just noticed her entrance.

"Hey Koneko-san! Would you like some morning ramen?" he called out to her.

The young devil frowned at the request. "...Ramen? In the morning?"

The shinobi merely rolled his eyes. "Not you too...I'm telling everyone that ramen is for everyone, any time, anywhere. This is the main piece of my plan to unite the world in peace...give everyone some ramen. Don't you diss that dream, damn it."

Koneko simply responded with a blank stare, somewhat understanding why it was so quiet when she entered the room now.

"...I think I'll just wait for someone else to make breakfast." the loli decided as she moved to find a seat.

"Eh? Do you distrust me Koneko-san?" Naruto asked with a teasing grin, it wasn't really a serious question.

Although, it's amazing how Koneko could express so much emotion with just a slight downturn of her lips.

"...You blew me up Naruto-sempai."

Ah...right.

"Ah come on. That was all for you and your team's sake right? Besides, what's a few explosions every now and then?" Naruto asked with a slightly nervous grin. Maybe he pushed them all a little too hard?

The teenaged girl said nothing. She didn't like being blown up, no one liked getting blown up. So what the hell was he talking about?

"...I'm not too sure what I walked in on. Perhaps I should get a little bit of context for blowing people up?" Kiba Yuuto said as he walked inside the room.

Naruto waved in greeting and then waved off his concerns. "She's just being prissy because I blew her up yesterday."

"Ah...I see..." Yuuto said with slight amazement. So he _didn't_ get the worst of it huh?

"Don't worry Kiba-san. You'll get used to his 'Narutoisms' soon enough, though for the sake of your sanity...I suggest sooner rather than later." Mio said blandly while laying her head down on the table.

Naruto gave her an affronted look. He did not cause people to lose their sanity!

...He just happened to be around of a lot of people that already lost their sanity.

All you had to do was look at his teachers.

Before he could retort to her comment...two more people entered the room and also commented on the situation.

"...Is that what his quirks are called now? 'Narutoisms'? I didn't know that you had an '-ism' named after you Naruto." Rias said with a slight grin. Feeling much better after her shower.

"Ara ara, Buchou! Foxy-kun's quirks deserve nothing less don't you think?" Akeno agreed with a smirk.

The shinobi gave them annoyed looks. They were acting as if he didn't just beat them up yesterday, trying to forget about it maybe?

He was about to try and rectify that by reminding them, until something more important grabbed his attention.

The microwave went off.

His ramen was _done_.

Ignoring the presences of the 'Two Great Ladies' for a moment, he grabbed his ramen from the microwave and began _inhaling_ it's contents as if he was starved.

The whole group stared in fascination as he downed the entire ramen cup in about 3 seconds flat without choking.

While he was doing this, a certain hero went up to Rias and Akeno to ask them a question.

Once he was finished, he wiped his mouth and sighed in satisfaction.

"Yep. Ramen is definitely one of the essentials dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed with a massive grin. Now that's what he called a good breakfast!

Then he felt someone tug on his shirt, trying to get his attention.

"Naruto. You're not hungry anymore, right?" Yuki asked while giving him a weird stare.

He didn't know why it was 'weird'...just that it wasn't exactly a normal stare.

"Well...although I'd like another ramen cup...yeah. I'm not hungry anymore." the shinobi replied.

The hero nodded. "You're also still quite sleepy, right?"

He couldn't help but notice that her stare was getting weirder. But now he could confidently say that her stare was...heated.

Almost as if she wanted him to follow along with what she was suggesting.

Now if only he could figure out _what_ exactly she wanted...?

"Hmm...well I am still pretty sleepy...so yeah. Maybe I should go take a nap?" Naruto wondered aloud, trying to ignore the stare that was trying to bore into his head.

The hero nodded, her eyes seemingly _sparkling_.

"I see!" Yuki said with a slight smile on her face. "Then we should go take that bath, now that Rias-san and Akeno-san have finished their showers."

Naruto thought about that, while he didn't really want to take a shower...now that he had some food in his stomach...

Then he blinked.

Wait...'we'?

"Woah...wait. 'We'? What the hell are you talking about Yuki!?" Naruto asked incredulously, shocked that she could have said that with a straight face.

She merely tilted her head in genuine confusion. "What's wrong? I simply want to wash your back. I was told that taking a bath with a friend would help strengthen that friendship, especially if they washed each other's backs."

The blond took a deep breath, trying to calm his temporarily raised heartbeat. Where the hell did she get these crazy ideas from...?

"Whoever told you that...I'm pretty sure that they meant that for friends of the same gender." Naruto reasoned, making a logical assumption to try and clear up what he hoped was a misunderstanding.

Yuki didn't look convinced.

Looks like the shinobi had to try a different tact...

He turned towards his captive audience, which has once more stayed silent throughout the course of their conversation.

He couldn't really blame them.

"Hey everyone, help me clear this up with Yuki would ya? This is a little embarrassing dattebayo." the blond claimed while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Mio was currently speechless, too stunned to respond to the events happening in front of her.

But the Gremory group wasn't, they began glancing at one another after hearing the whiskered blond's request.

They all nodded towards one another, seemingly in agreement with what needed to be done.

But...why did they all seem to have dark glints in their eyes...?

"It seems that Naruto is a bit confused Nonaka-san...from what I understand about it...taking baths together is often a good way to improve relationships between people." Rias said casually while twirling her long crimson hair.

"...Eh?" Naruto asked with widened eyes.

What were they...?

"Yep! I have also heard that doing it multiple times have bonded people for many _many_ years!" Akeno chirped happily with a sly smile.

They wouldn't...

"...Skinship has been stated to forge lifelong companionships between friends." Koneko said quietly while giving Naruto a dark stare.

No...wait please...

"Um...how do I say this? Please take care of Naruto-san from here on out, Nonaka-san." Yuuto said while bowing towards her.

...Traitors. The whole lot of them.

Naruto cautiously glanced towards the silent hero, she has been strangely quiet...

Her eyes were shadowed under her bangs and she was shaking slightly.

"...I see...my thinking was far too childish...! I should have been more ambitious from the start...!" Yuki berated herself as she turned towards the blond.

Her eyes were practically on _fire_.

Naruto took a step back as he couldn't help but feel the overwhelming _conviction_ behind that look.

"Naruto...in order to improve our relationship further...please! Let's go and-"

"Wa-wait!" Mio cried out, suddenly intensely aware of just what exactly was happening.

Her cry temporarily brought Yuki's attention away from the beleaguered blond and towards the distressed red-head. The hero was interested in what Mio had to add into her growing knowledge of skinship.

When she got the hero's attention, Mio immediately tried to scramble for a way to stop the impending disaster that was about to happen.

Then her eyes lit up.

"Yuki! What everyone said was absolutely correct...but if the other person is uncomfortable with it...then that could damage your relationship with them! Only when two people are happy to take baths together...can they grow closer!" Mio proclaimed with as much vigor as she could muster. Hoping to convince her friend to at the very least delay her request.

Maybe by that time, Naruto could find a better excuse?

Yuki was silent for a moment, contemplating that logic. Before she turned to Naruto in order discern his reaction to that information.

He was nodding frantically at her.

He _really_ didn't want to deal with the possible problems that bathing with Yuki could bring...not to mention how unbearably awkward it would be...

The hero just sighed at his frantic approval of his sister's words.

Friendship was tough.

* * *

After the whole ridiculousness of the morning, Naruto decided to just take the damn shower and wake himself up for the rest of the day.

As he was busy scrubbing himself down, he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something...

The shinobi shrugged his shoulders as he continued to wash himself.

He was glad that Mio managed to convince Yuki to back off of her idea for them to wash together, he had a perverted streak...but he saw Yuki as a friend, not someone to perv on.

He chuckled, he only perved on those that he at least had an interest in, he was weird like that.

Except for the sexy jutsu, but that was _art_ and art was meant to be admired!

He finally finished washing himself and he slid the shower stall door open a little bit to grab a towel.

Naruto frowned.

He couldn't find the towel, did he forget it?

The shinobi shrugged and instead stretched to reach for his clothes, it should've been right on the basket near the shower stall...

It wasn't there.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, he could accept that he forgot a towel...but no way in hell did he forget his clothes...that only meant...

"...Kukuku..."

Son of a...

Naruto cursed internally, berating himself for forgetting one of the most important rules has learned over the past few weeks...

Never let Maria near his clothes!

"...No wonder you weren't at the breakfast table...were you preparing for this exact moment...? Maria!?" Naruto growled at the chuckling succubus.

"My my, Naruto-sama. The simple fact that you let your guard down when I've already warned you...I'm starting to think that you _wanted_ me to steal your clothes!" Maria claimed with a sly grin, while standing in front of the bathroom door.

Naruto pointed at the grinning silverette in outrage. "Bullshit! Who the hell wants their clothes stolen by somebody after a shower!? Give it back before I hit you with my soap bar!"

Maria grinned and wagged her finger. "Threats won't work Naruto-sama! Not when my revenge of the pranks that you've pulled on me must still be avenged! Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to get back at you for that steak? Well...now that I have my chance...be prepared to lose your dignity!"

"You...! What the hell is your plan here...!?" Naruto demanded.

The half-devil gave him an enigmatic smile for a moment.

"Naruto-sama...the entire time I have known you...I have never seen you embarrassed...did you know that?" Maria asked with that same smile adorning her face.

The shinobi stared at her warily, unsure of where she was taking this.

She then pointed at his face. "So I've decided Naruto-sama...that I really _really_ want to see that face! Even if I have to make you so embarrassed...that you won't be able to show your face in public ever again!"

Naruto was now gaping at her. Evil...she was pure evil right now.

"To that end...for my revenge and for my desire...I have stolen your clothes and hid it somewhere in the mansion! Unless you want to stay in there forever...you have to leave in order to get some clothes! Ample opportunity in order for someone to catch you in your birthday suit!" Maria cackled with glee.

Evil was an understatement...!

"Now Naruto-sama...! As a succubus...I can't let this opportunity slip by! Let me see your cute flushed face filled with shame!" Maria exclaimed while whipping out her videocam.

He _knew_ he should have destroyed that thing when he had the chance...

"...This was a very well-thought out and evil plan Maria..." Naruto admitted grudgingly, unwilling to give her _any_ praise.

The succubus beamed at the compliment and puffed her chest out in pride. "I know right!? Not even you can get out of this one Naruto-sama!"

Naruto said nothing for a moment, just staring at her.

Then he grinned.

"Now...I didn't say _that_."

"...Eh?" Maria asked, sounding unsure for a moment. There was no way he could manage to find a way out of this right?

"... _Henge_." Naruto said quietly while making a hand seal out of her sight.

The blond erupted into a small plume of smoke, covering his features.

Maria widened her eyes, was he trying to use that smoke to cover himself as he searched for his clothes?

But before she could do anything meaningful, the smoke cleared up and revealed...

...Naruto.

Except he was wearing clothes.

"What!? But...but...!" Maria protested in shock.

Naruto merely shrugged, better men and women have tried to get revenge on him for his pranks...

None of them succeeded.

He leisurely patted the succubus on her head in sympathy, it was a good shot. But it simply wasn't enough.

"...My...my future montage..." the succubus muttered losing the strength of her legs.

Naruto almost felt bad for her, she was seemingly devastated.

Almost, like hell he would be subjected to something so bad that he'd be embarrassed to show his face in public.

* * *

By this point, almost everyone was awake and accounted for.

Everyone has already eaten breakfast while he was out and Yuki has finally taken her shower, so it was about time for everyone to get back to work.

...At least Naruto thought so.

"No way." Rias said bluntly. She was concentrating on reading her book at the moment.

"Huh? But the entire point of this trip was to make yourselves stronger Rias-san! So why dodge training?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face.

Rias gave the blond an annoyed stare. Did he _really_ have to ask?

"Naruto...I think you may have temporarily broken their spirits." Yuki said quietly while waiting patiently on the table.

The shinobi blinked, did he really?

Rias didn't say anything, unwilling to accept her overwhelming loss.

She was known as the 'Crimson-haired Ruin Princess' in the Underworld...her _queen_ was known as the 'Priestess of Thunder'...

They had such titles and yet they lost to a boy that was younger than them...hell...they lost to his _clone_.

Maybe it was because they were so used to being on top of the food chain to most people...but the loss stung most of them, deep inside.

It wasn't just her and Akeno; Yuuto and Koneko were both brainstorming for ways to improve.

They were _all_ trying to think of new ways to compensate for their failings. Mostly because their pride demanded it...but partially because just like her...her Peerage wouldn't accept such a beat-down so easily.

So it wasn't a loss...it was a temporary setback so that they could re-align their priorities for dire situations in the future.

Yeah...it wasn't a loss at all.

But until they were ready to train like that again, they decided to rest a bit.

Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance, he couldn't really fault that logic. Better that they take time to think about their weaknesses in their fighting styles rather than ignore his words.

"...Fine. But now that I've helped you out, can you help out Mio with her magic? You don't have to work your body or anything too stressful with just that right?" the shinobi asked, curious to see if Mio could advance her skills.

Rias thought about that while tapping the spine of her book, it was true...magic didn't require too much physical exertion. It only required an understanding of it's functions as well as the imagination to utilize it to it's fullest effects.

"...Alright. That's fair. Although I have no idea what energy your sister utilizes in order to power her magic..." the high-devil trailed off, wondering what supernatural being she was.

Maybe that might give her a clue in finding out what Naruto actually was.

Naruto glanced at Mio, who was sitting down next to Yuki on the table. She returned his glance with a steady nod, sure that the little sister of the current Lucifer could be trusted by now.

This permission in hand, Naruto feigned ignorance and widened his eyes at Rias. "Eh? You don't know? I thought that you'd know a devil if you saw one Rias-san!"

The Gremory snapped her neck towards her fellow red-head, shocked at this revelation.

"...I am the product of a devil and a human Rias-sempai. Is it really so shocking that I hid my identity?" Mio asked dryly, partially telling the truth.

Although part of her motivation was because she didn't want to spread around such dangerous information...like being _that mans's_ daughter. She also liked to think that Rias-sempai could be trusted with such information and that she was helping her out by _not_ involving her with her own problems.

Mio could hope.

Rias thought about that, it made a type of sense...from what she understood of her kouhai, she didn't like making trouble. Rather, she preferred to live a peaceful existence and got upset whenever her brother did anything too crazy or involved her in something without her knowledge.

She should know, Mio has been _very_ specific whenever they talked to one another about their...'brother' issues.

The high-class devil then frowned, that wouldn't explain why Naruto would involve her with this then... _why_ train Mio in using magic?

Naruto _was_ involved in the fallen angel incident...so maybe this was an extra precaution against any retaliation?

Either way, she liked Mio. So helping her out was definitely something that she wasn't opposed to.

"I see. Well that makes things easier then." Rias claimed as she closed her book and stood up from her seat. She then motioned for her fellow red-head to follow her as she turned to leave the table.

Mio blinked, she guessed that it was time to focus on magic huh? So she quickly moved up from the table and followed Rias to begin her training.

The shinobi nodded in satisfaction, now...what to do now that almost everyone was taking a break?

He turned to face Yuki, who was sitting down and relaxing herself and gave her a questioning glance.

She understood immediately.

"As much as I'd like to spar with you Naruto, I have to contact my father. He wanted to know if you would accept his apology, so I have to tell him about the fact that you forgave him." the hero said with a small smile.

"...That I 'forgave' him is a bit too strong I think. He just isn't on my shit-list...for now. Make sure to tell him that." Naruto replied with a huff.

Yuki didn't respond, she just continued to offer him her smile. That _would_ be something her friend would say.

How cute.

So she got up and walked away to her room in order to call her father.

Naruto pouted and turned to see if there was something else he could do. He saw that Maria still hasn't recovered from her failed attempt at getting back at him...so she was out.

The Gremory team as a whole was busy as well...

Issei was probably still knocked out and Asia was probably with him...

...

Fuck it. He was gonna go and train a little. Maybe when he got back...there'd be something to do.

So he left the room so that he could gather some supplies and leave the mansion.

* * *

Once he was back inside the forest, he laid out his fuinjutsu scrolls onto the floor.

It was a little too much to train like last night...way too eye-catching. So something like practicing his fuinjutsu was probably best for now.

He stared at the assorted mess on the floor, fuinjutsu...according to ero-sennin it was probably one of...if not _the_ most flexible things to learn.

As well as the most difficult.

But it wasn't _that_ hard as he got into it, it was pretty easy to make explosive notes as well as silencing seals. But while those kinds of things were useful...it wasn't anything like the truly crazy shit that he wanted to do.

One of the things he wanted to learn? It was one of the first things that he has ever seen done with fuinjutsu...

Trapping an element into a seal.

He saw it done back when he was a kid and the Akatsuki attacked him for the first time, when Itachi and his partner escaped...they left behind black flames.

Amaterasu.

Ero-sennin used that type of fuinjutsu to trap the flames inside a scroll since they were so dangerous...but that got Naruto thinking.

What if he could use that for fighting purposes?

He _knew_ how to seal things inside scrolls already...so he just needed to test that formula out and tinker with it, eventually he'd get it right.

He just hoped he didn't blow himself up in the process...

So he took out his brush with ink and began spreading out a small scroll, he began writing the kanji necessary for a _Fūnyū no Jutsu._ (Enclosing Jutsu)

After a moment of concentration, he finished the small seal and allowed for the ink to settle for a moment before continuing. It's been a while...but he remembered that there was a space left open for where the fire went with ero-sennin's seal...

The ordinary _Fūnyū no Jutsu_ had that as well...but the problem was...how was he going to allow for an element to enter the seal instead of something solid, like a kunai, or shuriken?

It was times like these...that he wished that he payed more attention to ero-sennin in his fuinjutsu lessons...

He shrugged his shoulders, what are you gonna do sometimes? Best just give it a shot and hope for the best!

* * *

Mio was staring at her sempai's hand, it was holding her signature type of magic...

The Power of Destruction.

"This Mio-chan...is the Power of Destruction. A powerful ability that has been passed on through my family which allows me to destroy almost anything...as long as the power behind it is superior to whatever it's touching anyways." Rias stated dryly, annoyed at how she's been questioning _everything_ about her own abilities ever since yesterday's debacle.

Mio nodded, interested in such a potentially powerful ability.

Rias continued. "Now...considering that Naruto took you and your friend Maria for training as well...I can assume that you have a basic idea of how magic works?"

"Yeah...you have to use your imagination and make it take form right?" Mio asked with slight uncertainty, she wasn't entirely sure that she got it right.

The Gremory nodded in approval. "Good. So you know the basics. But did you know...while practicing makes it easier for you...that there is another way to help you with making magic?"

Mio's eyes trained themselves on her senior with intensity, eager to learn if there really was some secret way to utilize magic. It would be really helpful for her down the road.

Seeing how eager that Mio was to learn, Rias decided not to keep her waiting. "Alright Mio-chan...a better way to help form magic is to-"

 ***BOOOM***

An explosion rocked the mansion which shocked both red-heads from their current topic at hand.

Rias quickly got up from her chair and rushed towards the window, where she saw a decent-sized trail of smoke that was coming from the forest.

Mio didn't bother to get up, she knew _exactly_ who caused that...she just wished that he was able to refrain from blowing anything up for a little longer.

The older red-head turned around and gave her kouhai a sly grin. Ready to tease her about the incident.

But before she was able to, Mio cut her off.

"...Please Rias-sempai...just don't. I'm already suffering from this as it is." the half-devil claimed as she placed her head onto the palm of her hand.

Rias pouted, she wasn't able to have some fun poking fun at little Mio-chan? That's a shame.

But at the very least, she could poke fun at a certain blond once he got back...a bit of ammunition in case he ever decided to use that... _incident_ yesterday as a joke in her presence.

She returned to her seat next to Mio and decided to restart the lesson now that she was sure that they weren't under attack.

"Alright Mio-chan...while imagining how your magic will look like is the basic thing to do...an easier solution would be to have some sort of inspiration." Rias explained with a patient tone.

The half-devil wasn't entirely sure what Rias meant, an 'inspiration' could be many things.

"...Ok. Look at it like this. Instead of trying so hard to form something in your mind...try using something that you've already seen and use _that_ as the base for your spells. The important part is forming it in your mind...sometimes having a pre-existing image is better than making a new one." the high-class devil said as she expanded her explanation.

Mio stared at her sempai in fascination. Using something else as a base huh...?

Her thoughts drifted briefly towards the beautiful little ball that she watched Naruto practice with last night...

* * *

Throughout the rest of the day, several more explosions would rock the mansion as something...or _someone_ was blowing up repeatedly.

Eventually, almost everyone at the very expensive summer home of the Gremory became used to it.

Except one specific individual.

"...Damn it! Why can't I get this damn seal right!?" Naruto howled as he was blown up once more by the faulty seal.

The shinobi was working on this seal for almost the entire day, practically taking up all of his time with this one complicated use of fuinjutsu.

He thought he had it all figured out! Make a couple of extra kanji to allow for flames to be sucked into the seal...allow for a space inside the scroll for where the flames would enter...make sure that the scroll itself was protected by making sure that the function would allow for a suction...

But for some reason...it all led to him getting blown up multiple times!

Seriously! Did he make some sort of strange new exploding note or something!?

He looked around with a sour face, just to see how badly he messed up the forest...

The area around him was nothing but a charred wasteland by this point...explosive notes were no joke after all. Even Koneko-san didn't really face the full brunt of them, he just used them to clip her with the explosions, max.

These poor bunch of trees didn't stand a chance.

His ears twitched when he heard a slight ruffling, someone was coming.

Naruto looked back to see that a certain nun has found him, wonder what she wanted?

"Ah! I found you at last! Naruto-san!" Asia said brightly as she panted a little. Out of breath maybe?

The whiskered blond sent her a calm smile in return. "Yep, it's me. What do you need Asia-san?"

Now that he thought about it...he has never really talked to Asia-san personally before now hasn't he? At least not without it being about her healing abilities.

Maybe it was about time that he actually found out more about the nun?

Asia nodded and then proceeded to bow towards Naruto. "I thought that you might be hurt from all of your training...so I wanted to thank you for all you've done by healing you."

Naruto gave his fellow blond a weird look. "...For what exactly?"

"...For saving me. For saving Issei-san. For training him. For...many things really. I know that this isn't much but...this is the best I can do." Asia replied earnestly. Truly grateful of the whiskered boy's actions, despite not being aware of it at all until recently.

The shinobi just gave her a cheesy grin. "Heh. No need to thank me ya know? That's what a true badass would do after all. Besides...to take all of the credit would be kinda stupid."

It was true that his actions was what saved the young girl in front of him, but the perverted boy was the one who brought those actions into motion. If he hadn't told Naruto about what was going on...then he might have waited another day before attacking the fallen angel stronghold.

Too late to save an innocent girl from a cruel death.

Asia nodded, she knew about that. "I know, and I've thanked Issei-san so many times because of it...but i never thanked you until now. So...thank you."

Naruto felt slightly embarrassed at her earnest response, it was _weird_ to be thanked so many times at once. He was almost not too sure what to do.

Man...Issei was seriously lucky to have this little saint by his side huh? He was lucky to have such a bond.

The shinobi's expression darkened a little...

"...Hey Asia-san." the shinobi muttered, gaining the nun's attention while doing so. "Did you know that Issei wants to protect you? With everything he has?"

Asia looked confused, she had a feeling that her savior was doing something like that...but why bring it up?

The whiskered blond noticed her confusion and pushed on. "It's just that...that kid will definitely face trouble in the future. Whether it's from a super powerful threat that we don't know about yet or something else...he will definitely need to have people who can back him when those times come."

The nun was staring up at her fellow blond in fascination, seemingly clinging on to his words as he continued.

"To be blunt, I won't always be here to help him get stronger. Eventually, I won't be able to help him like when we saved you...while I'm not as worried about Rias and her group...or any of the others since they are already at least somewhat trained...Issei isn't."

Naruto stopped to look up into the sky. He had to go back home one day...maybe not exactly soon...but he definitely had to go back. He would try to prep these people as much as he could before he left, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't find another way to go back home in the meanwhile.

Someone like Issei reminded him of his past self...except much worse. He had much less to back up to if cornered, much less to aspire to, much less power, and much less creativity.

If someone decently strong came up and they were powerful enough to at the very least hold off Rias-san and her Peerage...then the kid was a sitting duck.

But he had one advantage that Naruto didn't have back then...

He had a true comrade to call his own.

Naruto didn't really form bonds with the rest of his age group until after his closest friend left the village.

Sakura-chan didn't really become a truly valuable teammate until after he returned to the village.

Kakashi-sensei was rarely there for the critical battles in his early shinobi career.

Issei had the Gremory group, but they were similar to his original team 7 by this point.

But...he definitely had Asia.

Asia would definitely come running if he was in trouble. While it may not be much since all she could do was heal for now...the fact that she would come at all was something major to the blond shinobi.

He knew how much someone's belief in another person could spur that person on...after all...his father believed in him. Ero-sennin believed in him.

He had to go back and complete their goals.

"Asia-san. I want you to protect him as much as he protects you." Naruto said finally.

All was silent after he made his declaration, nothing was said as the young girl's little fists clenched the charred grass on the former forest floor.

"...I'll do my best. Naruto-san."

That was all he could really ask for.

The shinobi then snapped his head towards the forest and stood up to guard the now confused nun.

Someone was there.

It was a split-second...and very _very_ faint...but it felt like someone was there.

"Asia! Where are you Asia!?" a certain perverted boy cried out from the forestry.

Naruto's shoulders drooped with excess energy, what the fuck? It was just Issei?

Then the blond frowned, no...whatever that was before the perverted boy arrived...it didn't _feel_ like Issei. But he didn't know _what_ it felt like either. It felt like...something.

It was the annoying feeling you get when you _know_ that someone or something was there...but you couldn't find it.

Like a fly just out of sight.

...But maybe he was just too paranoid. He'd better stop before he got everyone else around him paranoid as well.

So he placed a grin on his face and awaited the arrival of his newest pseudo-punching bag.

For his sake of course.

As expected, Issei came out of the shadows of the forest and spotted his target.

Then he saw who she was with and paled.

"S-shit!"

"Yo Issei! Ready to get back to work?" Naruto asked with a grin, enjoying the look of horror on his face.

He sometimes wondered if he had a slight sadistic streak...or whether it was just his pranking side getting rejuvenated in these non-stressful times.

Issei for his part, was trying to think of a way to get out of this situation. He probably had to take Asia off her feet in order to get away...but he needed a distraction...

He found one.

"Hey look! It's a UFO!"

"WHERE!?" Naruto cried out as he turned around to find the illusive aliens. He watched a documentary on them once in class! He wouldn't let them get away this time!

As he was distracted, Issei scooped up the thoroughly confused Asia and booked it out of there. Thank you for being an idiot Naruto!

Suddenly feeling like he's been duped, Naruto turned to find his two companions gone.

"...Son of a bitch." the blond muttered as he glared towards where Issei ran off, how dare he trick him into thinking that aliens were back? He'd pay for it!

Naruto jogged after him, allowing for the perverted boy to wear himself out in the chase...he'd have his shits-and-giggles by exhausting him in some pseudo-training...running from the shinobi.

Who said that he wasn't a good teacher?

* * *

By the time that he got back, it was pretty much night time again. Geez...maybe he took his training too seriously?

Either way, Yuki was still preoccupied and most of Rias-san's Peerage were still doing...whatever they were doing.

He had no idea what Maria was up to, much to his discomfort.

But at the very least he knew that Mio and Rias-san had finished their training session.

When the group returned to the mansion, the high-class devil turned to greet them...

Then she paused.

"...While I know that you have his best intentions at heart...shouldn't you treat Issei a bit more carefully, Naruto?" Rias asked with dull eyes. She was referring to the exhausted pawn who was barely keeping himself from falling over.

Naruto bashfully scratched the back of his head, he had too much fun. He was moving slowly enough to give the kid hope that he could get away...but was moving fast enough that he had to move at his max speed to keep himself at a good distance away.

Boom! He's just been trained without him knowing about it!

Mio glanced at the perverted boy and then turned towards Naruto in amusement. It was funnier to see the results of his antics when she wasn't caught up in them.

Asia was poking at the nearly unresponsive Issei, seeing that her tactic wasn't working, she turned to the whiskered blond with teary eyes.

Naruto felt like he was looking at an abandoned puppy.

"Can you please help me take Issei-san to his room?" Asia asked politely, but her eyes were practically begging him to do so.

He'd feel like such an asshole if he said no...

The shinobi sighed, accepting his fate.

After he was done with this, he'd probably go and start his real training deep in the forest again. A good way to unwind anyways.

"Who knew you had such a soft spot...eh Naruto?" Rias asked rhetorically, smirking at the blond. Before standing up from her chair, ignoring the scowl from the male blond.

"I think that I'm done for today, hopefully Mio-chan can utilize her abilities better from now on. We practiced a little bit before you arrived, so don't go to bed too late ok?" the red-head finished as she yawned a little, she then turned to leave the room and head to bed.

"Ah. Wait, before you go Rias-san. I need to ask you something." Naruto said seriously after getting over what she was teasing him over.

She stopped and turned back towards Naruto, a questioning look on her face.

"...Is it possible for someone unwanted to get inside this area around the summer home?" the shinobi asked, needing to find out if he was going insane or not.

The high-class devil frowned, a very odd question.

"It's impossible for anyone to enter the area owned by the Gremory...unless they have permission. If not, then I would have been notified immediately due to the massive barrier in place." Rias responded, curious as to why the teenaged boy would ask such a question.

He didn't elaborate.

"Ah! Thank goodness! Just making sure! Have a good night." Naruto said with a smile, before grabbing Issei's limp body and helping the teen to his room.

Rias stared after him for a while, before deciding to accept Mio-chan's words of advice.

'...Just accept it. It's better for your sanity.'

* * *

The moon was out.

Blue eyes was staring at the pretty orb floating in the sky, giving him the light to see properly in the darkness.

But he wasn't here to stare at the moon, he was here to work.

Now if only a certain someone didn't come along with...

Mio was with him...again. For some reason, feeling the need to stay with him while he was training.

He's already sent a bunch of clones to concentrate on their wind chakra exercises as well as their fuinjutsu training.

"Hey Naruto! What's with the clones and those exercises with their feet?" Mio asked, tone laced with curiosity as she watched several batches of clones continue their work.

"...They're learning how to emit wind ch-...uh... _energy_ outside of the soles of their feet." Naruto clumsily admitted, almost revealing something he didn't mean to.

The red-head noticed but didn't question it.

"Why would they need to do that?" his 'sister' asked, seemingly acting like a student in class.

"So that I could learn how to fly, of course!" the shinobi exclaimed without shame. He didn't need to fly to be a badass!

Mio stared at him for a moment, before something emerged out of her back.

Bat wings.

"...You mean like this?" Mio asked innocently.

"...Are you making fun of me?" Naruto asked with a dull expression on his face.

The red-head just continued to give him an innocent expression, seemingly not understanding what he was talking about.

But the fact that her wings were flapping ever so slightly...helped him to realize that her innocent face was bullshit.

"...You know what! I'm not even jealous! You know why!? Because wings are sooooo old-fashioned!" Naruto called out with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

Mio's face, once the epitome of innocence...darkened immediately.

"Wh-! What do you mean old-fashioned!?"

Naruto chuckled darkly. "Everyone has wings Mio...you are a dime-a-dozen. But me...I'm unique! I will be able to fly on the winds alone! While you get to fly on your stupid wings, like people has been doing for thousands of years!"

The red-head said nothing, she just stuck her tongue out childishly at the blond.

Naruto retaliated.

"Blegh!"

"Bleeeegh!"

"Bleeeeeeegh!

""Bleeeeeeeeggghhh!""

Some could wonder if they were really young adults or not.

After a while, they both stopped after realizing how childish they were acting. The young half-devil sat back down while her 'brother' went back to work.

Like last time, he was focused on his signature technique.

His goal?

Learn to use the _rasengan_ with one hand.

He could make an incomplete one with one hand, but not one at full power. It would make life so much easier if he could accomplish that.

His end goal for this wasn't just to make _rasengans_ without a clone however...it was to help him in making larger and more powerful variants of the jutsu. So far, he could use up to the Ōdama Rasengan...but he once had a talk with ero-sennin about the _rasengan_...

 _"Hey ero-sennin! Come on! Teach me some more jutsus already! I need to get much stronger dattebayo!" a childish Naruto demanded of his teacher._

 _An older man glared at the obnoxious boy in orange. "Can it you brat! Why the hell would I teach you more jutsus...when you haven't even mastered the ones you got!?"_

 _The younger Naruto blinked at this. "Whatcha mean ero-sennin? I've mastered all of the justsus that I have already, you crazy old fart!"_

 _Jiraiya's eye twitched at the insult, but ignored it in favor of smacking the boy upside the head. "Maybe the other jutsus...but not the rasengan! You've barely scratched the surface of that! Hell...you can't even do it with one hand!"_

 _"...I've barely scratched the surface of the rasengan? I don't get it. I thought the regular version was all that there was to it." Naruto asked while scratching his head._

 _"Well you're wrong brat. The rasengan uses shape manipulation in order to control dense chakra into a continuous maelstrom of energy...what happens when you add more power into it, Naruto?" the great toad sage asked with an inquisitive eyebrow._

 _Little Naruto closed his eyes in concentration, his face taking the characteristics of a fox._

 _Then his eyes snapped open._

 _"It would get a lot stronger right!?"_

 _"WRONG!" Jiraiya shouted while bopping his apprentice upside the head._

 _The young boy petulantly glared at the older man as he soothed the bump on his head._

 _"Remember Naruto! The rasengan requires a balance of rotation and power! Too much of either and the jutsu would destabilize! The rasengan would probably just blow up with too much power into it...you are literally spinning extremely dense chakra into a small ball after all." Jiraiya explained while giving the boy a smug look, obviously seeking to be idolized for his deep explanation._

 _"Oh...ok I get it. Well then...what's the best that you can do, ero-sennin?" Naruto asked in curiousity._

 _The great toad sage just grinned. "With my full power...I can make the Chōōdama Rasengan! With the size of it...I can destroy average-sized mountains without a problem!"_

 _He was neglecting to mention that he needed Sage Mode to do that, but he wanted some respect._

 _"Bullshit." Naruto replied bluntly while picking his nose in utter disrespect._

 _"...Why you damn brat!"_

 _"Better than being a stupid pervert!"_

Back in the present, Naruto smiled at the memories.

But he shouldn't dwell.

He now knew that the size of the _rasengan_...much more than anything else...helped define how powerful it was. From what he heard while at Mount Myōboku...ero-sennin needed Sage Mode to use that variant of the jutsu.

But Naruto? He had the sheer chakra to pull it off.

But he needed more practice with the regular _rasengans_ first...to practice getting both steps of the jutsu for larger variants. He would have to start with it by himself, it was a personal thing.

Mio was staring at the blond as he was contemplating on what to do. Taking note on just how seriously...as well as how far he was taking his training.

But something was nagging at her, deep inside as she watched her 'brother' go through such lengths. Why would he...?

"Naruto." Mio said quietly, the statement broke the blond out of his trance in order to glance at her.

Before he could even ask what was wrong, she asked her question.

"Naruto...why do you try so hard for? What pushes you to keep going?" Mio asked, wondering...

What inspired him?

The shinobi blinked at the question, before giving her a grin. "Why? Well...it's for the sake of those who I consider precious of course."

"...Precious?" the half-devil asked in amazement. That was...such an incredibly nice thing to refer to someone. As someone _precious_...like some sort of diamond that one would guard with everything they have.

Naruto nodded. "Yep! I have people that I have to protect, no matter what. So I have to get strong enough to protect all of them with the strength that I have...but the strength that I have isn't enough yet. So I will continue to train until I'm positive that I can protect everyone that I care about."

Mio stared at him, wishing to ask more. Wishing to learn more about the enigma that was near her.

What he wanted wasn't too strange or interesting in of itself, it was more... _how_ he said it and how he referred to phrases that most people used...like _loved ones_ for example.

Most people wouldn't call their loved ones _precious_...

The total belief that the blond said his words was what really made them extraordinary.

"...Precious people...like you Mio." Naruto said quietly, a soft smile adorning his face. Warm eyes giving her a clue on just how _honest_ his words were...

...Oh dear.

She felt her face flush, that was possibly one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to her.

She couldn't bear looking at the blond's impossibly blue... _so blue..._ eyes any longer. She turned away in a huff and stared off into the forest.

The shinobi was confused at this reaction, but shrugged his shoulders. He never really understood the other gender very well.

All was silent for a while as the whiskered teen focused on his training again and kept creating _rasengans_ with one hand...or sometimes two hands.

All the while his 'sister' was staring at him again from the side of her eye.

...She wanted to say something. No...rather she _needed_ to say something. Something she should have done far more often before.

Maybe that little tidbit about the blond inspired her to try and share a bit of herself to him, or maybe this was just long overdue.

Either way...

"Naruto...can I confide in you for a moment?" Mio asked seriously, prepping herself for a very serious admission.

The shinobi stopped his training again, willing to listen to whatever she had to say. Especially when considering how serious she sounded.

"It's about...what happened with my parents. I'd just like to talk to you. You don't have to say anything...just listen...please." the teenaged girl asked quietly.

Naruto nodded solemnly, eyes urging her to continue.

"...When my parents were killed by devils, I was intent on hunting down those responsible and making them pay..." Mio began, referencing the fact that her parents were killed by devils.

"But I couldn't, the people who killed my parents weren't people who were a part of an evil group of villains that were plotting behind the scenes…they were mostly civilians..." she continued, trying to ignore the painful feeling welling up inside her heart.

"People who lived life normally as devils and just so happened to hate the last child of Lucifer as well...I just couldn't do it." she said, before stopping. The emotions were beginning to overwhelm her...the lumpy feeling in her throat was beginning to become overwhelming.

She felt someone place a comforting hand on her shoulder, pulling her into his embrace.

She found the strength to continue.

"So after a while...instead of living for some purpose...for some goal...I just began living for the sake of living. Staying alive for the sake of staying alive. No real purpose...I just kept living...for no reason. Afraid to connect with others...even Maria." Mio said quietly, gripping the blond's clothes tightly in her emotional state.

"...But then you came along Naruto..." she continued, the lump in her throat and the gripping feeling on her heart...lessening as she continued.

"You were...so weird. You were seemingly random, not a bad person by any means but...still strange. I couldn't really get a handle on you. But...you were just so easy to relax around. It was strange. I never met someone who by sheer _presence_...could make someone relax. After a while, I began to want to be around you, seeking that soothing presence in order to ease my own pains. But it wasn't just your presence...your personality...it was just so lively and happy that...I couldn't help but laugh along with your antics." Mio admitted, releasing all of her pent up thoughts and emotions from the past weeks.

"...But along with those happy feelings, you also invoked something in me that helped me realize...just _why_ I didn't reconnect with anyone after my parents died. It was because I was...afraid that they would leave me too...like my parents were taken away from me. I was afraid that you would as well. It was because of you...that I was eventually even able to connect with Maria...now I'm afraid that something will happen to her someday as well...I'm just...scared...Naruto."

She felt his grip on her grow tighter the farther she continued. Encouraging her. Holding her tight as she went on a roller coaster of emotions throughout her explanation.

"But no matter what, you were never worried. You always face whatever comes by...I see that now. From the stories you told me about the fallen angels, to your training session with me, to your own right now. To be perfectly honest...I'm jealous that you could do something like that. But...I wanted to thank you for all you've done. For letting me live life rather than just drift on in an empty existence. I still don't really have a goal or meaning in life...but...at least I can smile again."

She looked up to face the blond with a smile. Teary, messy, and thoroughly crooked because of the tears...

But _true_.

"…So thank you…thank you for giving me the chance to smile again."

Naruto said nothing for a moment. He just started to rub her back in comfort, and then slowly began to turn towards her face.

He smiled. "Of course. We're family right? That's what family is supposed to do."

Mio looked up at him..family...

Yeah...that sounded about right.

Even if they weren't connected by blood like a real pair of siblings...they were still family.

"...Yeah. Family." Mio said quietly, pushing her head into the blond's clothes. Feeling relieved that she got that out of her chest.

Naruto looked up into the sky as she did so, wondering...

...What would he do...when he had to go back to the Elemental Nations?

He had to go back...but this girl...

His eyes hardened. He had to tell her eventually, the truth.

He had to make her understand why.

But more importantly...

He had to find a way back to this world once he returned to his original world.

He wouldn't be leaving her behind...that was a promise.

* * *

It was morning again.

Naruto hated the morning even more than last time.

He had even _less_ sleep than before.

Once more though, Mio knocked out shortly after their heart-to-heart. He supposed that stressful admissions could do that to a person.

Now that he thought about it...he received a lot of thanks yesterday. That was a fun bit of trivia...

Ah...his mind was wandering. Too tired.

He was beginning to nod off while Mio was in the shower, before _something_ happened.

The shinobi blinked, as a magic circle appeared on the ground. A silver color...

He shrugged and went back to his happy place...on the table with his head tucked in-between his arms. A comfortable position whenever he wanted to sleep in class.

Then he heard someone step out of the circle, not that he cared...way too tired.

He heard that person walk up to him and poke him.

He hated that feeling, especially when he was nodding off. It always brought him back to life for a second.

That and Yuki always did that to him.

He glared up at the very pretty maid. "...What do you want?"

Not at all nonplussed at the rude question, the stoic maid spoke. "I'm looking for a teenaged girl named Rias Gremory, do you know where she is?"

The blond said nothing, not at all worried about why a maid was looking for his comrade or about why she spoke her name in such a strange way. She did say that no one un-authorized could enter the area right?

So she must have been authorized.

"...She'll probably wake up shortly. Just wait with me for a second." Naruto mumbled as he placed his head back into the comfortable crevice of his two folded arms.

The maid said nothing as she walked around him and sat down on another chair, seemingly taking his advice.

All was silent for a moment, before Mio came walking out of the shower with her pajamas. Not seeing the need to wear something else when in the presence of people she was growing comfortable with.

She saw the blond and was about to greet him...

Until she saw the downright beautiful maid sitting in a chair, seemingly gauging her as well as Naruto.

...She missed something important again?

She decided to just let it slide as she sat down next to Naruto, who was busy trying to fall asleep.

She poked him. "Hey Naruto...what's with the-"

"...Why do people feel the need to poke me all of the damn time." Naruto mumbled incoherently, trying to ignore everything the red-head said.

She sighed, he wasn't much help.

Then her fellow red-head appeared from her room, yawning comfortably. She had a really nice rest, she's been super relaxed by the rest yesterday. She was ready to get back to training.

She noticed Naruto and Mio sitting near each other and was about to greet them cheerfully.

Then she saw who _else_ was there...and her good mood suddenly evaporated.

The maid noticed her as well.

"Ojou-sama...we need to talk."

* * *

 **AN: Welp, that's a wrap. We are now obviously moving forward to the Riser Arc. This will be my first attempt at trying something new for a canon storyline...that isn't just about shifting characters or the motivations due to new ideas. This...in a sense will play out similarly to the canon, but the difference will be in how the problems are resolved, how quickly, and more importantly...the side-effects of how it was resolved.**

 **Tell me what you think once it's done. plz ^.^**

 **Also, just a side-note. I'm working on a little side-project. A one-shot regarding my fav Naruto pairing ever. Of course it ins't possible in the canon storyline but...I still love this pairing to death. I'm gonna release it sometime in the next two weeks and I hope some of you will check if it's any good or not. No pressure, just a hope ^.^**

 **Lastly, there were some reviews that need to be answered I think. Some were guest reviews so this is the best way to respond.**

 **Q: Will Naruto get smarter? Ans: No, he's already overwhelming enough as an MC. Anymore and he will be a Gary Stu. Being somewhat ignorant of school-based knowledge or other things is a perfect foil to his otherwise sterling record as a fighter. He needs some kind of weakness ya know? .**

 **Q: Ecchi moments? Ans: When romantic feelings are confirmed then yeah, but not until then unfortunately. :P**

 **Q: More Maria! Ans: Not really a question...but I can't just solely focus on Maria ya know? Gotta spread the love. Before it was reasonable because I couldn't concentrate on her since the action was mostly taking place in Kuoh. Now it ain't, but still .**

 **Q: Chapter 16 was wasted on training... Ans: Not a question but nope. This was necessary to shift everyone, especially the Gremory group's way of thinking. Now there is something viable to point to where characters are going to shift in their power-ups. It's necessary to allow for future growth damn it! It may seem wasted, but it's better than just saying that they trained and then revealing that they shifted from a training session that the viewers nvr saw! That was very rude btw...made me super sad for a bit .**

 **Lastly to the recent review by Azure Balmung...that's what you would do. Not what Naruto would do. Don't place your values on other people just because you think that it's reasonable. That isn't what Naruto's character is. So it does make sense...just not to you. A big difference. Seriously, this is a guy who didn't kill Pain after he killed off two of his teachers and destroyed his village. .**

 **Alright, think that's it. Cya at the next chapter!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	18. Chapter 18

Yuki stared up at the ceiling, contemplating about the two pieces of news she has heard from her father yesterday. The first piece helped exacerbate into another issue entirely and the other...was more disturbing.

It seems that word has gotten out that her father has apologized to her friend, Naruto. It wasn't exactly a state secret, he _did_ ask her to apologize to the blond in an area that wasn't sound-proof or entirely secure.

It didn't change the fact that _someone_ was eavesdropping though.

When there was already much unrest among many heroes about the current leadership of the Hero Tribe...this information only exacerbated the situation.

The 'Great Hero' _didn't_ show weakness to an outsider. They represent the will and strength of the Hero Tribe as a whole.

At least that's what many irate heroes claim, whether they were just looking for a reason to agitate or whether they were being honest was something that Yuki couldn't help but wonder.

Her father was relieved that Naruto had forgiven him, but due to the unrest, he gave her a warning...

 _'Stay vigilant Yuki-kun. I'm sure I don't have to tell you...but during these uncertain times...not all heroes are going to be your friends. Choose your friends wisely and stay safe...my daughter.'_

"...Don't worry otou-sama...I will." Yuki mumbled out loud, she _knew_ that there was one person that wouldn't betray her trust...

...Unlike _him_...

She shook her head, unwilling to get caught up in bad memories of times past. She had to focus.

Focus on the illness that was seemingly taking hold of her faction...the Hero Tribe.

...

From what she understood, many among the Hero Tribe have become...aggressive against the supernatural factions in general. Forgetting that fighting against the supernatural was their secondary objective when compared to fulfilling their true mandate.

Protecting humanity.

Yet some heroes were acting out, arguing that since the devils have invented the Evil Piece System, they have been growing in strength and should be taken down before they are allowed to grow any further. Not to mention that many saw the system as inhumane, since many high-class devils take their new 'servants' by force rather than through mutual agreement. Something which rankled even the most peace-loving heroes...

Such as herself. She knew damn well that the Gremory were among the _exceptions_ rather than than the _rule_ of how devils got Peerage members.

Nevertheless, many heroes have been arguing that instead of remaining on the defensive against these issues, that they should aim at the ultimate solution...

 _Genocide_.

A solution that a...disturbing amount of heroes began to see as the ultimate answer to their problem with the supernatural factions in general and the devils in particular.

Yuki shook her head, where were these ideas and beliefs coming from? Why were they spreading around like wildfire among the rank and file?

More importantly...what could be done about it?

The young hero sighed, mentally exhausted from the strife that was going on in her head. No matter how she thought about it, there was only one thing she could possibly do about the issue at hand.

Prove the detractors _wrong_.

Show that not only it is possible for devils to be good people, but that they can coexist alongside humans.

In short, she had to keep doing what she was doing. Leaving those who knew more about what was going on inside the Hero Tribe to those who were currently leading it. Worrying unnecessarily about what was going on would do nothing except stress her out.

...But there was another problem, besides the internal strife inside the Hero Tribe. The _second_ piece of news from her father, something that she wasn't aware of until now.

The Hero Tribe was losing contact with some of their long-standing agents across the planet.

According to her father, several heroes that have either retired from active service or were undercover heroes such as herself, have seemingly lost contact with the main tribe. All attempts at finding most of them have failed.

...That meant that whatever was happening, _she_ could become a possible victim of these recent strings of disappearances.

As she said...disturbing information. It was obvious why her father was so cautious about who she should trust.

Yuki combed her hair back in her frustration, she had no idea _what_ was going on.

Too little information, too many questions, practically no answers.

She placed her head down on the comfy bed that she was laying on, she's been thinking about the issues all night. Her fatigue was beginning to get to her now.

Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt, this was a safe area under Rias-san's control after all, right?

So she closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep and rid herself of the accumulating stress of the past day.

* * *

When Rias woke up today, she expected that she would have a humorous morning filled with the funny antics of the occupants of this mansion.

What she didn't expect was to see the thoroughly stoic woman that was her brother's _queen_.

"...Ojou-sama. Where have you been? Why aren't you at Kuoh Academy like usual? More than that, who are these people?" the stoic woman asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

She wasn't happy.

Mio looked between her older friend and the maid warily, unsure what to do in this situation. Were they _not_ supposed to be here?

"On-... _Grayfia_! What are you doing here!?" Rias exclaimed, she was so shocked to see her sister-in-law here that she almost referred to her in an inappropriate fashion while she was on-duty as a maid.

Grayfia gave the Gremory heiress a stern stare. "I've come to inform you about the planned engagement."

Rias' eyes widened. "What!? But I thought that the engagement was supposed to be held off until I graduated university!"

The maid would have responded, but she noticed that they had a bit of an audience by this point. Whether they were trustworthy or not, they were not allowed to listen in on personal business of the Gremory family.

"...Ojou-sama. From what I understand, most of your Peerage members aren't aware of your engagement. So perhaps we should take your Peerage and continue these talks elsewhere."

The red-headed teenager glanced at the uncomfortable Mio and the practically unconscious Naruto. She didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble for either of them...so perhaps it was best that they continued their talks somewhere else.

"...Fine. But I'd like to leave my newest _pawn_ here for now. He's unconscious from the training he has done yesterday and I would prefer that he gets some rest." Rias stated. The rest of the Peerage had no such excuse, so they would be going with her.

"That's fine. I will meet you in your headquarters at Kuoh Academy, we will speak more over there." Grayfia replied, before a magic circle enveloped her form and whisked her away from the mansion.

All that was left was silence after she left.

"...Rias-sempai. If we are causing you trouble here, then maybe we should-" Mio tried to say, before getting interrupted.

"Nonsense, you are all my guests in this summer home. This is just an...issue that I have been quarreling over for a while now." Rias claimed, a comforting smile playing across her lips. Reassuring her kouhai that everything was fine. "We will be back soon, so please try to keep your brother from destroying the house?"

Mio smiled. "Of course. You can count on me."

The older red-head smiled in approval and turned to wake up the Peerage members that would join her for this...interesting discussion.

The younger half-devil watched her friend leave to wake her Peerage members up, all to address a bizarre issue that she wasn't aware her friend had...

Engagement? As in an arranged marriage? Was there _really_ such archaic things in modern devil society?

She glanced at the knocked out blond on the table, he seemingly fell asleep soon after the maid; Grayfia, appeared.

She supposed that he had every reason to, he must be exhausted...but he sure did have bad timing when it came to falling asleep. Maybe he might know what to do about the situation?

Well, from what she heard, nothing was going to be decided yet. It wasn't like this would be solved today or tomorrow. So they could ask about what happened later.

For now, best to just be patient.

Too bad though, she was hoping that she could spar with Rias-sempai today. Looks like she'd have to ask Maria then.

She left the room, wondering how to ask her eccentric guardian for a spar.

Unbeknownst to all of them however, a certain shinobi wasn't as unconscious as he seemed. Although to be fair, he was getting dangerously close to that.

He managed to keep himself awake during the minor back-and-forth between the maid and Rias-san, but like Mio, thought that he couldn't really do anything about it...yet.

He wasn't sure about the 'whys' or the 'hows' behind the engagement, but he was aware of just how _not_ happy the Gremory heiress was about it. That was what really mattered here. But unlike most issues he dealt with...he couldn't really afford to just punch his way through the problem.

He also doubted that he could preach to her family about just how _not_ cool their actions were.

After all...if they wouldn't listen to their own damn family member about the issue, then he doubted that an outsider like himself could make a dent in their beliefs.

That left one option...finding out how the stupid thing could get cancelled.

But he couldn't do that until Rias-san _talked_ to him about it. So at least for the moment...he couldn't do much.

It was after he figured that out, that his exhaustion finally hit him hard.

Alright...well...since he couldn't do anything about the issue at hand until the high-class devil returned from her discussions...he may as well just sleep until then. Not like everyone else needed him to babysit them.

He could afford some time for himself.

So he closed his eyes, mercifully allowing his tired mind to rest for a good chunk of the day.

* * *

Soon after Rias left to wake her Peerage up from their rests, they left via magic circle back to the Kuoh Academy club building. Their expressions would let anyone know just how seriously they were taking the issue at hand.

Although, when Naruto actually woke up from his nap, he didn't expect for practically the entire mansion to be _empty_.

After regaining a sense of his surroundings and getting rid of the blurry drowsiness of his sleepy state, he looked around to find that the mansion was seemingly empty of life.

He frowned, he remembered that Rias-san was having a meeting with that maid and that most of her Peerage went along with her...but where did everyone else go?

He looked around for clues of his allies' whereabouts, and quickly stumbled upon one such clue.

To be specific, a note.

 _'If you see this note, it's likely that me and Maria haven't returned from our sparring session. We are training in the forest and plan to stay there for most of the day. Last I checked, Yuki was knocked out and so was the pervert. Although I don't know when you will see this note, can you check up on them for me? Make sure that Yuki is ok and I can't really trust the pervert with Asia-san...'_

Naruto grinned at the note, Mio was such a worrywart sometimes.

Although he could understand why she was worried about Asia-san at times. He did have a record that most females wouldn't appreciate.

With this new knowledge, he got up and stretched his arms, enjoying the cracking noises that arose from the action. Time to check up on everyone.

First up was Yuki, he headed straight to her temporary residence in the mansion and knocked on her door. He learned from experience to never open the door to a girl's room carelessly.

Bad shit tended to happen.

After waiting for a second or two, he knocked again, with more force this time.

He waited for a little bit longer before announcing his entrance and opening the door.

What he saw was expected.

Yuki was laying on her bed, seemingly knocked out. Although he noted that she didn't change to her sleeping clothes at all, did she fall asleep by accident?

He let out an indulgent sigh, she even forgot to put on her blanket, she must be freezing...

So he quietly walked up to her bedside and grabbed the bed cover, pulling it slowly over the young hero's form. The shinobi grinned, she was completely out of it.

He silently left her room, making sure to quietly close the door behind him.

So Yuki was fine, but what about Issei and Asia-san?

He ventured forth, intent on finding the unlikely duo and whether they were doing ok. Honestly though, they were probably fine. Issei seems to act more gentlemanly around her...to a degree anyways.

The blond knocked on the brown-haired boy's room, waiting for a response. After he received none, he cautiously opened the door, half-expecting it to be filled with...'magazines'.

After a quick look around, he determined that the 'magazines' were hidden, but also that the two people he was looking for weren't here.

Naruto sighed, Mio wouldn't like that. But like he said, he trusted the teenaged boy enough to leave Asia-san's safety a priority.

Nevertheless, he decided to look for them just in case anyways, maybe he could help them out with whatever they were doing?

So he left the mansion and headed towards the forest, intent on finding something to help him kill time until Rias-san came back.

* * *

"...What is your wish my _king_?"

"...To kill a dragon and to claim my prize, like the fairy tale stories of old. It seems that fortune has smiled upon me again now that the Gremory girl has left, a truly perfect opportunity."

All was silent for a moment as the two shadowy figures stopped speaking, one waiting for her _king_ to give his command.

He did.

"The magic circle is set, transport on my mark and make sure not to stray too far away from me...the gift that I've received from my master won't work if we are separated. Keep your target occupied for as long as you can muster, with your life if necessary. Don't disappoint me...or else."

The other figure bowed her head in submission, she learned to never disappoint her _king_.

His punishments would make many beg for death.

"My life is yours..."

"...Then we shall go."

* * *

Naruto was currently jumping from tree branch to tree branch, moving at a casual pace while enjoying the feeling of the wind pushing against him.

It's been a _really_ long time since he has relaxed while tree-hopping, kinda like back at Konoha.

Although he was relaxed while moving around in the forest, he was out here for a reason. To have some fun with Issei and Asia-san!

He was bored.

Anyone who knew anything about Uzumaki Naruto...would know that a bored Naruto...was a dangerous Naruto.

So this was in everyone's best interest anyways.

However, just because he was relaxed, it didn't mean that his natural-honed instincts were dulled in the presence of any danger.

Something he just learned.

Then Naruto stopped his movements, locking his legs in place to stop himself form moving to another tree branch. Eyes widened as he sensed something.

That _something_ being that feeling that he has been getting all throughout this training trip.

 _Someone was there_...

The shinobi's head snapped towards the ground as he felt multiple sources of killing intent, that was all aimed at him.

Sneak attack!?

Not wasting any time, he moved away from his spot on the tree branch on to another branch, all in an effort to dodge the magic bullets that smashed against the place he was standing just a second ago.

The second he landed on the other tree branch, he focused on the situation.

Such as...

"...How the fuck did they get in here?" Naruto mumbled to himself, thoroughly confused at how these obviously hostile individuals got here.

Rias-san said it herself right? _No one_ should've been able to enter this area without permission.

But while that was a pretty serious question, he had a bigger one.

...Why couldn't he couldn't sense them?

He couldn't sense them at _al_ _l._

That should be impossible...yet the only reason he was able to react to their attacks in time was because of their killing intent.

Even _that_ was dulled considerably when compared to normal...

He couldn't ponder the question further as more magic bullets smashed into his current position, forcing Naruto to jump to another tree branch once more.

This was beginning to get annoying.

But he knew where they were attacking from now, since he was paying attention to the source of their attacks this time, so time to take the fight to the enemy!

He jumped away from the tree branch he was standing on to the trunk and used it as a springboard towards where the intruder's attacks were coming from.

He obviously surprised the attackers, since they did not have any sort of defenses set up for him to break down.

Perfect. Just how he liked it.

Without bothering to look, he brought one of his attackers down by pulling on their large cloak and sending them crashing into the ground as he finished his own descent. Using the momentum of his jump to slide away from the rest of that person's comrades.

He took this chance to check on what exactly he was dealing with.

The first thing he noticed was that most of the people in front of him were wearing long cloaks to cover their features, giving them a mysterious appearance to go along with their slightly unnerving ability to avoid detection.

The second thing he noticed was that there was one specific individual who _didn't_ follow along with what seemed like the standard uniform of this group. Naruto couldn't help but notice just how... _fancy_ this person's clothes were, as if he or she was going to go to some important event rather than fight.

For all Naruto knew, they probably were. Wouldn't be the strangest thing he has seen before.

But unlike the cloaked group of people, this person wore a black mask that completely covered their facial features from view.

The only thing he was able to see from the person's face...was a set of orange eyes that gave him a stare that the blond was all too familiar with.

A patronizing stare, eyes filled with nothing but disgust as they stared at the shinobi as if he was worthless trash in their eyes.

He already wanted to clock this guy.

"...Who are you people. What do you want? How did you get here?" Naruto demanded from the group, a stern look on his face.

If possible, the assumed leader's eyes became more poisonous.

"...You don't have the right to speak to your betters like that...human trash."

The shinobi tilted his head, a slow smirk beginning to form on his face. "...Careful there buddy. Keep going and I will ram my foot up your ass in compensation for each and every insult that you throw."

The masked person then turned to their comrades, ignoring the blond's words entirely.

"...Hold him off. My enhanced magic won't protect you from here on out. Don't fail."

The cloaked figures saluted the masked individual, then a magic circle appeared under the leader's feet.

Naruto's eyes widened. This feeling...!

It felt like those times before...when he thought that someone was watching him! Was this that person? Then that meant that every time he _thought_ he felt someone...it was just this person who was using a magic circle.

If that was true, then no wonder he couldn't catch this person. The second he noticed this guy's energy signal, they would already be transported away.

This realization helped the mysterious leader of the group escape, as Naruto was too shocked by the newly found information to properly stop him in time.

That was so ridiculously annoying, that he didn't really have words for it.

A moment of silence reigned as the shinobi contemplated on what to do, they were holding him off...but for what reason?

"Hey. Do any of you mind telling me about your friend's plan?" Naruto asked genially, hoping to catch a lucky break with his unorthodox questioning.

He was disappointed as all of the cloaked warriors charged at him with dark intent.

Well, he should be used to this he supposed.

* * *

On another, completely separate part of the forest, Issei and Asia were training.

Well...to be more precise, Issei was training. But Asia was training in a sense as well.

The brown-haired boy came up with a new idea due to his experiences of hell-training recently, all thanks to the demon-disguised-as-a-human; Naruto.

After getting thoroughly physically exhausted through the many exercises he has been pushed to do, he noticed how many times Asia has healed him. The perverted boy couldn't help but notice how easily she healed wounds, as if they weren't there to begin with.

If he received a _lot_ of physical stress, then he would still be tired despite Asia's healing abilities. But what if Asia kept healing him constantly instead of when he needed it!?

It was brilliant! Sheer brilliance! That way he could push his body to the limit without dying everyday!

An unintentional side-effect of his use of Asia's powers to help him out, was that the muscles that he was tearing apart from training would get reformed even faster than usual. Allowing for his body to essentially keep rebuilding itself after every heal.

Asia for her part, was more than happy to help out Issei, admiring how far he was going to get stronger. Her constant use of her healing powers was also helping out her stamina as well in the long-run, although she wasn't thinking in such terms.

Basically, it was a pretty successful training method, despite how clueless both individuals were in accordance to such things.

But the training was about to come to an abrupt halt.

Issei was wiping his arm across his forehead, getting rid of the sweat that was beginning to get to his eyes. Taking in the soothing feeling of Asia's Sacred Gear was the best.

"Are you sure you want to keep going Issei-san? Maybe you should take a break?" Asia asked worriedly, unsure if the brown-haired boy could take this for much longer.

For Issei, compared to Naruto's training...this was a hell of a lot easier. He was literally just doing several sets of those exercises that the blond recommended when they first started training the other day.

Fifty push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, and several other exercises...

Several sets of them.

Naruto was a demonic sensei.

But unlike the thoroughly merciless Naruto, this time Issei had Asia to help him out. All of that horrible pain that he suffered when he finished a set could now be healed. The pain he has come to expect from a merciless eraser...won't be thrown his way now that the blond was napping at the mansion!

His own style of training!

He _was_ serious about this...he just didn't want to die everyday, preferably.

"Nah Asia, I'm too tough to get a break. I can handle this." Issei claimed, showboating in front of a girl was something he always wanted to do.

His first real chance at doing that.

She got all starry-eyed at his boast, thoroughly impressed by his show of determination. It helped recover some of his lost self-esteem which has been brutalized from Naruto's relentless training.

He would try to enjoy the moment as much as he could, like a monster from a scary book...he had no idea when the blond would find them.

Then he heard the rustling of leaves.

Ah...shit.

That was totally him wasn't it?

"...Damn it Naruto. I was totally hoping that you would give me a break. Just let me and Asia train together instead of the usual 'sessions', ok?" the perverted boy asked while turning to face that rustling bush. Assuming that the only one who would intentionally find them would be the blond.

While it was a safe assumption when considering the information he had, it was incorrect.

Someone wearing what looked like a masquerade mask that covered his entire face, emerged from the underbrush and faced the unlikely duo.

Issei's eyes narrowed in suspicion, who was this guy? He's never seen this guy here before...

He quickly moved in front of Asia, determined to protect her if the guy in front of him tried anything.

"Hey! Who the hell are you? What do you want?" Issei asked harshly, despite his strong front though...he was getting a little unnerved by the mysterious man's silence.

The masked man said nothing, he simply raised a hand towards the duo.

"I want nothing more than what I deserve. You are in the way." the man said simply, before a green magic circle appeared in front of him and launched an orb of magic towards them.

Light flashed in front of Issei's eyes, as a deadly magic attack soared towards him at incredible speeds.

He didn't think.

He immediately turned around and caught the female nun behind him into a hug, using his own body to protect her from the incoming attack.

All he knew was that there was a blinding flash behind his eyelids as he clenched them shut.

He felt nothing for a moment, seemingly safe from the attack, as if someone had saved them from a terrible fate.

He cautiously opened his eyes, hoping that Naruto had managed to save them again like back at the abandoned church...

But all he saw was an orb of magic that was floating in front of his face. Motionless. On standby.

And cruel amusement that danced in the masked man's eyes.

Before he snapped his fingers.

"... _Disappear_."

* * *

Naruto had a dilemma, he had no idea where the masked guy went and he wasn't able to sense him unless he used that magic circle again. No idea why that magic specifically...but that was the case for the moment.

So he needed information. Information that he had no doubt that this group had.

Problem was, the longer that he took while beating up these people, the longer that the other guy would have to complete his objective.

The shinobi wasn't very fond of that idea.

At least there was some good news though, the second that the leader of the group left, was the second that for some reason...he could sense this group's energy signal again.

Their _demonic_ energy to be specific...devils huh?

So maybe the masked person could cover up energy signals? Maria could do something similar...but this one was far more extensive and seemingly affected this guy's comrades.

So one minor mystery solved, about ten more to go.

The cloaked adversaries started the battle off in excellent fashion by spreading out all around him, intent on attacking him on all sides.

Two intruders charged at him, moving in to attack him using hand-to-hand combat from opposite sides.

The shinobi casually brought his left arm to block the fist that was sailing towards his head and his right arm to block the foot that was heading to his hips.

All without taking a glance.

While the two cloaked figures were stopped in their tracks, two more cloaked figures moved to attack him from behind while he was distracted. Utilizing their fast speed to catch him unaware.

But this plan was foiled as the low and high kicks from the two attackers were dodged by jumping in-between both attacks.

As he was in mid-air, he grabbed both of his initial assailants from their fist and foot respectively and twisted his body around, allowing for the momentum to do his bidding rather than using his own strength.

With that momentum, he swung both intruders towards the faster pair and let go, allowing for them to smash against on another and send them all towards the ground.

All without him actually having to fight yet.

Hopefully they all got the point of what he did.

"Look. You're all outmatched here. Just tell me what I want to know and you all could leave here peacefully." Naruto reasoned, hoping that the group would see just how outmatched they were in every way.

The only reason he hadn't outright knocked them all out was because he had no idea where the hell this bastard was. He could be anywhere in this damn summer home and using clones would take too long to find him.

He _needed_ this information.

"...You won't be able to convince us to stop. We would never betray our _king_. We live to serve him." one of the cloaked individuals spoke quietly.

This was the first time that he heard any of their voices. Their distinctly _feminine_ voices.

"So you won't talk huh? Then I'll have to make you talk." Naruto declared, he would have to take out a couple of these cloaked women in order to intimidate some to talk.

Then he felt it again.

His head snapped towards another area of the forest, just like the magic circle...he _barely_ sensed the usage of energy.

He could take a guess that he used demonic energy as well.

But just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared. There was no way that Naruto could have pinpointed where the energy came from.

But he knew that the bastard is somewhere in the forest...when Mio, Maria, Issei, and Asia-san were in the forest.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He couldn't waste time.

Thinking that he was distracted, one of his adversaries created a magic circle and aimed to hit him.

Big mistake.

Faster than her eyes could have seen, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of her.

" _Enough_."

The shinobi smashed a fist into her stomach, faster than she could have reacted and harder than she could have handled.

Spittle came flying out of her mouth, mixed in with a little blood as she lost consciousness from the blow and fell over to the forest floor.

One.

All was silent as the blond stood up from his crouched position and moved to address the rest of his enemies.

But before he could, the who spoke for the group before, spoke again.

"You won't stop us with words Uzumaki Naruto. We won't stop. We will never stop. Even if we should all die here, we will accomplish our duty." the cloaked woman claimed, as the rest of her comrades prepared to attack all at once.

Naruto shook his head, a shame. But he really couldn't play nice this time. His friends could possibly be in serious danger.

So once more, he showed his true colors.

Before any of them could have reacted, he disappeared in a burst of speed and _attacked_.

He reappeared behind one of his enemies and chopped the back of her neck, efficiently knocking her out.

Two.

Her comrade in front of her noticed his presence and tried to create a magic circle to bombard him with magic bullets.

But before she could send the spell towards him, he climbed the falling body of his last victim and pushed himself from the body to send him towards his next target.

He smashed her face with both of his feet and sent her down towards the ground.

Three.

A pair of cloaked figures were charging at him, intent on attacking him as a unit instead of as separate entities.

As the two closed in, the shinobi charged them in return, seemingly about to face the duo head-on.

But right before they reached him, he jumped over both of his adversaries and pushed his feet towards their backs, causing them to smash into the ground before they even knew what hit them.

Five.

He wasn't done yet.

Another intruder came towards him with a fist raised, but it was redirected by the blond by slapping the arm away from it's original trajectory. Allowing it to keep going, but to a different target.

The target was one of her comrades, who was moving in to help and received nothing but a punch for her trouble.

As the woman covered her broken nose and the other tried to turn in order to engage the blond again, they were both surprised to instead feel hands grip their heads...

Then for those hands to smash their heads together.

Seven.

Naruto quickly hit the deck, as a high kick went soaring over him from another of the hostile females.

As he was on the ground, he made a handstand and pushed his body up towards the airborne enemy. All in order to smash his knee into her jaw.

Eight.

Turned out that she was a distraction, as _five_ of his cloaked enemies rushed him with the intent of smashing him into the ground while he was in his vulnerable state.

Unfortunately for them, he wasn't vulnerable at all.

As the group entered the range for close-combat, he continued his handstand and twisted his body to allow for his body to spin on place, like a prepped top that was about to be unleashed.

Then he spread his legs out as much as he could...

Finally, he spun his body around like a twister, allowing for the feet to smash against the faces of his standing enemies. Sending them all onto the ground in a heap.

Thirteen.

One left.

Once he finished his maneuver, he stood up and stared down the remaining member of the group. Intent on making her talk.

She didn't look intimidated or upset at how he just defeated her comrades.

Instead, she just created a magic circle and shot magic bullets at him.

He didn't even bother to dodge, allowing for the attack to hit him as he strengthened his body with chakra. The attack doing practically nothing to his body as he stalked forward towards his only conscious enemy left.

She once more, didn't appeared afraid at all.

Although it could just be that her cloak shadowed her eyes, preventing him from being sure.

As he kept moving forward, she created a larger and more powerful version of the same magic circle as before. Trying to stop him.

But before she could even try it, he threw a punch towards her face.

The punch never landed.

It stopped right before it could connect, but the force behind it was strong enough to smash the tree behind her and throw off the hood that was covering her face.

It was a warning.

But that wasn't what Naruto was concentrating on at the moment.

He stared... _he stared_ at the woman's face, seeing something inherently _wrong_ with it.

At a casual glance, she seemed to be quite the attractive young woman. Someone any straight male would be proud to be with.

That wasn't the issue though.

...Her eyes.

What was wrong with her eyes...?

The shinobi swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at her thoroughly and completely _dead_ eyes.

There was nothing in them.

No hope.

No peace.

No _life_.

Just... _emptiness_.

"...What happened to you...?" Naruto asked quietly, trying to stop the growing dread in his stomach. Trying to stop himself from thinking too deeply about what this woman went through to get eyes like _that_.

The woman was silent.

Then she smiled.

"Master's punishments are well-deserved."

Something in Naruto _wept_ at the woman's words.

"...Please tell me where this guy is. You don't have to listen to him anymore. I promise." Naruto stated quietly, trying to suppress the anger that was building inside of him.

The woman smiled again.

"...There is never any escape. Master loves me. Even in death. So I will do my duty, as I was born to do." she said quietly, before pulling out something from her cloak and putting it into her mouth.

The blond's eyes widened, he moved to stop her, heart in his throat as he saw the woman's eyes dilate and then roll to the back of her head.

Then she fell over.

Dead.

Just like that.

Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared at the corpse in front of him.

She just...committed suicide.

He looked around at the bodies of the cloaked warriors that he has defeated, were they like this woman...?

His eyes widened in alarm.

His friends were in _grave_ danger!

Not only that, but he had no idea where this masked guy was!

He only had one choice left...

" _Tajū Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Several explosions of smoke erupted around the shinobi, clones erupted from the smoke and spread out towards the forest around them.

All with one order.

"I don't care what you have to do...just find everyone and make sure they're safe!"

There was too much at stake to fail!

* * *

Issei gasped as he felt immense pain all over his body.

The explosion was small, but he power behind it was massive to the brown-haired boy, he couldn't move at all...!

"Issei-san!" Asia cried out, she moved forward and began healing his wounds with her _Twilight Healing_.

The perverted boy sighed as he felt the pain beginning to dull, he was never so happy that Asia was there.

He looked around, trying to figure out where they were.

They were still at the initial training area...

That meant that...!

"...My my. What a useful Sacred Gear you have. That will be useful in the future. But I think you are looking at that boy a little _too_ passionately..." the masked man observed, before he began walking towards the two.

Issei snarled and tried to get up, determined to not let this guy anywhere near Asia. The healing was doing the trick, healing him up and allowing him to fight again.

The brown-haired boy then raised his left hand, calling on his own Sacred Gear...!

A red light engulfed his hand, a small red gauntlet appeared over his hand... _Twice Critical_.

"Alright asshole! You asked for it!" Issei called out, he hoped his training was enough for this...!

Now!

 _Boost!_

Issei felt his strength multiply. The power coursing through his veins...! He could do this! He could actually-!

A fist smashed him across the face, sending him flying to an adjacent tree. Causing him to crash and make a large dent into it.

Blood came seeping out of his mouth as he felt the his cheek bones give way to the attack.

...What was that? Was that the masked guy? He couldn't tell...everything felt fuzzy...

...

Was someone screaming his name? So hard to hear...

These thoughts were all going through the head of the wielder of _Twice Critical._ But unfortunately, he didn't have time to think.

Mere moments after the attack, the masked man appeared in front of him again, tilting his head as he regarded the nearly motionless form on the floor.

"...Is that it? Is that _all_ you had? Well then...it's a good idea I didn't use any magic. Wouldn't want the other human to locate my position...but I'm almost disappointed in how easy this was. Maybe I should inspire you a little more...?"

Issei barely understood him, he was just _that_ far gone.

But he heard his next words.

"...Do you know why I am torturing you? Why I want to give you such pain?"

He didn't. He didn't understand at all.

The masked man continued, as if the young teen actually asked him.

"It's because I take pleasure in seeing certain individuals in pain. The looks of utter _anguish_ as they realize that they don't have a way out. The look of _fear_ at how _easily_ I could break them. The look of _shame_ as I defile them...! It's just all so...entertaining _!"_

 _What...?_

"But even more than that...it's the sheer and utter _hopelessness_ that I get when they give up on ever finding happiness that really gives me the goosebumps! It's just so... _exquisite_...!"

...What was he...?

"...I look forward to seeing that look on little Asia's face. Don't you? So seeing her beloved like this...is a good place to start."

Issei's eyes shot open.

His mind's eye remembering Asia's seemingly broken body on a cross.

Remembering the hopelessness of watching someone truly _special_ taken away from him.

"...Don't..." Issei mumbled quietly, gripping the ruined forest floor with stressful energy.

The masked man tilted his head. "Don't what? Don't do this to little Asia? No way, I will enjoy riding her as long as I can you know?"

The teenaged boy said nothing, he only silently dragged his battered body up to a crouching position.

'... _I look forward to seeing that look on little Asia's face...'_

"...I won't let you..." Issei whispered, something inside him _breaking free_ as he spoke.

"...Hah? Won't let me what? Maybe you've gone mad? How pathetic..."

Issei's eyes locked towards the masked man.

 _Furious eyes._

"I won't let you fucking touch her...!" the teenaged boy declared, the gem on his Sacred Gear began to brighten, as if responding to his emotions.

Never again...!

He can't watch her suffer like that again...!

The green glow on his _Twice Critical_ began to expand, the light enveloped his hand as his will and desire to protect someone he cared about grew stronger.

...He _wouldn't_ let her suffer like that again!

 _Dragon Boost!_

With a red aura beginning to swirl around him, Issei charged at him again. If he could just get one punch in...!

But the masked man merely twisted his head, a mocking look in his eye as he raised his leg and smashed his foot into the beleaguered human-turned-devil.

This sent Issei to another tree, nearly breaking it on impact.

"Why bother? You may be strong for a typical human...but you are as weak as a typical low-class devil." the masked man mocked, grinning at the pain he has caused.

The brown-haired boy got up again, ignoring the pain, taking a quick second to check if Asia was alright.

What he saw shocked him.

She was bound up on a tree, held up like a prize to be taken at someone's leisure.

 _Boost!_

Feeling new-found anger rush inside him, he charged the masked man again, wanting just one hit...!

Issei's adversary merely created a magic barrier, using it stop the teenager's approaching punch. The casual maneuver meant to instill into the young teen one thing.

Hopelessness.

"Face it. You are far too weak to stop me. It's _over_." the masked man mocked, while keeping his hands away from the magic circle to show just how much he was taking this battle seriously.

Not at all.

Issei gritted his teeth. Hopelessness was beginning to envelop him, the man in front of him wasn't trying at all! Issei wasn't like Naruto...he couldn't stop him. If only he could get one punch in...!

But he couldn't. He was too weak.

Always _too weak_.

Then he remembered something.

Words from what felt like a lifetime ago.

His eyes sharpened, it may seem impossible...but this guy wasn't taking him seriously...so maybe...

"...Hey asshole." Issei said quietly, practically whispered as he tried to do what Naruto would do.

Try a tactic.

"What? Going to beg for mercy?"

The young teenaged boy shook his head, instead he grinned at his enemy.

"A certain someone once said to me...that nothing is over until it's over..." Issei started.

 _Boost!_

A stalling tactic...!

Issei's grin grew. "I just have to say that I prescribe to that philosophy!"

 _Explosion!_

The teen's gauntlet seemingly grew on the boy's hand, enveloping his entire left hand as he felt new-found power overwhelm his senses.

Just enough for this...!

The magic circle which seemed so impenetrable before, immediately cracked under the new-found strength of the young man.

Then just like that, it shattered under the stress.

The masked man's eyes widened.

How!?

He wasn't given enough time to react, as Issei charged at him with his fist raised.

"Fly you son of a bitch!"

Then smashed it into the masked man's face, sending him flying into the forest and smashing him into a tree, breaking it in half.

Just like that, Hyoudou Issei defeated the masked man.

"...I...I did it...!" Issei breathed, shocked that he managed to win.

But he couldn't celebrate. First things first.

He dragged his tired body to Asia, who was wiggling around in her restraints on the tree. Trying to talk from the bound on her mouth.

The perverted boy wanted to admire the pure perverted gold in front of him, but he figured that this wasn't the time for it.

He immediately freed her from her restraints and hugged her, deliriously happy that she was safe.

"You did it Issei-san! That was incredible!" Asia exclaimed with sparkly eyes.

Ah Asia...if only he had such assurance in himself.

"Yeah...I really did it didn't I? I guess that I can become something worthwhile if I keep this up." Issei said with a smile.

Looks like everything would be fine now. All they had to do was get back to the mansion and have someone deal with that sick bastard properly.

"...Did you think I was dead?"

Issei's eyes widened. No way...he put everything he had into that punch!

The masked man emerged from the dark forest, a furious look in his eye as he glowered at the newest devil.

"...How dare you...how dare you hit my face! You will pay...! Do you hear me!? YOU WILL PAY!" the masked man howled, before creating another magic circle.

But this one was _far_ more powerful than anything he threw so far...!

No...there was no way that Issei could stop that!

"You won't be able to stop this attack! Die like all scum should!" the crazed man screamed out as he prepared to fire the attack.

Then something _happened_.

Before he was able to fire the attack, a _blond_ blur sped towards the unsuspecting intruder with a deadly attack on his hand.

"He may not be able to stop it...but I can!"

All eyes snapped towards the source of the voice.

One set in fear.

The others in elation!

...Naruto!

The masked man immediately canceled his attack on the brown-haired boy and created new magic barriers to stop Naruto's attack.

Naruto sped on through, sailing from the sky onto the one who truly deserved this attack in spades!

 _"Rasengan!"_

The blue orb smashed through each and every magic barrier that was created to stop it. Soon enough, it reached it's intended target.

The masked man's _face_.

The _rasengan_ quickly ripped through the material of the mask and began _grinding_ onto the mysterious man's face.

He immediately let out blood-curdling screams as the attack pushed forward into his face, ripping apart skin, muscle, _bones_.

The explosion was the finishing touches to the most horrible pain that the man has experienced in his entire life.

The attack sent him spinning back into the forest, smashing him into _several_ trees and creating a human-sized crater when he landed.

Naruto landed in front of the pervert and the nun, making sure that their adversary couldn't attack them.

"Issei! Asia-san! Are you two alright!?" Naruto asked quickly, making sure that his two comrades weren't hurt.

"Ye-yeah...we're fine. Thanks for the save, Naruto." Issei responded, immensely glad that the blond came in time to save them.

"Incredible Naruto-san! You beat him in one hit!" Asia cried out, amazed that her fellow blond was so strong.

Normally, the shinobi would grin at this praise. But the close-call put his nerves on edge.

"Hey Issei, I don't know what you did to piss him off, but good call. If he didn't make that charged up magic circle...then I wouldn't have found you guys." Naruto explained quickly, peering into the forest to make sure that this guy didn't try anything funny.

"...Yeah well...I'm learning from someone who is pretty damn good at pissing people off." Issei said dryly, but thankful for his words nonetheless.

The shinobi didn't respond, he sensed the usage of magic again...

Then it disappeared.

He got away.

"...I don't know whether to be angry or thankful..." the blond muttered, feeling intensely mixed feelings about the man's escape.

He couldn't sense him without his use of more powerful magic and since both Issei and Asia-san were essentially easy-pickings...they would be hard to defend. Even with clones, since they would have to react to attacks they couldn't sense unless he used killing intent.

But on the other hand...he got away and escaped his comeuppance.

...He had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last they saw of him though. So he'd deal with the bastard later.

"Issei. Asia-san. We're going." Naruto said, quickly grabbing both of them and speeding off back to the mansion. Ignoring any and all protests along the way.

He wanted to get out of the forest as soon as possible.

* * *

The second that the trio arrived at the mansion, they were met by the remaining occupants of the summer home.

"Naruto! We got here as fast as we could when we sensed that foreign demonic energy! What happened?" Mio shouted out in worry, noting the grim look on his face as he carried a battered Issei and a worried Asia.

"I'll explain everything in a minute. For now, I want _everyone_ to get inside the mansion. We have an intruder inside the summer home." the shinobi explained quickly while making a beeline towards the confines of the building.

"Huh!? But Naruto-sama, what about our training? Surely you dealt with the issue right?" Maria claimed with a befuddled look on her face. Why was Naruto looking so spooked?

Yuki was staring at her blond friend, worried at how he was acting. Naruto wouldn't get like this without good reason.

"...I don't know why you are acting like this, but I trust your judgement. Let's get inside, everyone." Yuki said with conviction.

Naruto sent a grateful glance towards the hero.

Uneasily, the group moved back inside the mansion. Many of them, unsure about what exactly was wrong.

Naruto for his part, needed to make sure that everyone was safe and accounted for. If that masked man was still out there somewhere...then it was better for all of them to stay at one place and in a secluded area.

As an extra precaution.

He _needed_ to make sure that they would be safe in here from now on.

Like a father that heard that there was an attempted break-in to his house while his children were there, he needed to make sure that his friends could safely leave the mansion again.

For his own piece of mind as much as theirs.

As he was leading the group away, his clones were scouring the forest. Making sure that the area was safe again.

He would have a talk with Rias when she returned. Her summer home was compromised.

* * *

The masked man reached his home via magic circle.

He was clenching his face as he stumbled across his mansion to reach the bathroom, needing to see the extent of the damage that was done.

When he reached the bathroom and looked at his face on the mirror, the extent of the damage became clear.

The entire left side of his jaw had it's skin ripped off, leaving nothing but bloody muscle and bones.

Not only that, but the entire left side of his jaw was _hanging_ , as if the joint that held the jawbone to the lower part of his skull had been _obliterated_ from that attack.

The damage was too extensive, too thorough. Whatever that attack was, it disintegrated the bones that he needed to replicate through healing magic in order to fix the damage.

He was _mutiliated_.

Diodora Astaroth stared at his mutilated face with insane eyes, repeating one phrase in his head repeatedly.

' _You will pay Uzumaki Naruto...you will PAY!'_

* * *

 **AN: Well, that just happened. Bet very few of you expected who it was. Bet even fewer of you expected it to be a big deal.**

 **This is what I was talking about, small differences in canon could make a big deal. Including the dark scheming of a twisted fuck like Diodora. Especially since Asia is still human.**

 **But how did he get inside the summer home? Why couldn't Naruto sense him without the use of extensive magic? What's going on at the Hero Tribe?**

 **So many questions to torture you with. Turns out that I'm pretty evil.**

 **Anyways, definitely the Riser Arc begins now. But expect stuff like this from now on, I will do my best to show the shifts in canon by revealing new events that happen before, after, or during important events in canon due to the shifts that has been made.**

 **Lastly...I did say that it won't always be sunshine and roses right? Well, I doubt anyone really thought that I could get that dark. But I really wanted to capture just how screwed up Diodora was. Hope I did his twisted nature justice.**

 **Think that's it. Cya next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	19. Chapter 19

The remaining occupants of the mansion were currently watching the nun healing an unconscious Issei. He was pretty roughed up from the fight earlier that day and required quite a bit of healing.

"Now that things have calmed down a bit. Mind telling us what happened? In detail if you can, Naruto." Mio stated calmly, watching the soothing green aura of Asia's Sacred Gear do it's work.

"...Not much to tell. One second everything was fine. The next...we were attacked by this group of devils." Naruto replied, a far-off look in his eye as he relayed events prior.

"I think we understand _that_ much. But who were they? What were their objective? Why attack you guys specifically and not the rest of us? Stuff like that." Mio retorted seriously. Not understanding why Naruto was being so vague about this.

"Well, it's obvious that Naruto-sama took care of the problem at the very least. But obviously, not everything went according to your expectations right?" Maria deduced, reading in-between the lines of the blond's attitude and demeanor.

"...I agree. But we won't get any asnwers by speculating between ourselves." Yuki said resolutely, before turning to Naruto for answers.

The shinobi didn't reply to any of it, he was too busy staring at the duo that was confined in the comfy room. Issei and Asia-san.

They almost died.

They almost _died_.

If it wasn't for the fact that Issei managed to push that masked man far enough to use more powerful magic attacks...he would have never saved them in time.

A slight change in fortune, and he'd probably have to bring back their _corpses_ back to the mansion.

This was _unacceptable._

 _"Naruto!"_

Naruto blinked, then turned to the small group of girls that was watching him with worried eyes.

Mio was very much among them, she's never seen him like this before. He's been angry, happy, shy, apologetic, even sad.

But never this...grim.

As if she wasn't staring at the happy-go-lucky psuedo-brother she has come to know.

As if she was staring at some sort of survivor of some sort of terrible event.

Like her...

But...that was impossible right? Not Naruto...he was too happy for that.

Nevertheless, this was disturbing for her.

Everyone there was having similar opinions of the blond in front of them.

"...Maybe we should talk later? When you've properly come to terms with whatever happened?" Mio asked hesitantly, unwilling to push him for answers when he was like this.

Naruto stared at the group next to him, before turning to glance at the would-be victims of the day.

"No. We should talk. But let's give them some space. We'll talk at the dining table...we'll be close to their room enough to react to any trouble, while at the same time giving them some space." the whiskered blond said quietly.

Right after he said this, he moved to the dining room to begin their talks.

All three females glanced uneasily at one another, unsure if Naruto was at the right frame of mind to be talking about this.

But after a moment of hesitation, they moved as a group to follow the blond to the dining room table.

Naruto took a moment to gather his thoughts as Mio, Yuki, and Maria took seats for themselves and made themselves comfortable.

After a moment of silence, the shinobi finally decided to get started.

"Alright...well soon after I woke up from my nap earlier today, I went to the forest in order to find Issei and Asia-san. Mostly because I was bored." Naruto began his explanation.

Mio nodded at that. She figured that it would be something like that, they did appear from the forest after all.

"But soon after I began my relaxing trip, I was attacked by this group led by a masked man." the blond continued, he was interrupted soon after he said this.

"Naruto...was this group affiliated with any of the groups that we have encountered before?" Yuki asked seriously, wondering if a group such as the fallen angels have attacked her friend with revenge in mind.

But the shinobi shook his head in the negative.

"No...they were devils."

Everyone gave Naruto shocked looks. What would devils want with Naruto?

"Before anyone asks, I have no idea why they were there or why they aimed for me. But I at least have a suspicion for why they attacked me...it has to do with Issei and Asia-san." the shinobi claimed with a serious expression.

Seeing that everyone was staying silent, urging him with their eyes to continue, he obliged.

"...After I initially met the group, the masked leader broke off to complete his own mission, while his all-female group stayed behind. There were fourteen of them...sound kinda familiar?"

Everyone narrowed their eyes at that information.

That number was the same amount as chess pieces excluding the _king_ piece.

Taking into account that there was a clear leader...then the answer became obvious.

A Peerage.

But more importantly, a high-class devil blatantly attacked the guests of the Gremory family.

"...This guy either sounds very foolish...or is very confident in his abilities to get out of trouble." Yuki mumbled with a frown. Either case wasn't exactly favorable to them.

Especially when they had no idea _who_ this person was.

"Naruto-sama. Did you manage to get a glimpse of this man's face? Maybe we can ask Rias-san if she knows anything." Maria pointed out, trying to find a solution to the mystery.

"Sorry, but no. He used some kind of mask to hide his face. All I know is that he's got orange eyes, a shit personality, and probably a _very_ bad wound on his face." Naruto replied, head on the palm of his hand. Eyebrows scrunching together with annoyance.

"You hurt him badly? As expected of our Naruto-sama." the succubus said wryly, not surprised to hear that the blond managed to get a parting shot.

"What did you hit him with exactly? Maybe we could recognize the wound later on." Mio said, hoping that the wound was pretty bad. She hated the thought that someone was out to target her psuedo-brother.

Or any of her friends in general.

"I hit him full in the face with a _rasengan_." Naruto said, a wry grin making it's way to his lips.

Well-deserved in his eyes. Anyone that could make someone look as _dead_ as that woman did...deserved that and more.

"Wait...a _rasengan_? I've seen that attack do damage to that five-winged fallen angel at the abandoned church. How come it didn't do more than _serious_ damage to a high-class devil?" Yuki asked, confused at how such a concentrated attack didn't complete it's deadly mission.

"...That's because it wasn't a normal _rasengan_. I didn't have time to make a clone to form it correctly, so I had to use my own two hands to make an imperfect version. Glad I did too...he almost managed to kill Issei...and maybe Asia-san too." the shinobi replied with a dark look making it's way to his eyes.

The thought seriously pissed him off.

After checking that everyone was on the same page, Naruto decided to continue the initial story.

"I quickly took down the all-female group without much effort. But I made sure to keep them alive so that I could get some information to where their leader went, specifically...I left one conscious. But before I could get any information...she committed suicide." the blond spoke somberly, remembering how _easily_ the woman took her own life.

The room was silent as the information sank in, the fact that a young woman took her own life not too far away from where they were relaxing and resting was...discomforting

"Do you have any idea why she would do such a thing? Maybe out of loyalty or something like that?" Mio asked after a moment of silence.

Naruto remained silent, he was staring down at the table as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Not sure if he should voice his opinions...

No. It was best that they remain knowledgeable.

"...I think that her master abused her or something like that. Her eyes were...dead...there's no other way to explain it. She practically _welcomed_ her death rather than it being a last resort." Naruto said quietly, feeling down at the unnecessary loss of life.

His audience glanced at one another, questioning gazes steadily turning _darker_ at the implications of this information.

But there was no confirmation of these dark assumptions, it was best to not allow their imaginations to take the place of real facts.

But still...

"...I hope you got him good, Naruto." Mio said after a while.

"...Yeah...I did." Naruto confirmed, not feeling sorry for the damage he's done at all.

Another moment of silence passed, everyone thinking about the information that they've heard.

Then one of them realized something.

"Hey Naruto, you keep mentioning how you've badly hurt this masked man...but I've never heard you say that you've defeated him yet." Yuki said with a frown. She was slightly worried that she was reading too much into her concerns though, but what she said _was_ true.

All eyes turned back to Naruto, curious to how he would respond to this statement.

"...Right, good point Yuki. I've been meaning to mention this earlier, but other questions side-tracked me. As a matter of fact...I _didn't_ defeat the masked man...he managed to escape unfortunately." the shinobi said with a frown, visually displeased at the memory.

Now _this_ was a shock.

"Wait...he got away!? But how did he escape, Naruto-sama!?" Maria incredulously asked, shocked that a high-class devil could have had the speed or strength to escape from the blond in front of her.

The whiskered man pointed at the succubus. "That is a _very_ good question. Which brings me to the next important point that I wanted to bring up. This masked guy has the ability to completely mask his own energy signal as well as his comrade's."

Maria's eyes widened her eyes in understanding.

"...So the reason you were so desperate to get us inside the mansion..." Maria started, this last piece of information made the blond's behavior make more sense.

"...Was because you were afraid that we could get caught off guard by this guy...right?" Yuki finished the succubus' sentence. Reaching the same conclusion as her.

Naruto nodded.

The shinobi then snapped his head up, eyes glazing over slightly due to the knowledge seeping into his head.

A clone just dispersed their chakra.

"Girls, expect some company from my clones. They're bringing in the unconscious bodies of that masked guy's Peerage." Naruto quickly interjected, before moving out of his chair to get to the front of the mansion.

Yuki and Mio immediately made to follow the blond, intent on getting a look at the intruders themselves.

Only one person stayed behind.

Maria was staring at the table, seriously considering the implications of the knowledge she has received...specifically about what this masked man could do.

She knew for a fact that devils had no way to hide their energy signals properly, the only acceptable way would be to flat-out seal some of their power away.

But there was a way...one hidden through her family line to be specific.

The line of succubus that served the Lucifer family ever since their ancestor; Lilith, knew of a way to hide energy signals to better serve their masters to the best of their abilities.

It was passed down from generation to generation...

Yet this mysterious individual had the knowledge to utilize it? Not only that...but she's never heard of someone having the power to hide energy signals of _others_ so thoroughly before...

This was somewhat disturbing news, where could this man have received such information?

"Hey! Maria! What's taking you so long? Hurry up!" Mio called out from the other room impatiently.

"R-Right! I'm coming Mio-sama!" the succubus called back, she rushed out of her chair to join her 'charge'.

* * *

The small group was staring at the unconscious bodies of the all-female Peerage. Their cloaks were still covering their features.

The question was...what to do about them?

"...Considering what you told us about them, maybe we should try to talk to either Rias-san or that maid from before to help them out." Mio suggested, not wanting the group in front of her to suffer anymore.

"Yeah, that's probably the best option. We have no idea what to do in this situation...so best to ask someone who's more knowledgeable." Naruto agreed, but his facial features betrayed his disgruntlement of the situation.

He wanted to help them personally...but it would be bad for everyone involved if he helped out this group without some proof of abuse from their master. The worst that he could claim were that their master were overworking them, as his clones took a quick peek at their faces and noticed that they had bags under their eyes.

The problem was, that high-class devils were mostly affiliated with the remaining Devil Pillars...or something like that.

Anyways, apparently those major clans were extremely rare by this point, so to place his own words against that of a noble from a possibly prestigious clan...

Well...he doubted that a human's word would count for much. Even if he managed to get Rias-san's support in this, he still needed undeniable and _major_ proof of abuse.

Something he couldn't really give.

But if he sent these girls to Maou Lucifer, with information about their attack on Gremory territory... _that_ might get the apparently bro-con Maou on his side.

Especially if he could find out _who_ had these people as servants.

"Alright. Let's tie them up and put them inside the living room. I will sleep there for tonight, just in case they try anything." Naruto declared after a quick thinking session. That was definitely the best policy here.

After waiting a bit to check if anyone had any objections, he continued. "It's getting late and I'm sure that everyone is pretty exhausted with what happened recently. So I think that this is a good time to head to bed, any objections?"

Once more, no one objected to this logic. Everyone there _was_ pretty tired...learning that you were very close to some sort of psycho could do that to you.

The shinobi then clapped his hands, urging everyone without using his words to get ready for bed.

No one needed much convincing.

* * *

The lights were off and presumably, everyone was asleep at the moment.

But Naruto couldn't sleep.

He was staring at the ceiling, trying to force his eyes to close and his brain to stop thinking.

But he couldn't.

Whether he liked to admit it or not...he was more affected by the day's trials than he liked to admit.

From the fact that hostile people made their way inside a secure barrier...

To the fact that this devil could hide his energy signal from the blond...

To the fact that this guy nearly killed two of his friends...

To _those eyes_...

He shook his head, willing the thoughts of the day to go away.

He'd deal with them later. Now he needed some rest for when Rias-san came back...they had a lot to talk about.

"...Naruto?"

Naruto turned his head to regard his pseudo-sister.

"...What's up Mio? Can't sleep?" the shinobi asked quietly, not wishing to wake anyone else up.

Said half-devil shifted her feet, clearly uncomfortable. Glancing at him and then turning away the second they made eye-contact.

The blond raised an eyebrow. What was up with her?

"Um, Naruto...is it possible that I can...well...you know?" the red-head mumbled, tripping over her words repeatedly.

Naruto squinted his eyes at her, not understanding why she was having trouble asking him something.

"Oh come on Mio. You should know that I'm not gonna bite by now. Say what you want to say."

Mio bit her lip, drudging up the courage to ask something embarrassing from her 'brother'.

"...Can I sleep with you?"

...

"...Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

Mio was as red as a tomato as she frantically shook her head in denial. "No no no! That's not what I meant! I meant if...I can rest in the same bed as you. Just for tonight."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief at that, she almost gave him a heart attack...

"Now why would you want to do that, Mio?" Naruto asked reasonably, figuring that she had a good reason for it.

The half-devil looked down at her feet. "...I had a nightmare. Hard to sleep by myself."

The blond's eyes softened.

That's right...she's not entirely used to this kind of lifestyle, right? She's only been involved with the ever-present danger of the supernatural world for...what? A year?

About a year ago, the worse thing she probably had to worry about was her homework and tests, not death threats.

"...Yeah. You can sleep with me." Naruto responded with a smile.

Then his eyes widened.

"I meant...uh...the _safe_ sleeping of course. Not the...you know... _other one_."

Mio just gave him a small smile of gratitude, gracefully ignoring his misstep, before slowly walking up to him and snuggling into his futon on the floor.

He made sure to give her a spare pillow as well as some space, but the futon was quite small...so he didn't exactly have much space to give.

This led to the somewhat uncomfortable situation of the 'siblings' being too close to one another.

But the blond didn't mind too much.

He then turned back to what he was doing, still wishing to fall asleep...but having trouble doing so.

"Naruto...got something on your mind too?" the red-head asked, she was peering at him from half-lidded eyes from her comfortable position.

The shinobi shrugged, unsure if she saw the gesture or not, but nevertheless continued.

"I guess you could say that...I made a lot of mistakes today." the blond mumbled quietly, narrowed eyes staring into the darkness.

Mio tilted her head, unsure of what he could be referring to. "From what you told us, you've made nothing but the best decisions in a pretty bad situation...so I'm not too sure what you're talking about."

Naruto gave her a slightly bitter smile, he forgot to mention it in all of the commotion didn't he?

"I guess...I just feel like I failed. That masked guy...I doubt that what I did to him will stop him, if anything...it probably just made everyone here into a target for that sick bastard. But that could've been avoided if I just finished him off after I hit him with my attack...after I made sure that Issei and Asia-san were ok." Naruto said quietly, stewing in his mistake.

"...Why? Why didn't you finish him off if you had the chance to? Help me understand." the younger girl whispered, wishing to understand what has the blond in such a mood.

Blue eyes connected with pink.

Then the blond sighed.

"...When I managed to stop that guy's attack, I was intensely aware of just how close I was to _not_ getting there in time...if I was even a split-second later then Issei and Asia-san would've died. Add in the fact that I was already spooked by this guy's abilities and to what happened to that woman..." Naruto trailed off, eyes gazing past the ceiling as if he was in a trance.

Mio decided to wait, allow him to take his time. He needed this.

Then he finally took a deep breath and continued.

"To be blunt, I was afraid for their safety. So hyper-aware of my near-fail that...I didn't even consider going after this masked guy seriously at all. I felt like...that I barely lucked out at saving those two, that just trying to push that luck by doing anything to finish him off would damn them. I know it sounds stupid...hell...it sounds stupid to me too...but I wasn't thinking properly at the time." the blond admitted shakily, the frustration beginning to get to him.

How could he have made such a mistake in the middle of a battle? He should be better than this. He _was_ better than this!

...Or was he?

Back in the Elemental Nations...he always fought alongside people that were at the very least _near_ his level or above it. He never really had to worry about protecting someone weak by himself, especially when he was part of a squad.

Even Sakura-chan, who wasn't exactly the strongest shinobi back when they were kids...could at least stall enemies long enough with the jutsus that she knew at the time.

But Issei and Asia-san...hell... _most_ of his new friends and allies weren't like that.

They weren't on his level.

They didn't have too many ways to get out of immediate danger.

If they fought someone stronger...then that pretty much meant that they were going to die.

To put it simply, maybe he just wasn't _used_ to worrying about the well-beings of his comrades to such a degree before. To the point that when he almost failed in protecting them, that his entire approach to the situation was to protect Issei and Asia-san and to ignore any other objective.

To him at the time, the masked man wasn't worth the effort, even to spare a single second to make a clone.

What mattered was that they were alive to fight and laugh another day.

...But it was still a stupid mistake, especially when he was used to keeping his cool in the middle of a fight.

Naruto groaned as his jumbled mind cross-analyzed what happened and why. Even if he had all of the reasons in the world...it didn't change the fact that the masked bastard had the chance to hurt his friends again.

"...Naruto."

The blond stopped his thinking process for a moment to look at young girl next to him.

She was giving him a frown.

"...You can't go on thinking like this Naruto. You can't blame yourself for every little misstep that you make or every little accident that occurs along the way." Mio reprimanded quietly.

Naruto merely shook his head.

She didn't understand...she _couldn't_ understand how close it was.

He can't afford to make mistakes. If he failed, then people he cared about would suffer...

"Naruto! Listen to me!"

The shinobi snapped his attention back to the red-head, shocked at how she raised her voice to grab his notice.

She placed her hand on his chest.

"I don't know what you are dealing with right now Naruto...I'm not sure I can ever understand to be honest...but I _do_ know this. That you are _human_ Naruto...!" Mio said, a plea laced in her voice for the blond to listen to her words.

He did.

"Humans make mistakes...they do stupid things that defy logic...they _fail_. But you can't obsess over every one of those missteps right? But there is something that you can do...something that I believe my foolish... _foolish_ brother is really good at."

She then smiled at him, a gesture that revealed her trust in him.

"Doing his absolute best to make sure that he doesn't make the same mistake again. Isn't that right?" Mio asked rhetorically, knowing the answer before she even asked.

...

"You're right. You don't really understand what I'm dealing with." Naruto responded quietly, eyes still looking past her and staring at something conjured in his head.

An image of a crater...where his home once stood.

He sighed.

Then the shinobi turned to face a worried younger sister.

"...But I really shouldn't be moaning and bitching about something that happened right? Instead...I should be making sure that I don't make that mistake again." Naruto said finally, a grin making it's way to his face.

Mio returned his grin with one of her own, pleased that his good mood was returning.

Right...the bonds he forged in this new world was new and untested. But bonds in general weren't one-way streets...they were two-way.

Just as he had to help them, they were there to help him in return.

Looks like he forgot about that after having to help his new friends for so long. Man...being without comrades for so long messed him up in an important way huh...?

"...Look at you. Who knew that my little sister would be lecturing me? Ah...how time flies eh?" Naruto teased, a sly smirk making it's way to his face.

Mio just pouted a little bit. Now feeling annoyed at how quickly he switched personas.

"Well, I gotta learn something from all of your talks after all of this time. Although I didn't do anything serious, someone just needed to give you a reminder of what's really important. That's all."

The young half-devil then preceded to scratch her cheek slightly, a bashful gesture.

"I'm actually a little happy that you messed up."

The blond gave her an incredulous look. How could she be happy that he messed up? It wasn't exactly a good thing that the masked guy got away by any standard.

Seeing his expression, Mio decided to elaborate.

"You seemed so...infallible to me before now. So much so, that a part of me thought that you were some sort of demi-god instead of a regular human. But now, knowing that you can make mistakes too helps me see you as a regular person." the red-head claimed, slightly embarrassed that she admitted that.

She couldn't help but look up to him, see him as something greater than she was. It was inevitable, seeing how he seemingly handled every issue that was dealt to him without much trouble.

But she shouldn't.

When you looked up to someone, sometimes you can't help but place them on a pedestal. When they are on that pedestal...you want them to live up to your expectations and ideals, even if they are thoroughly unreasonable and unfair.

You would be seeing them in their ideal selves instead of their _real_ selves.

When they don't meet those ideals and expectations, then you feel betrayed and disappointed, despite how selfish your expectations could be.

For Naruto, her expectations could have easily swelled to the belief that he was guaranteed to never fail at something he put his mind to. A guarantee that when he fought an enemy or faced a difficult situation, that he would always prevail. No matter how difficult the battle was.

A very nice and comfortable fairy tale. One that would ease her mind and heart. Allow her to live the life she wanted to, without truly facing any of the consequences.

But completely and thoroughly unfair, as she'd be placing a heavy burden onto him.

She didn't want to do that to Naruto.

The young red-head shrugged her shoulders. "Besides, whoever this guy is...I'm sure that you'll get him eventually. You're just stubborn like that."

Naruto was still giving her an incredulous stare.

Just for a different reason.

"...Mio...since when were you so smart?"

Mio's eyebrow twitched.

"...I was always smart. Just that when it comes to battles and the supernatural...I still have to play catch-up with everyone. I'm doing the best I can here." the half-devil complained, childishly folding her arms together.

The shinobi just gave her a wry grin. "Right. Completely forgot about that. But seriously though...I can't help but feel proud as an older brother. Is this what it feels like to watch your little sister grow up?"

Mio 'hmphed' and shook her head. Was he taking her seriously at all? She couldn't tell with him sometimes.

"...Whatever." the red-head sighed melodramatically before facing away from the blond, rolling her eyes in the process as she tried to stop the slight smile tugging at her lips.

Despite how annoying the blond could be, she much preferred it when he was his usual self than when he was sad.

Then she felt something.

Mio felt her eyes widen slightly as Naruto's arms wrapped themselves around her, holding her in a hug from behind.

"...Thanks Mio. I really needed that."

She allowed for her head to lay on one of Naruto's arms, feeling his warmness through the physical contact.

It felt...nice.

"It's ok Naruto...though if you _really_ want to thank me...let's just stay like this for a little longer...ok?"

The shinobi grinned.

Nothing more was said as the pseudo-siblings drifted off into sleep.

* * *

It was late at night.

That much was obvious.

How late? Now that was an interesting question.

He woke up with a start, still in his comfortable position with Mio.

Naruto _sensed something_.

To be specific, something that immediately made his eyes snap open and adrenaline to course through his veins.

Demonic energy.

After what happened earlier today...or was it yesterday now...? Anyways, he had ample reason to be alert.

Which was why he was alarmed to realize that the use of magic was coming from the room they were laying in.

Was it that bastard again!?

Then the room lit up with red light, coming from a magic circle that looked familiar...

Then he felt the tension leave his body.

False alarm, he knew that magic circle.

It was...

From the magic circle, appeared the Gremory Peerage in all of their glory.

Although, only about half of them seemed to be alert. So they didn't look too 'glorious' at the moment.

Rias was looking significantly more stressed than the last time that the shinobi saw her, obviously the discussion with the maid didn't go well.

The second that Rias seemingly got a sense of where she was, she spotted Naruto.

She raised an eyebrow, then she opened her mouth to question why he was on the floor and using a futon.

Then she froze.

The reason was simple, and not just apparent to her. Her entire Peerage was looking around in confusion at the strange scene.

In their eyes, several things were apparent all at once.

Naruto was on the floor using a futon for some reason.

Mio happened to be in the same futon as he was.

They practically seemed to be _spooning_ together.

To top it all off...there were some strange women that were all tied up and left haphazardly on the couch.

"...Someone mind telling me what's going on here." Rias said after a moment of silence, feeling a headache coming.

She left the mansion for not even a day...and this happens.

What even.

Naruto glanced at the still-sleeping Mio and then turned to look at the Gremory heiress.

"...Give me a sec." the shinobi said quietly, not wanting to wake up his sleeping companion.

He slowly maneuvered his hands which were wrapped around Mio to make a certain hand seal...

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu._ " Naruto practically whispered.

A clone appeared right next to him, going through some hand seals himself.

 _"Kawarimi no jutsu_."

The clone then replaced the original Naruto with himself, allowing for Mio to rest as the real Naruto got up to address the confused Gremory group.

After stretching a little bit, he turned to the Gremory team.

"...Many many things happened while you were gone." Naruto said dryly.

Looks like he had a long night ahead of him.

* * *

"Are you serious Naruto? Did all of that seriously happen while we were away?" Rias asked with unbelieving eyes.

Not because she didn't believe Naruto...mostly because what happened seemed like such an impossibility. Yet the proof was there when she first returned to the mansion, the unconscious women were hard to argue against.

Naruto nodded gravely.

The high-class devil bit her lip, this was bad...this was really _really_ bad.

Her guests were attacked, her security was compromised, some sort of insane maniac had the ability to hide their energy signals, and to top it all off...this information brought up a disturbing possibility.

A traitor among the Gremory.

Her family was famous for being very loving and trusting to their servants, for there to be one that would betray her family...

Rias shook her head, she was getting ahead of herself. Best to just stick with what she knew.

"...Naruto-sempai. May I ask you a question?"

The shinobi turned to face Koneko with a nod, she seemed to be struggling to ask him something.

After a moment of gathering her wits about her, she asked her question.

"...Are you _sure_ that this person's energy was demonic? Absolutely sure?" Koneko asked seriously, her eyes intense.

Rias and Akeno glanced at one another uneasily, knowing where this line of question was going.

Naruto frowned and thought about it.

"Nope. It was definitely demonic energy. Do you have an idea of who this masked guy could be, Koneko-san?"

Koneko bit her lip for a second, contemplating on the situation. Hiding energy sources sounded like something that a proficient senjutsu user could utilize...

Was it possible for her big sister to be involved in this...?

She shook her head, Naruto himself said that he sensed demonic energy...senjutsu shifted the ki flow inside the body to make it extremely difficult for people to sense them properly. So her big sister couldn't have been involved in this incident.

The young silverlette let out a sigh of relief at that.

Naruto stared at her for a little while longer, wondering what the deal was, before leaving her to her thoughts.

He had to address something else.

"Rias-san. Is it possible that you could call that maid here again? I'd like to send those women to your brother so that they can get treatment and maybe find out who led them." the shinobi asked, giving her a slightly apologetic look.

He knew damn well that Rias probably didn't want to see _any_ of her family members right not. For obvious reasons, but this still had to be done.

Rias sighed and rubbed her brow in her stress, she also knew that this needed to be done. Leaving emotionally damaged women on the couch was something that needed to be dealt with and she wasn't anywhere near heartless enough to leave them without getting some help.

Something that her 'onii-sama' could very well have.

"Naruto-san, perhaps this discussion should continue after we get some rest? We are all quite exhausted after all." Yuuto said quietly, his eyelids were closing by themselves due to his exhaustion.

Koneko was also beginning to nod off.

The only ones who were seemingly fine at the moment was Rias and Akeno...but the red-head was obviously looking more 'tired' than usual.

Naruto sighed, the _knight_ was right. He didn't mean to talk about more than what happened. The Gremory team obviously needed some rest.

"Alright then, we'll talk about this tomorrow. Get some rest, everyone." Naruto declared.

Rias gave the blond a grateful smile, everyone really needed some rest.

So as one, everyone filed out of the room in order to do just that.

But before everyone left, he felt a dainty hand place itself on his shoulder and _squeeze_.

His eyes glanced at the owner and watched as she gave him a smile and mouthed something to him silently.

' _Thank you_.'

For even Akeno-san to be worried...Rias-san must have had a rough day huh?

He sent a grin her way and gave her a thumbs up.

Akeno giggled slightly and began her own trek towards her room.

As he was left alone in the spare room where they held the discussion, he sighed and realized that he pushed another issue onto the red-headed devil at a time when she already had a lot on her plate.

He wasn't wrong in telling her about it...he just could've had better timing.

Ah well...not like he could have dealt with the issue at another time. It was that masked bastard that had the bad timing.

Just another thing to take him down for.

Naruto quickly checked outside, wondering whether he should get back to bed or not.

It was still night.

Well, back to bed it was.

He quickly went back to the futon in the living room in order to switch back to with his clone.

A quick _kawarimi_ later and he was back to his original position.

The blond closed his eyes and tried to get some more sleep...

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was beginning to hate magic circles.

Like the last time he sensed one, he immediately jolted awake. Aware that yesterday's experience made him hyper-aware of any and all demonic energy used in his close vicinity.

But like last time, it was a false alarm.

He knew this demonic energy.

That maid was back.

He blearily looked away from Mio's red hair for a moment in order to check a window and determine what time it was...

...

Dawn maybe? The sun looked like it was just beginning to peek over the horizon...also the night wasn't entirely gone yet.

His internal clock must be pretty messed up right now.

After that, he pushed his face back down to the futon, trying to get some more sleep and trying to ignore the shuffling movements of the maid. She was obviously here to pick up the Peerage members of that masked guy.

Did that mean that Rias-san was awake too? Or did she alert Grayfia-san before she headed to bed?

Either way, after a couple of minutes of rustling clothes, he felt another magic circle form and whisk the powerful energy signal of the maid away.

Well...at least _that_ issue was taken care of.

Since the unconscious women were taken by the maid; Grayfia, it allowed for her energy signature to disappear, and for another to become more prominent.

Well, it turned out that Rias-san was awake.

He figured that since his adrenaline was coursing through his veins...again...that he may as well wake up for good this time around.

A good chance to talk to the Gremory heiress now that she was awake.

So just like before, he made a clone and allowed for the clone to use a _kawarimi_ to replace the two.

He followed the source of demonic energy to one of the many balconies of the Gremory-owned mansion.

Naruto stared at the slightly older girl, who was obviously going through some...issues.

He knew because she had an aura of demonic energy surrounding her form; the Power of Destruction.

He walked up to her and fearlessly placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Rias-san."

That knocked her out of her trance.

"N-Naruto? You're awake?" the high-devil asked, her shock caused her eyes to widen in surprise.

Her Power of Destruction petered out like so much hot air, whatever emotion that caused her power to leak disappeared from her facial features.

But Naruto wasn't convinced that she was alright.

"...You ok, Rias-san?" the shinobi asked quietly, his eyes revealing just how concerned he was.

Rias turned away from the blond, her eyes staring up to the sunrise.

It was a beautiful scene.

"Can I ask you a question? Naruto?"

The blond blinked at her, unsure of where this was coming from.

He decided to answer. "Sure, ask away."

Rias finally turned to the blond, with a confused expression on her face.

"Is it selfish of me to do everything I can to get out of my arranged marriage? My family made a promise with Phenex clan, where the heir and heiress of the clans would marry for the good of their families...and for all devils. So...is it selfish of me to defy their wishes?" Rias asked finally, her eyes downcast as she considered her own question.

Naruto looked up, considering the question seriously.

He remembered when the red-headed devil explained how the devils of the Underworld lost a lot of their powerful clans...how endangered the 'pure' devils were.

He thought that the concern was ridiculous, but that was the reality of the situation.

So...was it selfish for Rias-san to push back against her family in this situation? When the creation of more 'pure' devils would reassure a large chunk of the population?

"...Yeah. You are being selfish." Naruto finally said seriously.

The Gremory heiress eyes stayed downcast...so she really was...

"But why is that suddenly a bad thing?"

Rias' eyes snapped back to the blond, confused.

"...Well. You said it yourself right? Devils are inherently selfish creatures, even more so than humans. But being selfish by itself isn't exactly _bad_. It depends on how you use it right? Like protecting people you care about because they make you happy isn't _bad_ right? Maybe not exactly the best of reasons...but not bad." Naruto said reasonably, confused on why this was a big deal.

"Besides, aren't your parents being far more selfish? Pushing something on their child without their consent? If you agreed to the marriage before and then decided at the last minute to decline it... _then_ you'd be in the wrong. But that's not the case right? So I'd say that you have every right to push against this marriage." Naruto finished decisively, sure that he managed to answer her question to the best of his abilities.

The high-class devil _stared_ at the blond next to her.

She never even thought about her situation in such a way before.

She felt her heart soar, that question was eating at her for the longest time...whether her actions were justified or not. Whether she should accept the arranged marriage as a child of the Gremory family or whether she could rebel against it as an independent teenager.

A weight was lifted off her shoulders.

"...Thank you, Naruto. I needed to hear that." Rias spoke gratefully, glad to know that she had some sort of moral standing in this.

The blond grinned in return, he just gave her the most honest answer he could have managed. Nothing to thank him for, really.

But just as quickly as Rias' weight was lifted, another took it's place.

"...I still need to find a way out of this marriage however. I don't have that many options left, unfortunately. At this rate...I only see one way." Rias spoke solemnly, a frown marring her face.

The only way...was to lose her virginity. She may become 'spoiled goods' in the eyes of high-class society and may even disgrace herself, but at least she may have a chance to get out of this predicament.

A far better alternative.

"Woah woah...you made this plan of yours sound pretty damn final, so before you do that...tell me about this arrangement. Maybe I can do something about it?" Naruto interrupted quickly, not sure he was liking how solemn her idea sounded.

Rias glanced at the blond, then nodded quickly. Not like she had anything to lose.

"The marriage was concluded between Lord Gremory and Lord Phenex, as an attempt to create more pure devils for the next generation. It was just as much a publicity stunt at it was a necessary measure, as it would prove to every devil that the Phenex and the Gremory clan were taking steps to fix the issue at hand. That is to say, the dangerously low amount of pure devils left alive. The marriage could only be cancelled if the two who initially agreed to the arrangement came together to cancel it or whether the two who were going to get married got together to cancel it." Rias explained, speaking like a drone who has rehearsed those lines over and over.

She then gave the blond a dry glance as she realized that he only managed to understand up to half of what she said.

"...Basically, only my father and Lord Phenex or Riser and I could cancel the marriage officially." the high-class devil reiterated in a simplified version.

Naruto finally nodded in understanding. That was really all he needed to know.

He thought about it, obviously this Riser-bastard didn't want to cancel the marriage. Maybe the blond could trick the guy into canceling the marriage? But then the guy could call foul play...which could cancel out the blond's own meddling.

So what could be done...

Then something clicked.

"Hey Rias-san. Is it possible to make another contract? Like the one that your father made?" Naruto asked, his eyes gleaming with a certain _something_.

She recognized that gleam, he had a devious idea no doubt.

"...I suppose. But it would have to be based on Riser' and my own consent. That would be impossible with Riser..." Rias trailed off sadly, shaking her head.

The man may be arrogant to a fault, but he wasn't stupid. He had a first-class education just like her.

Naruto only grinned. "I see. Well then, you have absolutely _nothing_ to worry about. I think I've got an idea. Do you have any idea when this Riser-guy is coming by?"

Rias frowned, but thought about it.

"I have no idea. Perhaps I could ask Grayfia when she comes by to report about those women you've captured. I'll ask her then...but what do you have in mind exactly?" the red-head asked cautiously, this boy in front of her was dangerous in more ways than one.

The blond just gave her a foxy grin. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Just follow my lead when the time comes, alright?"

Rias stared at him carefully, before sighing.

She _did_ need his help. So while she wasn't sure that trusting him to get her out of this mess was entirely smart...she didn't really have any better options.

"...Ok. I will."

* * *

"...I see your...'hobbies' have finally caught up to you. I was wondering when you would suffer such an injury. Though I must admit...I thought that the injury would've been... _lower_ on your body."

Diodora Astaroth grit his teeth imperceptibly, at least as much as he could with the right-side of his jaw. He was kneeling in front of his lord and master, so he couldn't make any disrespectful gestures towards him.

Not unless he wanted to die.

"Milord...I have made personal contact with Uzumaki Naruto." the green haired man spoke, a slight lisp to his voice due to the fact that half of his jaw was not exactly...in working order.

Said superior devil raised an eyebrow in interest. He has been hearing that name more and more often recently...

"...Your opinion then? Be warned...I don't take the concept of liars too well..."

Diodora gulped.

"...He's extremely powerful milord. A protector fitting for that girl; Naruse Mio, that you've been targeting. I think that a test of his abilities should be in order."

The powerful devil turned away from the little cretin and thought about it. As much as he _knew_ that the little Astaroth was trying to use him to get back at this Uzumaki...he also knew that he was truly a threat.

He needed Naruse Mio's inherited power. Pure and simple.

Uzumaki Naruto stood in the way. They would come to blows one way or another. Sooner or later.

So for now...he'd tolerate his foolish subordinate's actions...up until his abilities were no longer required.

"...I suppose you have a solution to my dilemma? Diodora Astaroth?"

The younger heir of the Astaroth clan grinned. "I have heard some _interesting_ things during my spying activities in the Gremory summer home...Lucifer-sama."

* * *

 **AN: Holy crap...this was pretty damn hard to write. Even now, it didn't come out as well as I wanted it to...but unfortunately you can't always get what you want. If I made any mistakes, then plz point them out, this was a hard chapter to do ya see. :p**

 **This chapter was meant to push the point home that the Naruto I'm using isn't a Gary Stu character. He makes mistakes. Like all humans do. Him getting paranoid about the safety of his comrades after seeing what he saw before is quite reasonable in my eyes.**

 **After all, he's known for getting reckless for the sake of his friends and those he cares about. That's just who he is.**

 **So yeah, tried to do that.**

 **Not much I gotta say except that the heavier and grittier stuff are done for a while. Just wanted to dabble in it to truly introduce the twisted Astaroth and bring in some drama. Now is everyone's favorite activity of "Beat the shit out of the Riser!"**

 **Lastly, I finally finished making my one-shot. So anyone who might be interested in a little fluff, then try it out. It's my fav pairing ever in the Naruto series...even though it's absolutely impossible for it to exist. :3**

 **Ah well.**

 **Anyways, that's all for today! Cya next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Quick note. How the engagement is dealt with is somewhat complicated to younger and inexperienced readers. So don't feel too bad if you don't understand.**

 **That is all! :D**

* * *

"That is the current situation, Sirzechs-sama." Grayfia said demurely, as befitting her position as a maid.

"...Thank you Grayfia." a young-looking man with crimson hair replied, a serious edge to his voice.

This man was none other than the current Maou Lucifer; Sirzechs Lucifer.

He was staring off into the distance, eyes unfocused, as he considered the implications of the information he has just received.

He was rarely serious, usually preferring to stay lighthearted, _especially_ when it came to his younger sister.

But when that sister of his was threatened? All chips were down.

The issue revolved around the all-female group that his beautiful maid has brought back from the Gremory summer home, very likely the Peerage of a high-class devil from what he understood.

They needed to be taken care of, their circumstances were obviously...unfavorable to say the least. But more importantly, he wanted to find out _who_ led them.

Getting answers from the women themselves may pan out, but he was told about how loyal they seemed. So studying their evil pieces in order to trace the identity of their owner may be the better option.

But he wasn't one who necessarily understood how the Evil Piece System worked, so he needed Ajuka to find the answer for him...

"Sirzechs-sama, are you well?"

Sirzechs Lucifer blinked for a moment, consciousness leaving the recesses of his mind and refocusing on his lovely wife.

"Yes, apologies Grayfia. I was just thinking." the current Maou Lucifer muttered.

The maid looked at her husband in concern, while she preferred that Sirzechs was more serious, she didn't expect for him to drift off.

That was concerning.

"Sirzechs-sama, while the attack at the Gremory summer home was one of the things that I wanted to tell you about...there is another issue." the maid of the current Lucifer stated seriously.

Sirzechs glanced at Grayfia in confusion, was there something as serious as the well-being of his little sister?

"It seems that the Rias-sama has made some...interesting friends since the last time I've seen her. One of which was the daughter of the original Lucifer."

Now _that_ was some interesting news.

"Well...I never expected for Ria-tan to make friends with such a controversial person." the red-headed Maou remarked with a wry grin.

But Grayfia didn't see the humor in the situation.

"Sirzechs-sama, personal feelings aside, is it a good idea to allow such an individual to be so close to Rias-sama...?" the maid asked with a frown, obviously not comfortable with the idea.

Sirzechs just waved the question away. "Last time I checked, it wasn't the policy of the current government to condemn people for the blood coursing through their veins...or the actions of their families."

He made sure to give the silver-haired woman a pointed look at that last statement.

She didn't look convinced. Though the point was noted.

That just made the Maou sigh, she was rather protective of her new family, so her attitude was understandable.

"Alright then, this is a good chance to get some answers anyways...how about we try to schedule a meeting with young...'Naruse Mio', right? We could make extra sure of her intentions and maybe find out more about what my predecessor was up to before he was captured." the young-looking man suggested lightly.

Maybe the young devil had some information about her late father?

The maid merely bowed, realizing that her opposition wasn't acceptable when considering the roles that they were both playing. She didn't have the right to question him. As was proper.

Sirzechs looked at her and sighed again, he wished that she could lighten up from her 'maid role'.

The Maou's expression turned serious again, just what was going on?

How could someone have the ability to enter the Gremory summer home without being detected?

Why did Ria-tan make friends with the daughter of the Original Lucifer?

There was also that...'Unknown Variable' that he has been hearing about recently.

All of this occurring when the issue with the Phenex engagement was still prominent on his mind...

"I suppose that you're going back to the mansion, Grayfia?" the Maou asked with a serious expression, exuding the authority and grace that his position demanded.

"Of course, I suppose that you wish for me to inform Rias-sama about the possible alternative to the engagement?" the maid inquired, well aware that her _king_ was giving his younger sister a way out of her ordeal.

Through a rating game.

The red-headed Maou nodded. "That's right, but I want you to give invitations to Ria-tan's guests...I'd like to see who my little sister has befriended."

The maid bowed in response.

* * *

Morning reached the summer home of the Gremory.

The sun was high in the sky, signaling to a bored Naruto that he should be having breakfast.

Too bad he was eating ramen already.

He sorta gave up on going to bed after waking up twice, so he figured that eating some ramen to get rid of his hunger pangs was a pretty good idea.

It was. He had no regrets.

While he was eating, he had a piece of paper in front of him with a pen on his hand. On that paper...was a picture.

A picture of a chicken on fire.

He had no idea what a 'phoenix' was supposed to look like, so this was the first thing that came to mind when thinking about the bird.

Apparently, the Phenex family had powers that were just like this legendary bird. So getting a decent grasp for what he was dealing with was a good way to kill time.

So...he was dealing with fast regeneration and powerful fire attacks, right?

Well, both were not exactly 'new' things for him. Just annoying.

The shinobi stared at the picture blankly, trying to convince himself that this burning chicken was a threat...but not really succeeding.

The best he could imagine was a hilarious scene of a chicken running around with it's head on fire.

"...Pfft." Naruto chuckled, covering his mouth as he struggled to stop himself from laughing.

The scene was so ridiculous that he might not be able to take this Riser guy seriously at this rate.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Naruto."

Naruto immediately stopped his chuckling in embarrassment, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as he greeted his 'sister'.

"Yo Mio! Finally woke up I see! Where's the...uh...'other' me?" Naruto asked with a cheesy grin.

Mio looked at him with a deadpan expression.

"He went back to sleep."

Lazy bastard.

The blond shrugged it off though, what could you do sometimes?

The red-head took a seat for herself, facing towards the blond, then gave him a determined look.

"Naruto, we need to talk about Rias-sempai. I think she's in trouble and that she needs help-" Mio began quickly, hoping to get Naruto's backing to help her friend.

But she was stopped when the whiskered teen raised a hand up with a bored look on his face.

"Sorry Mio. I'm way ahead of you already. You're going to ask me to help Rias-san about her engagement issue, right? Old news already. Get on with the times." Naruto drawled with a smirk.

He enjoyed the flabbergasted look on the red-head's face.

Then she shook her head in disbelief. Just how did he _do_ that? He was asleep at the time, right?

Ah well...she shouldn't question it. For the sake of her sanity, she couldn't think too deeply on the blond's 'Narutoisms'.

"Alright...assuming that you're going to help her...what are you going to do?" Mio asked curiously, wondering what the teen could do about such a complicated problem like pre-arranged marriage.

The shinobi simply shrugged, seemingly content with torturing the female teen by refusing to quench her curiosity.

The half-devil gave him a dirty look. "Ugh. You're being difficult on purpose."

Guilty as charged.

He was just bored.

Mio's expression then shifted into a frown, before she leaned closer to him. "Though...if you're ever having trouble...you can come to me for help you know? I don't want you to overwork yourself over some harebrained scheme."

Naruto blinked at her shift in demeanor, maybe she wasn't entirely convinced that he was ok now?

Nevertheless, he nodded with a confident smile. Assuring her that everything was going to be alright now.

Judging by the loss of tension in her muscles after his assurance, he'd say that he did a pretty good job.

"...Oh my. I believe that I'm interrupting something quite _juicy_ here."

Mio's eyes widened and her face turned as red as an apple at the insinuation thrown at herself and Naruto.

The blond didn't catch the teasing however, so he just looked at the resident succubus with confusion.

"Maria! It isn't like that!" the red-head cried out, feeling very much embarrassed at what her guardian was implying.

Maria merely shrugged as she walked into the dining room, a teasing grin still remaining on her face. "I don't know...you seemed to enjoy moving into Naruto-sama's personal space and asking him to rely on you. You also seem to be _closer_ than before...did something happen, I wonder?"

Mio looked away.

Naruto coughed into his hand.

...

"...Wait. _Did_ something happen?" the succubus asked with a wide-eyed look.

The shinobi shifted uncomfortably on his seat as the silver-haired girl's eyes concentrated on him with frightening intensity.

Then her eyes teared up.

"How could you!?" Maria cried out, her face was filled with despair at the lack of denial.

This bought the duo's attention to the succubus, they were both slightly alarmed at her sudden outburst.

But before either of them could ask her what the problem was, she cried out.

"Why didn't you do this when I was around!? Now I can't save your shameful faces in my video cam!"

Just like that, Maria lost all sympathy.

"...Is catching people in embarrassing moments your only mission in life?" Mio asked quietly, an annoyed glare aimed at her guardian.

Maria looked offended at the accusation. "Of course not! How could you think of me like that!? I have _standards_! I only do my best to capture embarrassing moments of people I like!"

Ah. Of course. Mio really shouldn't be surprised by this point.

Naruto looked on, an indulgent smile creeping onto his facial features.

He was happy that these two were having fun, despite the dark circumstances just yesterday. It gave him a nice and fuzzy feeling.

Now all he had to do was keep it that way.

All by beating up some random fire chicken?

Yeah...he could do that.

* * *

After a while, the rest of the mansion began to wake up to greet the new day.

Yuki woke up and joined them at the table soon after Maria made her...interesting entrance.

She nearly gave him a minor heart attack when the young hero suggested that they should get some studying done before their little trip ended, all to 'help him' of course.

He didn't need that kind of help, damn it!

So he was immensely thankful when Mio managed to grab Yuki's attention long enough for others to get to the table.

Soon afterwards, Issei and Asia-san both entered the dining room as well, looking as if they hadn't gone through a life-or-death situation.

The shinobi wanted to keep it that way.

Albeit, Issei looked a little rattled, and walked up to the blond with purpose.

Maybe he wanted to talk about what happened yesterday? Well it wasn't like they _couldn't_ talk about it...just that this maybe wasn't the best-

"Naruto. What do you do when a giant dragon appears in your dream and calls you his partner?" Issei asked, a thoroughly serious expression on his face.

...

"...Hyoudou-san. Maybe you should get more rest." Yuki said blandly, voicing out the opinion of most of the occupants at the table.

The brown-haired boy tried to defend himself.

"I'm serious! I got a dream where a big-ass dragon came to me and called me his partner! Whether I'm tired or not is another issue! I'm new to this supernatural stuff...so I need to know whether this is a one time thing." Issei pointed out with a twitching eyebrow.

"...As much as I hate to admit it. Issei-san's got a point." Mio interjected grudgingly, before turning to her guardian. "What do you think of this, Maria?"

Maybe her 'sometimes wise, sometimes not' protector had some information.

The succubus blinked for a moment, before turning towards her charge sheepishly. "Sorry Mio-sama. I was actually thinking about a dragon and Issei-san getting married. You know...as 'partners'?"

Well...that figured.

Seeing that none of the girls came up with anything useful, Issei turned back to the person he initially asked. He's been awfully quiet...

The perverted boy saw a blond teen, he had his bangs covering his eyes and his shoulders were shaking.

"...Why can't _you_ be like that...you damn furry...!" Naruto vehemently whispered to his own stomach.

Seriously! What the hell! Issei got a dragon to accept him the second they meet!

Him? He had to make sure that his stupid furry of a 'partner' didn't kill everyone he cared about!

...No wait.

Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe he could get rid of the stupid furry...give it to someone else and let it be _their_ problem!

After he finished his internal rant and scheming, he turned towards the other male with a dark look in his eye.

"...Wanna trade?"

"...What the fuck are you talking about, Naruto?"

* * *

"Alright. So you got some big-ass red dragon in your Sacred Gear. Not too big of a deal." Naruto said blandly, not really impressed.

"...Maybe in your crazy world it isn't. But for me it is!" Issei retorted smartly.

Well...he wasn't wrong at least.

"Now calm down, Hyoudou-san. Was there anything else that this dragon mentioned?" Yuki interjected quietly, seeking answers to this interesting puzzle.

From what she knew, there weren't many Sacred Gears that had a conscious. So this was actually quite an interesting experience.

Issei thought about it. The dragon actually mentioned some stuff that he didn't know about before...

"Issei-san. I think you mumbled something in your sleep before you woke up. Something about 'Boost' or something like that." Asia pointed out while raising her hand.

"...This ain't school Asia-san. No need to raise your hand..." Naruto retorted tiredly.

Ignoring the blond's mild rebuke, Issei tried to remember...dreams were hard to remember after a while.

Then his eyes lit up.

" _Boosted Gear_! That's right! My Sacred Gear is called the _Boosted Gear_!" the brown-haired boy declared proudly.

He was looking forward to some awed responses, but everyone didn't seem too impressed.

"So how is this... _Boosted Gear_ of yours any better than your last one?" the shinobi asked with a curious look, Issei's future training might have to be modified if Naruto was wrong in his assump-

"It allows him to double his strength every ten seconds, at least that's from what I remember." Yuki voiced out, her face was slightly strained as she tried to remember what such a powerful Sacred Gear was capable of.

Naruto _fucking_ called it.

"...Thanks for that. I actually had no idea." Issei said with a sheepish look on his face.

Figures.

Before anyone could continue the conversation, the soft pitter-patter of feet began to echo from the hallway.

"Did someone mention _Boosted Gear_!?"

"...Hello to you too, Rias-sempai." Mio stated with a shaky smile.

She has never seen the usually composed older red-head look so...excited before. Like she just won the lottery or something.

Well, she probably did.

Rias was wide-eyed as she processed the information that she happened to hear when she got up to go to the bathroom.

She got herself a Longinus!

If she could've gotten away with it without anyone seeing it...she would've done a fist pump.

But Rias wasn't the only one to hear a piece of the conversation.

"Ara ara, as much as I'm sure that the information has excited you...you should still probably take a shower now that I'm done with the bathroom." Akeno said with a ribbing tone and an amused smile.

Ah. Right. Morning shower.

Rias' cheeks went slightly pink now that everyone knew that she hadn't had her morning shower yet.

"Ah...right. I'll just...be right back." the red-head mumbled, before speeding past Akeno towards the bathroom.

All to the black-haired teen's amusement.

"...See Mio-sama? Akeno-san teases Rias-san all of the time. Why can't you be as lenient as Rias-san?" Maria complained to her charge. Seemingly decrying the injustice of her situation.

"That may have something to do with the fact that Himejima-sempai isn't trying to embarrass her so horribly, that she may not be able to go out in public anymore. You Maria...? I don't think so." Mio retorted with a disgruntled look on her face.

Maria just pouted, Mio-sama could be such a kill-joy.

Akeno glanced at Mio in curiosity. "What exactly does Maria-san do? Surely it can't be quite that bad, right?"

In response, the young red-head simply gave her sempai a deadpanned look.

"She tries to engineer these situations where someone...usually Naruto, would see me in a very compromising position. Like when I'm changing clothes." the young half-devil said, thoroughly convinced that no one had it as bad as she did when it came to annoying friends.

Akeno put her finger on her chin, a wondering look on her face.

Then a dark glint entered her eye, completed with a slightly sadistic grin.

Naruto suddenly had the feeling that he shouldn't let Akeno-san and Maria talk with each other for any period of time.

He just shouldn't. End of story.

* * *

"Alright, now that everyone is present and accounted for, there is something that needs to be discussed."

Everyone turned to Rias, giving their attention to the master of the house.

"Naruto informed me of what happened yesterday, first I'd like to apologize for the trouble that all of you have endured. I'm...somewhat ashamed that someone managed to get inside the barrier." the high-class devil apologized solemnly.

Naruto just looked annoyed at that.

"Hey. You couldn't have known. So quit trying to take the blame here, instead...let's focus on the perpetrator. Let's find out who this bastard is and what he wants." Naruto interjected, a frown marring his face.

No one here was 'responsible' for that attack. Even he couldn't sense that bastard properly without his use of demonic energy. So instead of pointing fingers, it's best that they just find the bastard and put him down before he tries anything again.

Nods of agreement were murmured between all of the occupants of the table and Rias gave the blond a grateful nod.

"Speaking of which, I think that I know why that masked bastard attacked us, I think that he was after Asia." Issei added quickly, positive that he was right.

The shinobi glanced at the wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ with a pointed look. "I thought that that might be the case, but do you have proof? Something that he said or something like that? After all...he could've also been aiming for you."

He had a point, the masked guy left the Peerage at the forest to hunt down Issei and Asia-san...so which one was that bastard targeting?

The _pawn_ nodded. "In a sense, he _was_ after me...just that he was after me to hurt Asia. He said he wanted to see her in pain...so he wanted to hurt me to do that."

Well...that was pretty morbid.

"Well, considering that this masked individual seems to be a high-class devil at the very least and that he only had fourteen Peerage members...we can infer that this man tried to take Asia-san for some twisted reason." Yuki deduced quietly, it sounded awfully close to what she heard that the devils of old would often do.

Asia just shifted uncomfortably, intensely aware that some dangerous individual was hunting her for some reason.

Issei placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

She appreciated that.

"...So do you think that he'd stop if she became 'unavailable'?" Mio wondered out loud.

"Maybe, but I think it's best not to do anything too... _permanent_ until we have more information. Besides, this bastard sounds like he would target Asia-san whether she's part of a Peerage or not." Naruto replied with a serious expression, sure that someone like that would always try to get what he wanted.

Arrogant pricks were like that.

"Nevertheless, Asia-san is in danger now. So perhaps she should learn how to defend herself properly?" Yuuto suggested, seeing that as the best solution so far.

No one objected to that idea, so it was pretty much accepted.

"Um...if I'm going to train, then what would I learn? I don't exactly have that much combat potential, I think..." Asia asked with a hesitant face, she didn't see how anyone could train her properly for fighting.

Naruto simply grinned at her. "Leave that to me. Besides, I don't really think that you need to learn how to fight...just how to stall. Besides, while you're right in that you don't have much fighting potential, you _do_ have potential somewhere else."

Akeno frowned, somewhat confused. "Maybe she could be a powerful support, but I don't see how her abilities could allow for her to stall against a concerted attack."

The blond simply shrugged. "Normally I'd agree. But I think she's got a shot with some...uh...intervention I guess."

He didn't elaborate.

"On a different topic, when will Grayfia-san come back?" Naruto inquired while turning to face Rias. "I wanted to talk to her about the fire chicken."

...

"Wait...what?"

"I wanted to talk to her about that Riser guy."

Rias stared at the blond for a moment, did she mishear him...?

She decided to let it go and answer his question.

"She's supposed to come by today in order to inform me about those women you've captured. I'm not too sure _when_...but it should definitely be today."

The shinobi nodded, then he had a little time to get something ready for his idea...

With that knowledge at hand, he stood up from the table with a foxy grin on his face.

"I gotta get something ready, so I'm gonna head to my room for a while. See you guys later!" Naruto chirped, before moving away from the table, back to his room.

The entire group watched him leave, some with _very_ curious stares.

"What's the prankster from hell up to...?" Issei mumbled warily, unintentionally voicing out everyone's concerns.

Rias especially gave him a curious stare, was it about what he told her last night...?

"Ara ara...it seems that our foxy-kun has a secret or two. Do you have an idea about he's up to, Buchou?" Akeno asked with a genuinely curious expression.

The entire table turned to her.

...Damn it Akeno...

"...I think that he may be preparing himself to help me with... _that_ issue." Rias stated casually, trying her hardest to appear calm and centered.

"Eh? Are you in some sort of trouble, Rias-san?" Maria inquired with a worried expression. Anyone that treated Mio-sama and Naruto-sama well deserved to get help in her eyes.

Mio glanced at Maria, suddenly realizing that she never told Maria yet.

Well...it _was_ a pretty busy day yesterday...

"Well, I'm getting set up with a man by the name of Riser of the Phenex clan by my family. It was made without my consent or approval and I wish to dissolve the engagement. Naruto has volunteered to help me cancel it...but the problem is that I have no idea how he could." Rias explained with a far-away look in her eyes. Obviously attempting to scour her brain for what the unpredictable blond could be up to.

She got nothing.

"Maybe he said something that could give us a hint?" Mio pointed out, she herself was extremely curious in finding out what her 'brother' was up to.

The older red-head thought about it for a moment.

Then it clicked.

"He _did_ seem to hone in on the idea of contracts...maybe he wants to trick Riser into signing one?" Rias wondered aloud.

But...no. That doesn't make sense.

As arrogant as the young son of the Phenex clan was...he still had his excellent education. As befitting a high-class devil of such a clan.

He wasn't stupid. He wouldn't fall for that.

But what else could the blond be planning...?

Then the quietest member of the table decided to point something out.

"...Naruto-sempai is strange. The way he thinks is strange. So trying to find out what goes on in his head is...strange." Koneko mumbled quietly.

...

...That was probably the most logical sentence that has come out of anybody's mouth throughout this trip.

...And it came from the quiet loli.

Thus, nothing more was said about the subject.

* * *

It's been a few hours since everyone woke up from their sleep.

Naruto was hard at work, finishing the last pieces of his ultimate weapon against the fir-he meant...Riser. His ultimate weapon against Riser.

Yeah.

His brows were furrowed and his face was scrunched up, concentrating on his masterpiece on this piece of paper.

He was drawing something...

The thing that would set his entire plan into motion.

He wasn't the only one who was working hard.

There were at least fifty clones that were bunched up inside the room, working hard at their own 'drawings'.

As a side-note. He just realized how ridiculously _big_ these rooms were...

Each of his clones were carefully brushing their ink brushes onto their own individual pieces of paper. Concentrating heavily on their important tasks.

They were almost done...

Then they all snapped their heads up. Eyes widening as they sensed a demonic energy...

Shit! They didn't have much time left!

"Everyone! Double time!"

* * *

It's been a few hours since Naruto went back to his room.

The mansion has been suspiciously absent of explosions, at least to Mio.

It was making her antsy. A quiet Naruto with no explosions in the background was a very suspicious Naruto.

"Don't you think that you're being too hard on him, Mio-sama?" Maria asked with a sheepish smile.

The red-head didn't reply, she felt totally justified. Past experiences warned her about taking her 'brother' lightly.

But she decided to be patient and watch the fireworks this time, maybe his shenanigans could scare off Rias-sempai's fiancé ?

Really. Anything was possible with him...

"...You wonder why people question your relationship with Naruto-sama...your thoughts always go back to him..." the succubus pointed out with an indulgent smile.

Maria just got a death glare from her charge for her trouble.

But before Mio could go on a rant on how she _didn't_ always think about a certain blond, a bright light suddenly appeared from behind them.

Both half-devils turned around in shock to check on what caused the sudden occurrence.

A magic circle.

A silver one.

It also seemed that they weren't the only ones who noticed the energy surge, as other members of the mansion began to rush back to the dining room in order ascertain what was going on.

Most of them recognized this demonic energy.

As expected, the maid of the Gremory family appeared from the magic circle, prim and proper as always.

"Rias-sama, I apologize for the intrusion." Grayfia stated while bowing to the high-class devil.

The red-headed devil put her poker face on as she approached the _queen_ of her brother's Peerage. "It's fine, Grayfia. Are you here to tell me about what happened with those girls?"

The maid nodded, she was indeed. But that wasn't the only reason she as here.

Before she continued, she made sure to pay more attention on who was present, all of Rias-sama's guests to be exact...

She frowned at what she saw.

"...Why are there at least _two_ humans here, Rias-sama?" Grayfia asked quietly, her eyes sharpening as she realized that they have seen her use demonic energy.

Asia's eyes widened in alarm and Yuki crouched her legs, ready to move if a fight broke out.

"Wait! These are my guests! They are well aware of the realities of the supernatural! They will _not_ be harmed!" Rias demanded sternly while using her body to stand in the way of the maid and her friends.

She knew damn well that Grayfia could get through her whenever she wanted, but she was banking on the fact that the silver-headed maid followed protocols and class ranks while on duty.

Her bet paid off as the maid immediately stopped her hostile actions.

"Very well, but your brother would definitely want to hear about this." the older woman said, not even appearing fazed by Rias' actions.

The maid took another quick look around and couldn't help but notice that the blond male wasn't there...

But she had work to do, focus on him later.

"Rias-sama. Sirzechs-sama wishes to trace the identity of the _king_ of those women that were captured by using their evil pieces. Ajuka agreed to do the honors, but since this was in short notice, he won't be able to help for an unspecified amount of time." Grayfia explained concisely. Not too much detail or too little.

"I see...well...I suppose asking every high-class and ultimate-class devil to account for themselves and their Peerages would be somewhat extreme wouldn't it?" the red-headed devil murmured quietly.

At least she was sure that this guy couldn't act recklessly from now on, they would be ready next time.

"...That isn't the only thing that I wanted to tell you, Rias-sama." the maid continued, her eyes scanning the room as she wondered whether it was a good idea to discuss Gremory issues when there were strangers present.

"Grayfia. They know about it already. I told them. It's _fine_." Rias assured calmly without a hint of self-doubt.

The maid simply sighed at her mistress' insistence.

"...Very well. As you are aware, Riser-sama doesn't wish to wait for the marriage ceremony to be postponed until you graduate university."

The Gremory Peerage all glanced at one another with small frowns, expressing their discontent with the situation.

"I'm aware. What of it?" Rias retorted, she felt her irritation grow as their conversation continued. They've already established this and all the information did was make her day worse.

"Well...he wishes to speak to you about it personally." Grayfia finished solemnly.

...

"No. No, no, no, _no_! He's _not_ allowed to enter this summer home!" the Gremory heiress declared hotly, _furious_ at the idea that such a man would be allowed inside the area where her allies and friends were relaxing.

Mio made a quiet fist pump, internally cheering her older friend on. All to Maria's amusement since she noticed it.

"...Apologies Rias-sama. I've already gave Riser-sama permission to use a magic circle to enter the premises." the maid revealed stoically, not even a little bit remorseful.

Rias couldn't have looked more bitter if she tried.

As if on cue, a orange magic circle appeared behind the maid, which in turn released large doses of flames. Those who weren't expecting it, flinched at the sudden rise in temperature.

After a moment, the flames died down and revealed a young man with short blond hair, with a fringe that stood up in the middle. He wore a pair of burgundy colored pants and a blazer that had a white dress shirt underneath it.

"...Riser Phenex." Rias practically spat out his name in disgust. Insulted that he would have the _gall_ to show up at a place of relaxation and in front of her guests.

Riser turned to face the red-headed devil with a grin, seemingly uncaring of his intrusion. "Ah! Rias! My love! I've come for you!"

"...Why are you here?" the red-headed devil asked quietly. Her default facial expression has now become a heated glare as she looked at her 'fiancé'.

The Phenex shrugged with a smug smirk that remained on his face. "I've come to discuss with you about your selfish actions, your family can't cater to your wishes forever you know?"

Her eyes narrowed in anger. "...I like how you call my actions 'selfish' when your actions happen to be just as selfish...you just happen to get something out of this."

Once more, the older blond merely shrugged helplessly. "Doesn't change the fact that this has to happen, with your approval or not. So don't make this hard, eh Rias?"

Everyone else was watching the back-and-forth with morbid fascination, some felt that they had no right to interfere, while others felt that they would only make the situation worse with their input.

The only one who knew how this thing worked was Rias herself due to her education, no one else was nearly as qualified.

It didn't mean any of them had to like it though.

"...This is frustrating to watch." Yuki stated quietly, voicing out the quiet majority's opinion on the matter.

Mio nodded to that, then she turned away from the verbally sparring high-class devils to the room where Naruto had secluded himself.

This was a perfect chance...Riser Phenex was here and Grayfia was here...so what was he waiting for?

* * *

...

"It's done!"

* * *

"I see that you two have reached a stalemate. My master has foreseen such an event...and has created an alternative to this desperate situation." Grayfia declared to the quarreling devils.

The Phenex and Gremory devils stopped their heated conversation to face the famous _queen_ , intrigued by the idea.

But before she could voice out her master's plan, she was interrupted by an obnoxious cry.

"Hey! Everyone! I'm finished! So what'd I miss!?" a blond boy called out as he slammed the door open from his room and interrupted the conversation.

She narrowed her eyes...the boy from before...

"N-Naruto!" Rias called out in surprise, shocked that he seemingly forgot about the situation at hand and that he entered the conversation so suddenly.

The reactions were varied among the whole group.

Yuuto, Mio, and Maria all had sheepish grins, complete with sweatdrops at the blond's method of entering the conversation.

Akeno had a sly smirk, pleased that the blond intervened.

Yuki's lips twitched upwards, not surprised that he entered in such a way.

Koneko's eyes softened in slight relief, maybe he could do something?

Issei fist pumped, confident that he could do something.

Asia was just happy that the whiskered blond made it at all.

Grayfia, for her part, was somewhat annoyed at the interruption and intrusion. In response, she felt that the boy required a lecture in manners to set him straight.

Riser looked even _more_ annoyed at the intrusion, wishing to end this ridiculous situation before it escalated.

"Who the hell are you, you cad?" the older blond asked with an annoyed scowl.

Naruto ignored him entirely. "Sorry everyone! I was really busy with some work, but it seems that the person that I've waited to see again has arrived! Grayfia-san, right? Listen, I want to talk to you about this Riser guy..."

The room was silent, in awe at the obliviousness of the teen.

The maid wasn't as surprised, he reminded her of her husband a little bit, she was used to his silly antics by this point. This boy had nothing on him.

"Riser-sama is right here."

Naruto blinked, turning slowly to face Riser face-to-face.

"...Who the fuck are you?" the shinobi asked, a befuddled look stuck to his face.

...

"I believe that the strongest _queen_ has already introduced me...I'm the son of the glorious Phenex family, Riser Phenex." Riser retorted, getting annoyed at this _nobody_.

"Bullshit. I heard that the Phenex clan are based off the legendary phoenixes...you don't look like a bird. You're a phony!" the whiskered teen declared, before turning to Rias. "You don't have to marry a phony! Rejoice! As you have been saved from your engagement!"

The room was silent again, the blond's audacity was incredible.

Riser was now beginning to get angry, who did this little shit think he was!?

"Rias, who is this little shit and what is he doing here?" Riser questioned, a dark look entering his eyes.

The red-head snapped her head to the older blond in shock, surprised at his blatant antagonism.

But before she could reply, the whiskered blond continued.

"Eh? Do you continue to deny that you're a fake? The evidence is all here though, right? Phoenixes are fire chickens! So if you were a real Phenex...then I'd be able to serve you over a fire...take a piece out of you...put teriyaki all over it...then take a bite out of it and call it 'delicious'! Can you do that!? Phenex Riser!?"

Riser's jaw just slammed to the ground.

"...It's...Riser Phenex..." was all that the older blond could say, as he stared incredulously at his fellow blond.

Naruto just waved off his comment. "You're in Japan. Deal with it. Seriously though...I'm disappointed because I wanted to give you a souvenir as a fire chicken...look."

The shinobi then took a large stack of small paper from his pocket and showed it off to everyone.

There was a picture on the front.

It was a drawing of a chicken on _fire_.

It was the fruits of his labors!

"See? It was gonna be a gift to get you to back off of this engagement...a nice little token of appreciation. But you ruined it, now you can't get the flip book." Naruto stated sadly, then he showed it off to Riser and began flipping the pages.

As the pages were flipped, it made the stagnant pictures seem like frames from a real television. The scenes portrayed a flaming chicken that was running around in circles frantically.

The shinobi even began to make small noises to help with the imagery.

"Buc buc...bucawk! BUCAWK!" Naruto chirped loudly, innocently helping the scene with his input.

Then the final scene of the flip book ended with the flaming chicken falling flat on it's face, finally ending the fire.

...Then getting set back on fire again.

...Because it was a fire chicken.

Naruto finally closed the book, a sense of finality reaching his voice. "To think that I got my hopes up...you're a disappointment. You should've been edible. I prefer my fire chickens to yours any day."

...

...

"You...LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Riser seemed upset.

"You think...that you can just waltz in here...decry my name...question my family's prestige...insult _me_...and just get away with it!?" Riser roared in his fury.

...

"Yeah, kinda did." the shinobi retorted while he began to yawn.

Riser lost it.

The Phenex's wings were flared and fire began to envelope him. His _furious_ eyes were honed on the other blond, intent on doing some serious damage.

Then someone stepped in.

"As the _queen_ of Sirzechs-sama's Peerage...I cannot allow anyone to get hurt. Verbal sparring is admissible, but unless the fight is sanctioned, there won't be any fights here." Grayfia interrupted solemnly, she illustrated her point by flaring her demonic energy.

 _That_ took the wind out of Riser's sails.

Rias was watching the entire proceedings go down with a frown, why was Naruto being so...insulting? That wasn't really like him...

Then she saw the absolutely _wicked_ smirk on his face as Grayfia intervened.

It dissipated as quickly as it appeared however, smoothed over into a concerned frown.

She narrowed her eyes, just what was he up to...?

"...You know what. I _have_ been somewhat rude haven't I? Maybe it's best that we have a little spar to release some tension. After all, we can't have a good conversation when everyone is so tense, right?" Naruto suggested casually, trying very hard to _not_ let the grin on his face get too big.

The maid narrowed her eyes, was this boy a fool? Allowing himself to clash against a high-class devil? He didn't have demonic energy either...or any other energy signal that she was familiar with. So did that mean that he was human?

Even more of a reason to disallow any fight.

"I agree. I promise that the cad won't get killed in the fight. It's fine if no one dies right? Just a little stress reliever for everyone involved." Riser agreed with a dark smile.

"See? Even the fake fire chicken agrees."

Grayfia stared at the two blonds, positive that this wasn't a good idea.

...But she was in her 'maid role' as her husband would describe it. She had no real say while she was like this.

So reluctantly, she gave up and agreed to the sparring session.

* * *

"Naruto...what are you up to?"

"...Nothing much. Just leave it all to me, ok?"

Rias stared at the whiskered teen, eyes boring into his head with high intensity.

But the shinobi didn't budge, unimpressed by her efforts.

But he did say one thing.

"Rias-san, just follow my lead alright? If I ask you something, just follow through." the shinobi said quietly, before turning to face his 'sparring partner'.

The high-class devil sighed, she didn't understand what the point of all of this was...

She felt a hand clasp her shoulder.

She turned around to stare face-to-face with Yuki, who was staring at her calmly.

"...He hasn't let us down yet."

...Fair point.

Rias sighed, she couldn't help but be worried though. This engagement would change her life, and not for the better.

"I think that you shouldn't be worried too, Rias-sempai. This is Naruto after all...if he says he's got this...then he probably has some sort of crazy plan that no one could guess in a million years." Mio reassured her red-headed elder, sure that her 'brother' has got this under control.

She was curious about what he had planned, sure. But she was sure that it was an effective plan.

"...I guess you're right Mio-chan." the Gremory heiress said quietly, she was staring across the forested field that they have moved to.

Naruto and Riser were standing near one another on an open field right next to the mansion. An open area which allowed for freedom of movement.

"HEY! Rias-san!"

The sudden shout made Rias jump a little, despite herself.

The perpetrator turned around and pointed a finger at the red-headed devil.

"You _are_ leaving this to me right!?" Naruto called out with an annoyed look. He even had a little glint in his eye that told her that she really _shouldn't_ answer with anything but a _yes_.

"O-Of course!" Rias called back, shocked into immediately agreeing.

Naruto grinned and then turned away to face the fire chicken again.

Grayfia rolled her eyes, what a redundant child.

"Hey! Riser! How about we make this more interesting?" the shinobi called out with a grin.

Riser raised an eyebrow, intrigued despite himself. "What could a peon like you ever have that I could want?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I'm human. Not a peon, what the hell is a peon, some kind of bird...? Anyways, I just figured that since I'm here...that I could break my friend out of an unwanted marriage. So I wanted to make a deal with you about that."

But Riser wasn't paying attention. His eyes were wide as he stared at the now confirmed _human_ in front of him.

Human...

 _Human..._

"...If I could kill you, then I would. I've been shamed by a rotten human...? You can't suffer enough punishment for this...!" the son of the Phenex clan roared out, his eyes blazing with power.

"Ok. You gonna agree to my interesting idea or not?" Naruto asked, bored with the constant talking.

Riser was about to deny him, disallowing him from helping his friend out of sheer spite.

Then he stopped.

He was human. _Human_. What could he ever do to a high-class devil like him.

More than that, the human's defeat by his hands wouldn't be enough to quell his anger. No...he needed something more complete and elaborate.

A wicked grin spread across his face.

"Oi! Are you scared of losing against me or something? Sheesh...I really do appreciate how highly you look at me...but I was hoping to fight someone with a little bit more balls." Naruto drawled.

Riser turned to face the human teen with a smirk. "Very well, we will play by your rules...if I'm defeated, then the engagement will be canceled. If _I_ win...then you have to be my slave for the rest of your natural life.

The shinobi shrugged. "I'm cool with those terms, I agree."

Riser grinned. Even if Rias gave the human some sort of advantage in order to 'defeat' him...his agreement to cancel the engagement wouldn't matter.

The engagement was seen as something vital and extremely important to all devils. They wouldn't accept something as pathetic as a sanctioned spar against a _human_ to be the catalyst for the destruction of such a celebrated union.

Devils were selfish like that.

He had all of his bases covered and this human was about to get what was coming to him.

Naruto for his part, simply gave his opponent a smile.

Then he raised his hand to Riser, extended for a hand shake.

"Well, may the best man win I guess?"

Riser had his smug air again. Assured of what he was doing.

"Very well human, considering what is about to happen, I will allow you to have your way one last time before I crush you." the older blond agreed, before taking the ninja's hand and shaking it firmly.

It also allowed the high-class devil to prove that this spar was indeed sanctioned, so no one could claim that he was causing unnecessary trouble in the human world.

But he didn't notice the positively _evil_ grin on Naruto's face.

The two then separated and gave each other some distance.

Grayfia glanced at the two opponents and raised her hand.

"The match between Riser-sama and Naruto-sama shall now commence! Begin!"

The second that she announced the beginning of the battle, Riser raised his hand and poured demonic energy into an orange magic circle.

"I'll hold back a little bit to show you the difference between us!" the Phenex declared, before he shot a large fireball towards his opponent.

The human just stood there, staring at the incoming attack without any sense of stress.

Then the attack reached him and enveloped his form, much to the consternation of the on-lookers.

Riser frowned, that was even more disappointing than he thought...

"So. What are we looking at?" whispered a voice behind him.

Riser's eyes widened in alarm as he whipped around him to-

He felt something _slam_ into his torso, knocking him off his feet and into the air. As he was sent flying, he kept his eyes shut due to the pain. But the second he opened them...

He saw that annoying human sailing towards him with a leg raised high.

"Fu-!"

That was all Riser managed to get out, as the enemy blond smashed his foot into his face and sent him crashing towards the ground at breakneck speeds.

Naruto landed gracefully as Riser crashed harshly into the ground, leaving a crater a lot of dust in his wake.

Grayfia's eyes were wide in shock.

This human was...strong.

Grins were exchanged between the allies of the 'Kuoh Pact', looks like they had nothing to worry about.

Large wings of fire _exploded_ from the recently made crater, those flames revealed a perfectly unharmed Riser Phenex.

He wasn't happy.

"So...turns out that you _can_ fight." Riser deduced darkly, he was floating in the air now with his flaming wings.

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe. But I'm surprised that you don't at least have a few broken teeth from that...I hit you pretty hard."

The blond devil simply gave him a smug smirk. "That would be because of my regeneration abilities. Even if you happen to be strong...for a human, you won't be able to defeat me. This fight is mine."

The shinobi didn't respond. He was too busy cracking his neck.

Then he looked up, giving the high-class devil a deadpanned look.

"You know...I'm beginning to think that I could make a business out of beating the shit out of arrogant pricks. It seems to be a theme with me. I'm thinking about opening up a business based on that, what do you think?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious about such an idea.

"Do it! Totally do it!" someone cried out.

Thanks Issei.

Riser didn't look amused.

"Learn your place human!" the older blond roared as he flew straight towards his opponent with a magic circle prepped to fire.

Naruto's face changed not a whit as he jumped away from the fireball that was created from the magic circle. Still considering his own idea when he landed a ways away.

Riser grit his teeth as he created an even larger magic circle and released a heavy dose of fire that was shot like a flamethrower.

This time, the shinobi clearly charged into the attack, not bothering to defend himself.

"Riser-sama! That's going to far!" Grayfia shouted, alarmed that the young man would take the human boy's words seriously.

But before she could stop the match, something shot out of the flames and towards the blond devil.

Naruto came out of the fire, completely unharmed and smashed his foot into the Riser's stomach, causing the young devil to bend over from the sudden attack.

The attack sent Riser back with the force of the kick, but Naruto was seemingly _stuck_ on Riser's stomach.

He was using his chakra to stick himself onto Riser's body in order to keep himself afloat.

So before he lost his balance, Naruto smashed his other foot onto Riser's face _repeatedly_. Stomping with incredible force and doing heavy damage to the devil's face.

Each kick left Riser's face in even worse condition.

The first gave him a black eye.

The second broke his nose.

The third sent some teeth flying.

The fourth broke his jaw.

The shinobi sent his final one by raising his foot into the air and sending it down to the back of the devil's head, all while letting go of the chakra that kept him stuck to his fellow blond.

The result was Riser's face being sent to the ground face-first and with his butt sticking up into the air.

Naruto backed up temporarily to watch whether the repeated damage would be healed by Riser's regeneration.

It was a bit of a test.

...

That and it felt good.

The blond devil slowly rose up from his position on the ground and raised his head to face the human.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in interest. His face was healing alright.

Almost instantly at that.

But if it was healing that fast, why didn't it heal him _while_ Naruto was pummeling his face in?

No...maybe it was. Maybe he was just doing damage _over_ the healing?

Curious.

"You...cad! How dare a mere human do this to me!? I will destroy you for this!"

The shinobi didn't look impressed, he heard of better death threats before.

Riser stood back up again and created a magic circle, this one significantly larger than any other he has created.

The magic circle released a large amount of flames, large enough to begin covering their entire makeshift arena. Those flames coalesced together to form a practical _fire storm_.

All aimed at Naruto.

Naruto stared _hard_ at the approaching walls of fire.

He closed his eyes.

He faced fire before. Compared to _that_ person's fire...

This wasn't much.

The flames enveloped the blond again, swallowing him whole as it ate him up like some sort of living beast.

Riser grinned maniacally, the wretched human was gone! Finally!

But then he saw something.

A shadowed figure began approaching towards his direction.

Like some sort of monster, the shadowed figure ignored the flames that were covering his body without a flinch in sight.

Riser's eyes widened in shock.

Then it turned to _horror_.

"Impossible...that...isn't possible!" the Phenex whispered in disbelief.

Then the figure cupped his hands together.

He couldn't see properly...but he thought that he saw a small orb coalesce between his palms...

Then the human charged out of the flames, with a spinning blue orb in hand.

Naruto carried the still incomplete _rasengan_ at hand, one made by his own two hands rather than one made with clones.

He was getting close...almost there to full completion.

But he wasn't focusing on that.

With the same attack that took the face of an even bigger than bastard this guy...he would find this guy's weakness!

" _Rasengan!"_

Riser nearly screamed as the blue orb smashed into his stomach.

He felt skin, muscles, _bones_ give way to the attack. All intent on going in _deeper_.

But he withstood the pain. He was used to taking pain by this point!

His healing capabilities would cover for him!

Then he watched in muted horror, as his regeneration wasn't fast enough to heal his body while the blue orb continued to do more and more _damage_.

But the rotation that was required to keep the chakra contained in the _rasengan_ was beginning to disperse. It simply wasn't complete enough to retain it for too long.

So eventually, _mercifully_. The orb exploded.

The explosion sent Riser spinning into the forest, smashing into a tree and toppling it to the ground.

Naruto stared into the forest, watching for movement as he stood back up from his crouched position.

He thought that his attack was pretty effective. His _rasengan_ was perfect for that asshole's regeneration.

The entire field was silent as the on-lookers couldn't help but stare at the whiskered teen who has just thoroughly trashed a high-class devil.

Rias herself thought that she appreciated Naruto's strength a whole lot more when she wasn't on the _receiving_ end of it.

Grayfia was giving the blond human a hard stare, unsure of what to make of this strength.

Was it dangerous to Rias-sama? He may be fighting for her _now_...but what about later?

Her thoughts were ended as a figure trudged back from the forested area.

Riser has come back, his torso completely healed.

Naruto sighed, this was getting annoying.

"...Do you understand? No matter what kind of power that Rias has given you, you won't be able to defeat me! I am a Phenex! My regeneration will always restore me to perfect health! You have no hope of winning! I will simply outlast you! Like in all of my Rating Games!" Riser proclaimed with a smug grin, despite the ruined state of his clothes.

The shinobi wasn't impressed.

He supposed that he _could_ just use the incomplete _rasengan_ to drain him enough. But that would take him too long.

But at the same time, he really didn't feel like showing off any jutsus like his _kage bunshins_...not against this guy. He wasn't worth it.

Naruto looked down at his palm. The _rasengan_ was the perfect weapon against this guy...but the only one that could truly last long enough would be the one completed version.

He closed his eyes...

Then his eyes snapped open.

That's it! Once upon a time...before he used clones to make complete _rasengans_...he used a different method!

The blond ninja held his left hand out...and focused chakra on his right hand...

Then the right hand began to repeatedly cup over the left hand. Seemingly grabbing something that wasn't there.

Use the left to hold the chakra...

Use the right to create the rotation...!

Naruto then slammed his hand over the blue orb that coalesced over his left hand.

A _completed_ rasengan.

It wasn't as complete as he'd like, since he can't make it with one hand yet...but he could do it with two hands! Without clones!

Maniacal grin in place, Naruto turned towards the son of the Phenex clan and began walking towards the hapless devil.

Riser widened his eyes as he saw the blue orb.

No...! Not again!

He desperately created large fireballs, one after the other, all thrown at the incoming human _beast_.

"Stay away! Why won't my flames hurt you!?" Riser screamed out loud, fear began to drown his senses.

"...Hey Riser. Do your flames melt stone? Are your flames strong enough to immediately evaporate large pockets of water? Because if not...then you have no business in trying to use fire on me." Naruto said seriously, not bothering to try and defend himself.

Riser just frantically tried to throw more and more fire onto the younger blond, hoping that it would stop him.

Then he stopped.

He stopped because the enemy that was at the very least ten seconds away...was suddenly right in front of him.

"...The attack that I used on you before was an incomplete version of this one. It's rotation continually grinds against the opponent. The rotation will never stop unless the user ends it or it faces something strong enough to slow it down. Your body isn't one of those things. So you have two options. You can either give up and _not_ take this _rasengan_...or you can take this attack to the stomach and wait until you can't regenerate anymore." Naruto stated clearly, face completely serious as he stared down the older blond.

...

Riser glanced at the blue orb he was holding.

The first one he used...was incomplete...?

This wasn't worth it.

It wasn't like he lost anything anyways...this deal won't count.

"...I give up." Riser muttered quietly.

Grayfia raised a hand up. "The spar is over! Naruto-sama is victorious!"

Naruto ended his _rasengan_ peacefully, as promised.

Then he gave the high-class devil a look.

"Well. I guess the engagement is canceled eh?"

Riser said nothing.

Then a dark grin spread across his face.

"Did you really think that a deal made in a sparring match would end an engagement deemed by devil society as _vital_? Don't be ridiculous. I made the deal with the reasonable expectation that you were a normal human. But it is obvious to me that Rias has done something to you...thus I wasn't treated fairly in this agreement. Besides, even if it _was_ fair...high devil society wouldn't accept it. They wouldn't accept that their precious engagement wouldn't happen because of the actions of a mere human." Riser explained with a maniacal grin, thoroughly pleased that he managed to trick the human.

"What! That's not fair!" Mio cried out, she was jogging towards the two former opponents and she heard what Riser had said.

Everyone else followed closely behind her, especially a disappointed Rias.

"Doesn't matter whether it's fair or not. High devil society wants this to happen. The only way they'd accept the engagement's cancellation...is if both parties fairly end it." Riser continued haughtily.

Heated glares was sent towards him by Rias' friends, but he ignored them.

How did it feel to fail, human!?

Naruto didn't look crestfallen.

Or disappointed.

No. He looked _amused_.

"Normally, you'd be right. Rias-san explained that to me before. But it actually doesn't matter whether high class devils accept it or not...because you _have_ to abide by the contract." Naruto retorted with a grin.

All eyes turned to Naruto in confusion. What contract?

"...So _that's_ what you were up to..." Grayfia muttered as she moved to join the group.

"Heh...so you get it?" the shinobi stated smugly.

"Wait wait wait! What are you talking about? _What_ contract!?" Rias interjected in shock.

"...A traditional contract needs to be signed, sure. But a hand shake can be considered as a binding contract by itself, right?" Naruto pointed out.

Rias wasn't convinced. "It _can_ count as a binding contract...but..."

Then she stopped.

Devil society was in a sense, _ran_ by business transactions.

From human-to-devil transactions when devils complete a wish for a human...to transactions between devils themselves.

So devils have contrived _numerous_ ways to make sure that they can't be cheated out of such a transaction. Some based on the human world.

A hand shake wasn't usually a binding contract...but it _could_ be under certain conditions

If there was someone present when the hand shake was made after a clear agreement...and they could clearly testify if asked to do so...then it _is_ binding!

"...I figured that it would work a lot like a contract if people saw it. I actually saw a lot of that happen back at my home, where people would hand shake with one another to form a binding agreement. I thought that if I could trick Riser into doing a hand shake _after_ we've made an agreement...then it could count as one. Especially when Grayfia was sitting right there." Naruto explained while scratching the back of his head.

Everyone was silent as they stared at the blond.

"But...I wasn't aware that the hand shake was about the agreement!" Riser pointed out, you needed both individuals to be aware of the agreement before a hand shake could be considered binding!

Then his eyes widened when he realized what he just said.

"That's right. You _were_ aware about the agreement. We shaked after _you_ gave us the conditions of what happens when who wins. Like someone who signed a contract without reading the fine print...it doesn't matter about how butt hurt you are after the fact." Naruto retorted stubbornly.

Riser grit his teeth, desperately thinking about a way out of this situation.

Then it clicked.

"Even if I've accidentally signed a contract...it wasn't one that was done with Rias and myself! A contract can't overwrite another unless the conditions of the first one was met in some way! Which means that unless Rias and I agreed to this _new_ contract...that engagement can't be canceled!" Riser explained with a smug smirk.

"I thought of that too." Naruto pointed out quickly, before turning to Rias. "You should know too."

Rias blinked, she should?

She thought back, what did Naruto do that could be interpreted as _her_ speaking...?

Then her eyes widened...that's why he...!

 _'You are leaving this to me right!?'_

 _'O-Of course!'_

"When you asked me to leave it to you... _that_ could be taken as you representing _me_...!" the red-headed devil realized in slight awe.

"Yep!" Naruto chirped, happy that his brilliant plan worked.

Grayifa nodded, it was a simple and yet brilliant legal move. Surprising that this boy could think of something so elaborate...

He essentially created a situation where Riser and himself could clash with one another in a battle. Then he made sure that he got permission to speak for Rias-sama by asking her to 'leave it to him' publicly. From there, he set up the conditions for the match, creating a condition that they both agreed upon...and as Rias' representative, they essentially passed the conditions left to the engagement contract to set up a binding contract over it. Giving the second legal precedence.

The final nail in the coffin was when the human boy made the pretext that they were hand shaking for a good match, but he never mentioned what it was about. So Riser agreed to the new contract.

Simple, yet extremely effective.

Riser fell on to his knees, shell-shocked at what has just occurred.

Naruto gave the similarly shocked Rias a thumbs up.

"Am I a badass or what!?"

She said nothing.

Then...

"NARUTO!" Rias cried out, tears pooling from her eyes as she hugged the life out of the whiskered teen.

The shinobi gave her a soft smile. He began to rub the crown of her head in comfort.

Her ordeal was over.

* * *

Riser Phenex left the Gremory summer home the second he could think properly.

He didn't want to stay there for a single second longer than he had to.

...This was a bad dream. This _had_ to be a bad dream!

He couldn't have lost to a human...

He couldn't have been tricked by a human...

He couldn't have canceled his engagement with the heiress of the Gremory family...

He would wake up any second now...

...

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!" Riser shouted out, not caring how childish he was sounding.

He lost his prestige, self-respect, and engagement! All in a single day!

Because of _him_!

"I see you're having a bad day, Riser Phenex."

The high-class devil widened his eyes as he heard a foreign voice in his own home.

Where...? Where did it come from!?

"Looking for me?"

Riser snapped his head towards the ceiling, watching a young man dangle from the chandeliers of his mansion.

He looked familiar...

Then it clicked.

"...Diodora Astaroth?" Riser asked in slight confusion.

What was he doing here? More than that, how did he get in here?

"...I see you're confused, Riser. But instead of focusing on me...how about we focus on something else...?" Diodora replied, before spreading his wings and settling down to the floor.

It was only once he reached the floor, that Riser noticed why he had such trouble recognizing him.

He had an opera mask that completely covered the left side of his face.

It was half of a happy white mask.

He was about to question it, when Diodora asked something that made his question die in his throat.

"I suppose Uzumaki Naruto has gotten you as well...yes?"

That was the human's name... _Naruto_.

Diodora's grin was large and twisted, but Riser didn't care.

"What's it matter to you?" the blond devil asked harshly, he turned away from him glared at the floor.

"...I suppose it's because we have a common enemy. Uzumaki Naruto...is a threat to not just you or me...but to _all_ devils. He's touched and hurt you, a high-class devil, has he not? He's raised his hand against his _superior_. What would happen if those who were meant to stay low on the food chain took his example? Low-class devils rebelling against their high-class masters...it would be chaos...and _you_ could stop it." Diodora whispered, treacherous and dark ideas were being weaved over Riser Phenex.

Riser was staring, eyes unseeing as he contemplated what the heir of the Astaroth clan was saying.

...Yes. He could see it...a chain reaction. High-class devils needed to retain their prestige, otherwise the 'lower' classes wouldn't look up to them anymore, as they should.

Yes...he was a threat. Not just to him, but to all devilhood.

Diodora grinned his sick and twisted smile.

It was easy...so _easy_. Riser was a proud man...one that hated the thought of losing... _especially_ to those he saw as inferior.

He _wanted_ to believe that Uzumaki Naruto was a threat. He _wanted_ to believe that he could receive nothing but accolades from his thoroughly selfish actions.

The perfect little puppet.

"What do I have to do?" Riser asked quietly.

"...I have someone who can help, a _friend_ that will give you _power_. Use that power and show Uzumaki Naruto who is superior."

As is just.

As is right.

* * *

 **AN: Holy crap! That was a tough one!**

 **Ok, went pretty deep into some legal crap. It can be rather complicated but I think I explained it as best as I could.**

 **If someone still doesn't understand then feel free to ask. Also feel free to critique it if I messed it up. I'm not exactly a lawyer, but I did take some law courses. And what someone says and what they mean is very much vital in law.**

 **By the way, the hand shake thing is a real thing. Not made up.**

 **Anyways, as some could tell. The Riser Arc isn't over. Riser is now Diodora's puppet, but what is this 'power' that that twisted fuck is speaking of?**

 **Next chapter will lead up to Riser's attempt at getting back at Naruto. Mostly dealing with aftermath of Riser's current defeat as well as an explanation about why Naruto managed to think of something like that.**

 **Cya next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	21. Chapter 21

"I have returned from the mansion, Sirzechs-sama." Grayfia stated without emotion.

She was once more in front of her _king_ , reporting on what has happened.

Well...more like she was _about_ to.

"I see! Well then, I assume that Ria-tan has taken the rating game compromise? Hopefully she could pull it off..." Sirzechs mumbled worriedly, drifting off into a Rias-centric brainstorming session.

"Sirzechs-sama." Grayfia called, trying to stop him from his descent into sis-con mode.

Too late.

"Oh man...maybe I should try to send one of my Peerage members to train her and her Peerage...? Uhh...but what if someone finds out that I interfered with the engagement...? The clans would cause an uproar because of it, which in turn could make my initial compromise invalid! Oh no! What should I do!?" the Maou cried out, his arms flapping wildly beside him.

The maid sighed, she was wondering when her husband's frantic worrying over his sister would transform him back into his usual personality.

It was a minor miracle that he managed to stay as serious as long as he did.

"Maybe Beowulf could hide his presence enough to help Ria-tan..." Sirzechs mumbled quietly to himself, seriously contemplating the risk.

Grayfia walked up to her _king_ and promptly bonked him upside the head.

"Sirzechs-sama, please bear in mind that you are the Maou Lucifer of the Underworld. You must retain the dignity and prestige that your position has granted you, otherwise your political standing could become tenuous. So please calm down." Grayfia remarked, somewhat cross at her husband's habit of going off the deep-end when it came to his beloved sister.

Truly, what he was thinking of doing could potentially place Rias-sama in a bad situation.

The red-headed Maou pouted at his beautiful wife. "Ohhhhhh...don't be so mean Grayfia~"

The silver-headed woman merely rolled her eyes in exasperation. He could be such a...

She shook her head quickly, she had to get back on topic.

"Sirzechs-sama, before you embark on any hare-brained scheme...I believe it would be prudent that I tell you that Rias-sama has already been freed from her engagement with Riser-sama." the maid stated stoically, putting back her poker face on.

Sirzechs blinked.

Then he gaped.

"Wait...she's...but...how!?" the Maou stuttered incredulously.

Don't get him wrong! He was happy to hear such news! But...how was that possible? Did Riser get a change of heart or something of that nature?

Grayfia stood taller, preparing to give her husband the information that _really_ mattered.

"...It seems that Rias-sama has made a rather...unconventional friend. One even more so than young Naruse Mio-sama. He goes by the name of Uzumaki Naruto and he's a human, he managed to trick Riser-sama into signing a contract that took legal precedence over the one that the Gremory and Phenex families have constructed." Grayfia explained, remembering the events that have transpired merely an hour before.

Sirzechs was gaping like a fish. Such was his shock.

"Are...are you serious? You're not pulling my leg right!?"

The maid's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"...I assure you Sirzechs-sama...I'm _not_ 'pulling your leg'."

After a slight pause, the red-headed Maou's face slowly morphed from shock into a wide grin.

"Incredible...a human boy managed to do what I couldn't...simply incredible..." Sirzechs muttered with smirk.

He was slightly ashamed that he couldn't be the one to save his sister...but he'd deal with someone else doing the deed.

The Maou turned towards his wife with a sparkle in his eye.

"Grayfia! Tell me, you think that he deserves some sort of reward for his intervention in this matter, do you not?" Maou Lucifer asked with purpose.

Grayfia closed her eyes in contemplation.

She didn't have to think for too long.

"I do." the maid responded levelly.

"Alright then...through your first-hand experiences with Uzumaki Naruto...what do you think would be the most appropriate reward for him?" Sirzechs inquired, the sparkle in his eye not dissipating one bit.

The silver-headed woman shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "Sirzechs-sama...I believe that I would be somewhat...bias, in this case."

The Maou didn't respond, he simply continued to stare at her expectantly.

She sighed, he didn't care in the slightest it seemed.

"...Permission to speak candidly?" Grayfia asked quietly.

Her husband nodded, allowing her to proceed.

"...That boy saved my sister-in-law from a terrible situation, one that none of us could readily free her from. For that alone, he deserves a magnificent reward in my eyes. As for what that reward entails...he seems to deeply care about young Naruse Mio-sama. Perhaps some... _intervention_ on her behalf may be something that Naruto-sama would want?" the _queen_ of Maou Lucifer spoke honestly.

Sirzechs grinned at his wife, he saw where she was going with that line of thought!

If they could repay the person who helped his cute sister out _while_ removing the wind out of the sails of any rabble-rousing demagogues that were still keen on eliminating the Original Lucifer's last daughter...then he'd do it.

To him, they were an annoying group of hypocrites that wanted to take their anger against a weaker opponent and would consistently claim that the current government was giving her sanctuary.

Sirzechs didn't see any of them try to hunt down Rizevim Lucifer for his association, so he was doubtful of their claims of 'stamping out' the line of Lucifer.

He couldn't really _do_ anything about their annoying rhetoric...until now that is.

Yes...this could work.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on top of the railing of one of the many balconies in the mansion.

He was staring off into the sunset, a beautiful view that was in plain sight.

After everything that has happened inside this summer home, it was decided in a unanimous vote...that they should head back to Kuoh Town soon.

Many things have happened, that it felt like weeks have passed when in reality, it's only been something like...four days.

Sure as hell didn't feel like four days.

The maid from before, Grayfia-san, has left to tell her _king_ about what has happened to Rias-san's marriage. Apparently she had some things that she still wanted to tell them, so they were going to wait at the mansion until she returned.

Naruto allowed for a wry grin to reach his lips, his friends had decided to celebrate Rias-san's good fortune by throwing together the best meal they could possibly forge.

It was beautiful.

Nothing better than a buffet!

Except for the suspicious lack of ramen...that was sad.

Now, he was just letting all of them wind down from their celebrations and staring off into the sunset. Enjoying the scenery that he may never get the chance to see again.

This mansion was awesome.

Although...he wasn't just here to stare at the sun. He also had to take some time to think.

It only hit him recently due to the events that have occurred in this summer home.

The issue of just how... _difficult_ it could be to attain any sort of meaningful peace between the factions.

It wasn't like he thought that it could be easy or anything, just that he wasn't really looking at the small things.

He was looking at the issue while focusing on the _leaders_ or the higher-ups in these factions and how to get them talking. But what about those people who focused on their own selfish desires over everything else?

That masked man from yesterday...

Riser, to a lesser extent...

Hell, the fallen leader; Vretiel, now that he thought about it!

That wasn't even counting the people who didn't want peace either...

The point of all this thinking was simple, Naruto needed to figure out just how _far_ he would help out towards the objective of peace, his boundaries.

He needed boundaries, he wasn't going to stay in this world forever...so he needed some realistic end goals here.

Did he...want to simply promote peace?

Did he...want to provide the framework for it?

Maybe just push the faction leaders to talk?

Naruto sighed, this was all getting pretty complicated. Especially since he wanted to keep Mio and Maria safe from the devils that had grudges against the Original Lucifer...

One thing after another with him.

"Ah, Naruto. There you are. I've been looking for you."

The shinobi perked up slightly and turned to greet the red-head that he had recently helped out.

"Rias-san. What are you doing here? I thought that you would be celebrating with everyone." Naruto responded with a raised eyebrow, curious for why she seeked him out.

He really shouldn't be though.

Rias walked towards the blond with a determined look on her face. She's been looking for him for a while now, needing to speak to him.

Before she walked up to him though, she made sure to close the door to the balcony. This needed to be a private conversation.

The high-class devil then finally turned to him.

"Naruto...words cannot describe how thankful I am for what you've done for me. I honestly don't think I can thank you enough to be honest. If it wasn't for you, then I'm positive that I would've been forced into the engagement." Rias said quietly, a small smile gracing her face.

Naruto merely shrugged. "No need to worry about it Rias-san. You needed help and I was happy to help out."

Rias shook her head. Expecting this response but was unwilling to accept it.

"Maybe to you it wasn't much, but to me...it's entirely different. So while I may not be able to thank you properly for your actions...I could at least try." the red-headed devil continued, a determined glint in her eye as she stared at Naruto.

She wouldn't take no for an answer it seemed.

"Naruto...what do you hope to accomplish?" Rias asked while staring at the blond intensely.

The male teen glanced at her, confused at the switch in topics.

He humored her though.

"I want to promote peace between the Biblical factions...and later, hopefully a lot of the world's factions." Naruto briskly stated.

Rias turned to face the whiskered teen in slight shock, this was the first time that she heard of his goals before.

Before, it was mostly about promoting trust and friendship between the different supernatural factions at Kuoh Academy.

But this was...

"Unexpected?" Naruto said dryly, a teasing grin on his face.

"...A little." Rias admitted readily, not too afraid to admit to her shortcomings in front of the mysterious blond.

Even now, he was still a mystery to her.

But...at least she knew one thing about him by now.

He was genuine.

"...Then I'd like to help you with your endeavor." Rias declared shortly.

Naruto's eyes snapped back towards the red-head in his own shock, eyes widening slightly.

Did she even realize what she said?

"Naruto." Rias interjected before he could say anything. "Before you say anything, I'm not just going to support you because I feel some sort of obligation to do so. No...that would be an insult to you and to myself."

She turned to stare at the beautiful sunset, eyes unseeing.

"...To be honest, when I first heard about your initial aspiration for co-existence between Yuki-san and the devils of Kuoh Academy, I was skeptical of your motives. Unsure of why you would stick your neck out for such a seemingly _impossible_ goal. So when you first suggested the little 'Kuoh Pact' when we first met...I used it more as a means to study you rather than promote co-existence." Rias recalled quietly, walking through her motivations in times past.

Naruto opted to stay quiet and listen, curious in what the high-class devil thought.

"Honestly, I had every reason to be skeptical. You had no stake in any of this, no angle, no ulterior motive, and simply no... _reason_ to promote such a difficult thing. It was nonsensical for you to do so. So I thought that you must have had some sort of selfish reason that I simply haven't considered yet. Yet...you never proved me right." the red-headed devil continued, her quiet tone belaying her seriousness.

"Before I even asked you to ask Issei to become a devil for me...I already began to trust you a little. Far more than I should. You just seem to have that charisma and force of personality that makes people... _gravitate_ to you almost. Yet...you never tried to abuse such a skill."

Rias finally turned away from the sunset and to her blond ally.

Comrade.

Friend.

 _Savior_.

"...Co-existence between a hero and devils seemed to be an impossibility, yet you managed it. What's to say that you can't pull of the impossible and help create peace between the Biblical factions? I wouldn't have supported such an attempt unless there was a reasonable expectation of success...but I think that you are a person that can change _everything_." Rias finished seriously, her intense stare unwavering.

Naruto didn't say anything, he just stared at the Gremory heiress with interest.

He didn't really think that she thought about it this far...

"Wow, I guess you thought about this pretty deeply, huh? I never really saw my actions as _that_ incredible though..." the shinobi replied sheepishly, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her words.

He couldn't take such thoughtful compliments too well yet.

Rias shook her head lightly. "Those are my true feelings Naruto. Not fabrications. I want to help you with your goal, as a woman who wants to support her friend as they have supported her. As well...as an individual who has never experienced the horrors of war...and doesn't want to go through such an experience in life."

The blond grinned a little, despite her deep words. So that was her answer huh...?

"Good, because I don't want some half-ass to help me. Nor do I want a friend who feels indebted to me to help me out, that would be killing the point of what I'm trying to do." Naruto retorted smartly, a growing grin on his lips.

Rias just grinned back.

Both teens were silent for a while, simply staring at the sunset.

Then a question began to wiggle in the blond's head.

"Hey Rias-san? Do you have a dream?" Naruto asked curiously.

The red-head blinked, processing his words for a split second, and then finally turned to him in slight confusion.

"That's a rather...interesting question. To be perfectly honest, since my species is so long-lasting...I never really thought about anything that long-term yet. I simply have plenty of time to kill." Rias said simply in response.

She was giving her friend a curious look, wondering what was going on in her friend's- savior's- _friend's_...head.

Naruto shrugged helplessly. "Just humor me for a bit. I think that I should be more specific...is there anything that you _want_ in life?"

The high-class devil turned away from him for a moment, giving his words serious consideration.

Was there anything that she wanted? Outside of getting out of her engagement?

Her engagement...no, Riser's marriage with the Gremory heiress.

"...There is one thing that I would like. Perhaps it's because of my older brother, or perhaps it's because no one truly recognizes me yet...but everyone tends to see me as merely the 'Gremory heiress'. A title, not worth putting a name to." Rias whispered, a more somber tone to her voice.

Blue eyes watched the crimson-haired girl, her dilemma sounded...familiar.

"Truth be told, I've always dreamed that some dashing man would see me for something more than my title. It's a bit...childish, but that's what children do I suppose." the red-head mumbled, a bitter smile stretching on her face.

Naruto didn't say anything for a moment, simply staring at her form in contemplation.

Then he spoke.

"Hey Rias-san...can I tell you a little story? I think you might find this story to be pretty...insightful."

Rias glanced at Naruto curiously again, wondering how someone younger than her could tell an insightful story.

That was the stuff of those who went through a lot of experiences, of _older_ people.

The happy-go-lucky Naruto didn't seem like such a person...

Taking her silence as the go ahead, the blond started his story.

"Well, when I was younger, I met this boy. This boy was the grandson of the leader of the village where I grew up. Because he was the grandson of that village leader, many in the village would refer to him as the 'Honorable Grandson' instead of using his name. Preferring to see him as his title instead of as a person." Naruto recalled, eyes drifting off towards a more simpler time...

Rias was watching his profile intently, eyes glued as she realized just how eerily familiar this boy's story was to hers.

"What did he do...? How did he solve his problem?" the red-head pressed, wondering how he solved his problem.

...Or whether he solved it at all.

Naruto ignored her questions and continued his story, unfazed.

"That boy became sick and tired of his treatment, so instead of sitting around and waiting for something to change, he opted to try and become the village leader himself. To make his own name. Although he went about it the wrong way." the shinobi went on, a wry smirk stretching across his face.

Paper shuriken and sexy jutsus were not exactly the 'right' way.

Naruto finally turned to face his audience, his expression serious.

"Rias-san, your problem is just like the one that my friend from my old home faced. But unlike him...you're waiting for something to happen. Practically praying that someone would save you from your issues...but I think that you're looking at it the wrong way. Instead of waiting for someone to help you...why not try to fix it yourself? With your own two hands?" Naruto inquired simply.

Rias' eyes widened at the blond's question.

She raised her own hand and stared at it like it was a foreign object. Her hand...

...Fix it herself? By her own two hands?

Could she really do such a thing? Change people's perceptions of her through her own will?

The shinobi practically rolled his eyes, was it really such a foreign concept to her? Proactively chasing after some sort of goal instead of waiting for someone to give it to her like a present?

Yeesh...

"...Why are you telling me this, Naruto? Why tell me that story? Why encourage me to solve my own problems?" the high-class devil eventually asked as confusion and uncertainty danced in her eyes.

The blond merely grinned at her in response.

"Well...you're going to help me out with my goals, I figure that such a partnership shouldn't be a one-way street I guess. Just like you'd like to support me...I'd like to support you too."

Naruto began to scratch his cheek a little, a small and embarrassed smile began to make it's way to his face.

"That and...I'd like to see you lot all succeed. I want to see all of you stand on your own two feet rather than rely on someone else to do so. Even more than that...I'd like my new friends to achieve their own dreams. That's just who I am dattebayo."

Rias stared at him, jaw slightly unhinged.

Incredible.

This boy was simply incredible.

She could only shake her head in silent wonder, just who was Uzumaki Naruto?

She didn't know.

But...by this point.

She didn't really care.

"Uh...is something wrong, Rias-san?" the blond asked her in slight concern.

She was just shaking her head with a smile on her face after all.

Rias turned to face her friend.

Nope, nothing was wrong. In fact, everything seemed to be going really _really_ well for her.

...Except one thing.

"There is something wrong, Naruto." the high-class devil claimed, before pointing one of her fingers at his face.

"You keep using the honorific '-san' with my name, after all of this time no less. So I'd like to ask you to take it out." Rias declared with slight gusto.

 _What was this feeling? This...excitement?_

Naruto gave her a deadpanned look.

"What are you talking about? I don't use '-san' to your name." the shinobi retorted with an annoyed look on his face.

Rias' expression became incredulous at his statement. "Huh!? What are _you_ talking about? You've been using '-san' to my name since we've met! Which was about a month ago now!"

Naruto turned away stubbornly. "Nope, I never used that honorific on you. Stop talking nonsense, Rias-san."

Rias was dumbfounded! How could he claim that he didn't use that honorific!? He used it all of the time! Heck! He just used it now!

"You could literally ask _anyone_ about it! They would agree with me!" Rias argued.

 _Why? Why was she excited?_

The blond continued to stubbornly claim that he never used the '-san' honorific with her, he only used it to better hide out in this world damn it!

In the Gremory's eyes, he was acting like a child.

She then challenged him to say her name _without_ any honorifics.

"...Rias-s!...Rias-sa!...Ria-tan!"

"No! Just no! Definitely not that last one!"

 _Was this what it felt like to have an objective in life? A goal? Something to aim for? Something to strive for?_

Naruto raised his hand to stop her from speaking, annoyance clearly conveyed through his facial expression.

He quietly moved past Rias towards the closed balcony door.

Then, faster than she could see, the blond swung the door open.

The teens that were pushing their ears onto the wooden construct inexplicably lost their once firm support.

Thus, they fell over like dominoes.

Once found out, many of the perpetrators gave off sheepish smiles at the blond male towering over them.

All except one ballsy soul.

"Hi Naruto, what are you doing with Rias-san all by yourself? Yuki asked with a serious expression.

Naruto couldn't help but admire her guts, although, it could just be that her lack of social norms was to blame.

Besides, he knew who was responsible.

The shinobi's eyes turned towards Maria, who was sweating bullets at getting caught.

Rias watched in amusement, as Naruto began to pull Maria's cheeks in his annoyance.

She noticed her _queen_ , who wasn't a part of the eavesdropping group, move up to her with a sly smile.

"Buchou...what could you have possibly been doing with foxy-kun all by yourself in the balcony? Especially in such a secluded area. What would your family say to that?" Akeno said with a mock affronted look.

Knowing full well that her closest friend had no such moral qualms to begin with, she safely ignored her teasing and decided to answer her seriously.

"Having a little talk. A nice little talk...Naruto is a really good person, don't you think so too, Akeno?" Rias asked rhetorically.

The black-haired devil looked curious at her friend's vague words, but smiled and agreed with her nonetheless.

Both older girls watched as Naruto began to demand from his eavesdroppers about what they heard, watching as many of them tried to deny any and all wrongdoing.

Yuuto managed to slip away from all of the confusion.

Smart.

"...So what _did_ you two talk about, Rias?" Akeno asked quietly, intentionally calling her friend by her name this time.

Rias merely grinned at her friend.

"Why...about our future aspirations of course."

A new experience from the crawl of daily life, something that her competitive nature thrived on. A goal.

Just as she would help Naruto with his goal, he'd help her with her own.

That's what friends were for after all.

* * *

"Oh come on Naruto-sama! It's just a little bit of curious fun! No need for this!"

"Nope. Your videocam has been confiscated until you reflect on your actions. Don't think that I don't know about your ways! You try to take it back by trickery...then your videocam gets it!"

"Nooooooo~!"

Mio was staring at Naruto, who was currently scolding and punishing the main conspirator behind the eavesdropping.

She was curious, super curious, _ultra_ curious on what her 'brother' and Rias-sempai talked about.

But at the moment, she was staying quiet so that the blond eventually forgot about the fact that she was involved in said eavesdropping.

"What is this inequality!? I get punished but Mio-sama gets off without any!? Unfair! I demand a retrial!" Maria cried out with faux tears.

Damn it Maria! Don't sell her out!

"Denied." Naruto quickly shut down. "Besides, who says that Mio wasn't going to get punished?"

The young female started sweating, damn it Maria! You traitor! You don't just rat out your co-conspirators that easily!

"I'm just going to let her suffer by _not_ telling her about what happened with Rias-san. I know about how curious she always is." Naruto stated dryly.

Mio could have teared up with the unfairness of it all.

She didn't see him punishing Yuki! How was this fair!?

The shinobi frowned for a moment, looking up as he scratched his head.

"...Who else was there agian?"

Mio definitely wanted to cry at the unfairness of it all now.

Before any of them could continue, they were all temporarily blinded as a bright light emanated from the floor.

Naruto rolled his eyes once he could see again.

A magic circle.

...Again.

Silver too, so it was obvious who it was.

As expected, the beautiful maid of the Gremory family arrived on the scene.

Obviously enough, the rest of the mansion came running at the large amount of demonic energy that just arrived.

"Greetings everyone, apologies for the interruption, but we have much to discuss." the maid stated stoically.

The shinobi was beginning to hate magic circles.

* * *

"Huh!? A celebration!? What for!?" Rias cried out in shock.

She wasn't the only one who was shocked by the news, everyone there was looking at the maid in surprise.

"This is a necessary function in order to break in the news to the many devil clans, Rias-sama. Many of them were looking forward to your betrothal to Riser-sama, so they need to be brought up to speed in a special festivity to prevent anyone from having...a sense of dissatisfaction." Grayfia explained patiently, not just for the Gremory heiress but also for her comrades as well.

"...Did my intervention cause the Maou trouble, Grayfia-san?" Naruto asked wearily, not too sure that his actions have endeared him to the devil leader.

To everyone's surprise, the silver-haired woman actually gave him a small smile.

"No need to worry Naruto-sama, Sirzechs-sama was more than willing to pay extra attention to his political situation than allow his precious sister to get dragged into a loveless marriage." Grayfia reassured calmly.

She herself was quite grateful to the boy.

But first, business.

"That being said, many high-class devils were also looking forward to the engagement party that _would_ have happened, if not sooner, then later. Mostly so that they could get a chance to mingle with other noble families in an enclosed environment. So either way, it's preferable that _some_ sort of function should occur."

Naruto whistled slightly, he was glad that he wasn't a part of such high stakes politics...

"Hey, Rias-san-" the blond tried to call out to his friend.

But all he got was a pointed cough and a _look_ at the person he was trying to talk to.

...Right. He was positive that he didn't use honorifics though.

"...As I was saying... _Rias_...you have it pretty rough with your politics, huh?" the shinobi finally concluded his sentence.

Yeah, she had it rough sometimes.

"Actually, Naruto-sama...Sirzechs-sama was hoping that you would join in the festivities as well." the maid mentioned suddenly, once more surprising everyone with her words.

None more than the recipient of those words.

"...Come again? I'm pretty sure that I misheard you..." Naruto asked with a twitching smile.

There was no way that Grayfia-san asked him to join in a party with a bunch of freaking _nobles_. He must have misheard her, it was the only explanation.

That was seriously _not_ his crowd to say the least.

Grayfia gave him a concerned look, she assumed that he would see the benefits of his inclusion to the function due to his ingenuity in solving her sister-in-law's engagement issue.

Perhaps his ingenuity just chose specific moments to manifest itself? Much like her husband?

If so then that's rather annoying.

Nevertheless, she should elaborate.

She should also...turn this into a _personal_ conversation with the two that her husband wanted to see the most.

"Naruto-sama, is it alright I speak with you and Mio-sama alone?" the maid inquired.

The Gremory group turned to one another in confusion, what could the prestigious maid want to speak to the blond about?

Yuki silently glanced at the resident succubus, who looked genuinely worried at just _who_ was asking the duo for a personal talk.

The hero didn't know how to feel about that.

The shinobi himself was silent for a bit, before turning to Mio for her confirmation.

She looked slightly nervous, but she eventually nodded in agreement.

As long as the blond was with her, she could live with it.

"Alright then...let's talk."

* * *

After the small group moved to another room in order to talk, Grayfia started to speak.

She decided to not beat around the bush.

"Naruto-sama, I simply figured that you would wish to personally speak with Sirzechs-sama about the daughter of the Original Lucifer; Naruse Mio..." Grayfia started, explaining the reasoning behind her husband's wishes.

That was before she noticed the sudden tenseness in the blond boy's muscles and the sudden alarm in young Mio's eyes.

Ah...that's right.

She never did mention that she was aware of Mio-sama's heritage, didn't she?

"Calm down you two, I was well aware of Mio-sama's identity since I've first met her. As a matter of fact...Sirzechs-sama is also well aware of her identity, and wishes to meet with her during the celebratory gathering." the maid immediately reassured, trying to appear less threatening while she was at it.

But Naruto couldn't help but be slightly nervous of the fact that this woman and the man who overthrew Mio's 'father' knew who the red-head was related to.

"Alright then...what did you mean before by 'benefits'? What could I possibly do in a party with nobles?" Naruto asked with a frown, not quite sure how his entrance could help him or his friends in any way.

"Simple, I'm certain that you are aware that some devils bear grudges against the Original Lucifer for his war-mongering ways, some hate him enough to aim for any family members that they could reasonably destroy. However...this sentiment is mostly prevalent in the realms of the low-class and some middle-class devils, not the high-class devils or above. Mostly because the lower-class devils were the ones who were used to bear the brunt of the Great War." Grayfia explained, seeking to repay the boy for his kindness by truly helping him in return.

Also so that Sirzechs-sama could make sure that the boy wasn't a threat to Rias-sama in the future.

She was a devil indeed.

The shinobi seriously thought this through, seeking to see what the maid was seeing...but that he couldn't.

Think...the lower-class devils were the ones who truly wanted to get back at the Original Lucifer...but the high-class devils didn't care too much...

What could be done with that...?

Seeing that Naruto was still having trouble in seeing the big picture, she further explained herself.

"Naruto-sama...devil society greatly respects hierarchy, strength, and tradition. Two of those could be used to Mio-sama's advantage. Especially when no one is really aware of what the daughter of the Original Lucifer looks like...not unless they sense her demonic energy. Which is not allowed in a social function due to how uncouth it is."

Naruto's eyes lit up at her last explanation.

He understood!

"Basically, I could try to push the high-class devils to stop the low-class devils from acting out against Mio, saying it's in their self-interest to keep the daughter of someone so powerful on their side. Right?" the shinobi spoke in realization.

That was brilliant! Using the hierarchy to keep his precious 'sister' safe from attacks was an ingenious move!

Even though he wasn't fond of the idea of a hierarchy at all...he had to pick his battles here. One thing at a time.

Grayfia smiled again, pleased that he understood.

"I'm surprised it took you so long to figure it out, Naruto-sama. After your display with Riser-sama, I expected you to be more...politically savvy." the maid spoke with a slightly curious tone.

The blond scratched his head in slight embarrassment. "Well...the Riser thing was because I looked at it like a fight, where I have to beat the other guy using feints instead of a full-frontal assault. So when I hardwired my brain like that...I managed to make that plan. Stuff like this just flies over my head if I don't take some time to think about it."

She nodded, that was understandable.

The shinobi turned to Mio, a questioning expression on his face.

"So...what do you want to do, Mio? Want come with me? It's up to you." Naruto asked quietly, wishing for her to make her own choice on the matter.

Mio bit her lips, unsure of what to do in this situation.

On one hand, she thought that heading to the Underworld at _all_ was a terrible idea. Especially to a place with powerful devil nobles.

But the thought of getting rid of the target on her back was very...attractive.

Also...the current Lucifer wanted to speak to her, but she _definitely_ wanted to speak to him.

This might be one of the few chances she got to talk to the Maou, and if she neglected to go, then she might insult him. Causing him to view her in a negative light.

She _really_ didn't need that.

Her eyes hardened as she made her decision.

"I want to come too."

That was all Grayfia needed to hear.

"Very well, I will inform Rias-sama about your decision and then inform Sirzechs-sama about your acceptance." the maid began, while moving to open the door and leave the room.

But a hand stopped her.

She turned to see an extremely nervous Naruse Mio, eyes begging her to stop.

"Wa-Wait. Please. I know this might not make much sense but...can you not tell Rias-sempai about the fact that I'm the daughter of the Original Lucifer?" Mio begged quietly, face scrunched up in nervous tension.

Grayfia's eyes seemed to have soften slightly at the girl's admittance.

"...Very well, I will skip that piece of information. That being said, you cannot hide your heritage from her forever, Mio-sama." the silver-haired woman stated without much emotion.

She herself could sympathize with not allowing family connections and heritage to disrupt your relationships. She was a part of the Lucifuge family, a family aligned with the Original Maous.

The girl must be genuine to have such blatant fears about her heritage getting out.

She should know, she had seen that look of nervousness in her own eyes once.

With that, she left room in order to speak to Rias-sama again.

No doubt that her husband had already sent the invitations out.

* * *

"...Hmph. So Sirzechs has decided to create a celebratory party to prevent some ruffled feathers huh...? Not a bad plan. But I wonder what his true goal is..."

"...Lucifer-sama, should I attend the gathering? I've received an invitation to appear but..."

"No. You are still useful to me, Diodora. The moment that you enter that gathering, you would be found out and exposed for your actions. But more importantly...this is a perfect opportunity to utilize. Inform Riser that if he wants to avenge his loss against Uzumaki Naruto...that now is the time."

Diodora looked up from his kneeling position to look at his master in surprise. "In such a public function...?"

Blue eyes peered at the kneeling Astaroth heir in annoyance. "It is precisely because this is a public function, that this is a perfect opportunity. Put the entire Underworld on notice that there is a new power at play here...the heirs of the _true_ Maou."

Lucifer's eyes narrowed at Diodora, eyes demanding for his prize.

"Do you have them? Diodora?"

The Astaroth immediately produced a small tray of bottles to his master, wishing to appease him.

The entire tray began to float away from Astaroth's hands and moved carefully into Lucifer's hands, where it was carefully handled with care due to it's contents.

"...Phoenix tears. An excellent acquisition for helping a measly bug." the devil of _royal_ blood said quietly.

"Yes! Of course it was due to your brilliance that we have achieved such an item! What could the _true_ devils have done without your leadership?" Diodora praised wildly.

Diodora's master remained silent for a moment, inspecting the liquids of the many bottles.

Then...

"...Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"...Eh?"

Before Diodora could say another word, a gauntlet-covered hand grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up from the ground.

The young man began to choke under the pressure.

"...Did you think that I wouldn't check the contents of the bottles? Notice that one of the bottles had less than the others? That you tried to _use_ one of them? Don't take me for such a fool." Lucifer stated casually, as his hand steadily applied more force to his grip.

It was obvious that he tried to use it for his injuries.

It obviously failed.

"Wa-Wait! Lucifer-samaaaaaa...! It was...just...a drop! I...I'm sorry...!" Diodora choked out, as he flailed to get out of the stranglehold that his master had him in.

The devil leader said nothing for a moment, just watching as the young Astaroth's struggling lessened over time.

Curious.

"Very well." Lucifer finally spoke, as he let go of his grip on the young devil's neck.

The man let loose a gasp and then gulped in a large amount of air for his lungs.

Before Diodora even noticed him move, Lucifer was already back to his throne. Peering down at him.

"...Make a mistake like that again...and I'm sure I don't need to tell you what will happen, do I?"

"O-Of course! This will never happen again! I promise!" Diodora pitifully begged.

"Good. Now inform Riser of his opportunity...you are useful to me, but not essential. Don't make that mistake a second time."

With that, the Astaroth heir scurried away, terrified and wishing to stay away from his master for a while.

That was fine to Lucifer...he was paying attention to more important matters.

It was time to see what Uzumaki Naruto could really do.

* * *

 **AN: A bit of a shorter chapter, sorry. A bit busy in real life. :3**

 **Anyways, like I said, some things will change and others won't. The 'party' scene had to happen due to politics unfortunately.**

 **But that actually fits perfectly with what I expected to happen anyways. As Riser got a power up and things will quickly get...**

 **...Out of control.**

 **I'm sure you will all enjoy what I have planned.**

 **Also, if there was one thing I wanted to change about DxD, it's about the poor character development I guess...so this story will definitely have characters grow. As people with separate identities.**

 **No cheerleaders thank you.**

 **On a side note, I'm happy most of you enjoyed what happened last chapter, was nervous about that. :P**

 **Lastly, I think this series of chapters are less about Riser and more about the threat that is controlling him. As well as the other bad stuff that's happening in the background.**

 **So instead of the Riser Arc...let's call this the _Rise of Khaos Arc_. Ironic and to the point.**

 **I like it.**

 **See you all next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	22. Chapter 22

"...Ugh, why is this thing so uncomfortable? Especially around the collar. I'm hating this party already." Naruto grumbled to himself, staring at himself in a full length mirror.

Today was the big day. An important day for a lot of people, including himself.

Unfortunately.

He'd have to deal with a group of people that would probably piss him off enough on a good day, let alone while wearing this ridiculous tuxedo.

It was tight, uncomfortable, and had no orange in sight.

Mio already made sure to confiscate any orange ties and hide them away in secure locations no doubt.

That traitor.

The blond pulled at his collar again, seeking to stretch the cloth so that his neck could get more room to breathe. He's _never_ had to wear such impractical clothing before in his entire life.

Maybe if he could just loosen the top button on his shirt and then hide it behind his tie...

He stared at himself in the mirror again, debating whether he could get away with it, internally noting that he was being immature about the entire thing.

Naruto's eyes lit up.

Maybe he could use a _henge_ to hide the fact that he had his shirt unbuttoned!?

If he was sneaky enough...then maybe he could get away with it for the entire party!

Grinning, he mercifully unbuttoned the top button at the collar so that he could breathe again, before unbuttoning the rest of his shirt, allowing for better comfort. He then created a quick _henge_ to make it seem like he was prim and proper for the celebrations.

Man, he could be a genius at times.

He finally stopped patting himself on the back when someone began knocking on the door behind him, making him jump a little.

"Hey Naruto! Are you done in there yet? I'm pretty sure that guys don't usually take so long!" Mio called out from behind the door.

Naruto groaned. He was having a moment here...

"R-Right! I'm coming out!" the blond called back, before turning to exit the safe confines of the bathroom.

He could already tell that this little party would be a pain in the ass...

* * *

"Hey there Kiba! All prepped to go I see!" Naruto called out enthusiastically, impressed that his fellow blond was so well prepared for this annoying get-together.

More importantly, it seemed that the _knight_ wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as he was.

The bishōnen gave him an easy grin, obviously comfortable with what he was wearing.

...Damn him.

"Well we are kind of used to high-class devil society by this point, so this is a given. I'm more surprised that you are managing as well as we are." Yuuto replied with an airy grin.

The _knight_ was pretty sure that his fellow blond would have tried some kind of hare-brained scheme to get out of the somewhat uncomfortable clothes. But it seemed he was wrong this time around.

Naruto bashfully rubbed the back of his head, trying to hide the fact that he _was_ doing just what the _knight_ said.

Before he could reply though, he noticed something off.

"...Yuki. Why aren't you changing clothes?" the shinobi asked with a frown, staring at the hero who was sitting down at the dining room table.

The hero in question raised a delicate eyebrow at Naruto. "Naruto...I don't think that devils would appreciate the irony of a hero going to one of their parties."

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, then shut it.

Good point.

"...Well I guess so. But are you ok with that?"

Yuki shrugged her shoulders without much thought, she knew full well that she had to be patient here. After all, the _last_ time a hero made it to the Underworld...

Well...there was a war at the time.

Suffice it to say, considering how long-lasting devils could be, it wasn't a good idea to go down there without an explicit invitation.

"Don't worry, I think it's best that I make sure that Asia-san is safe while all of you are away." Yuki said eventually, glancing at the nun through the side of her eyes.

Naruto followed her gaze to stare at the young female blond, she was fretting over Issei's tuxedo, which he was borrowing.

Considering that she probably had even less experience with such clothing than he did, it was painfully obvious that she wasn't too sure what she was doing.

But it seemed that Issei found her fretting cute, so the shinobi decided to just let them have their fun.

"...We still don't know who attacked Asia-san the other day, or why. Since you're going to be gone for an extended period of time... _someone_ has to make sure everything doesn't explode." the young hero said dryly, giving Naruto a small smirk.

Naruto just smirked back.

"Alright then. I'm counting on you to hold the fort while we're gone." the blond announced, much to Yuki's silent amusement.

"I think that I'll join her!" a voice cried out.

Naruto turned to Maria in confusion, what was she talking about?

Yuki was also giving her a doubtful stare.

Seeing that everyone was confused by her announcement, she decided to elaborate.

"Look, I don't think that a 'person' like me would be welcome to this party. So I think that I should just pick up Mio-sama's and Naruto-sama's luggage and return it to the house." Maria stated reasonably.

She doubted that the high-class devils would appreciate her being there either.

Naruto frowned at her, a sneaking suspicion rising to the forefront of his thoughts.

"...Maria. Could it be that there is some kind of stigma against your kind in the Underworld?" the blond asked with concern.

The young succubus gave him a small shrug and an apologetic smile.

Naruto sighed.

This party was already pissing him off...

* * *

"Alright! So is everyone ready to go now? We won't be coming back to the mansion, so everyone make sure that you're not forgetting anything!" Rias reminded.

Issei raised his hand, trying to grab the devil's attention.

"Uh...Buchou? I just wanted to know, why can't Asia come with us again? I don't really like the idea that Asia will be alone in Kuoh Town by herself..." the brown-haired boy muttered uneasily.

Yuki glanced at Issei, looking a little annoyed.

"Are you saying that I can't protect Asia-san?" the hero asked quietly.

Issei shook his head at her rapidly. "No! Of course not! I just feel better if Asia's by my side is all."

Yuki's eyes softened, she could respect that.

"Sorry Issei, but no. Humans aren't really allowed into the Underworld at all. Onii-sama is already breaking convention by allowing Naruto to come, so it's best not to cause trouble." Rias responded to Issei's question.

The _pawn_ sighed, visibly upset by the decision.

Naruto patted him on the shoulder. "It's alright Issei. Yuki can handle it."

The blond turned his attention back to Rias. "I think mostly everyone is ready, we're just waiting for Mio. So how are we going to get to the Underworld?"

Rias nodded and motioned towards the ground near her.

Magic circles.

"These magic circles will take us to our destinations. One for Kuoh Town, the other to the building where the party is taking place." the high-class devil explained patiently, before facing Naruto. "Gremory servants will come by and transport the luggage of my Peerage members to their homes. But unfortunately, I doubt that they are going to pick up the luggage of those who aren't of the Gremory clan."

Naruto nodded, that was fine. He already put his luggage into a storage seal and Mio's luggage was going with Maria.

After a long moment of waiting, Mio finally emerged from the bathroom, ready to go.

"Hey Mio! You're ready right?" Naruto called out to his 'sister'.

The red-head in question blinked as she realized that everyone was ready to go except her.

Ah...they were waiting on her.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go everyone." the half-devil said resolutely.

It was time to meet the current Maou Lucifer.

She hoped that he was friendly.

* * *

"...Why are all the buildings that devils own so...grandiose?" Naruto asked with squinted eyes.

"Well, they _are_ devils I guess..." Mio muttered in reply, eyes scanning the large structure with slight worry.

They were here, the building that was housing the celebrations.

Except that it was a castle.

A legitimate castle.

"...We're used to it." Koneko said to the blond in response.

Ah...so it was an acquired taste sort of thing?

"Come on you two, stop gawking at the castle and let's get going. We're a little late and I don't want to get scolded." Rias reprimanded the group as she trudged on forward, intent on getting this function over with.

In accordance to her words, the group moved forward to the entrance of the castle.

The group had entered the magic circle earlier and had given their farewells to Yuki, Maria, and Asia. Hopefully they wouldn't have any trouble while they were gone.

The shinobi shook his head, it was game time and he had to concentrate now.

Both on the annoying high-class people...and with keeping up his _henge_.

Yep, he was going through with it, sue him.

"Hey...Naruto? I didn't ask earlier, but do you think that I look alright? I don't want to embarrass anyone."

The blond ended his thoughts before turning to Mio's inquisitive and slightly worried eyes.

He studied her dress for a split-second.

She was wearing one of Rias' dresses for the occasion, a red formal dress that held itself together with straps on her shoulders, giving a slight view of her breasts without showing off too much.

She was also letting her hair loose, forgoing her usual hair style for the occasion.

But Naruto didn't notice that.

"I think it looks alright." the blond responded with a grin and a thumbs up.

He thought that his words would reassure her.

If anything, she seemed to be crestfallen at his words, taking it as words that were meant to smooth over his bad opinion.

"Ah...I see...alright huh..." Mio mumbled quietly to herself.

Knowing instinctively that he screwed up somehow, Naruto attempted some damage control.

"Uh...I mean that it's _really_ alright! As in amazing! Great! Two thumbs up!" the shinobi fumbled over his compliments, hoping that some of them would stick.

Apparently it worked, as Mio looked slightly comforted by his words by breathing a sigh of relief.

"...This is pretty painful to watch, huh Issei-kun?"

"For the first time, I think I can agree with you Kiba."

Naruto glared at his two fellow males.

"...Shut the fuck up."

* * *

"Alright...this is it. The moment of truth." Naruto muttered, staring at the large ornate doors which led to the main room.

The group was finally here, the celebrations were occurring right beyond these doors.

As well as all of the high-class devils which were invited.

Rias walked ahead and placed her hands on the door, pushing them open with a little bit of effort.

He watched as the red-head sent him a grin, before walking through the crack that the opening made, entering the party.

The blond then watched as Koneko walked past him, joining her _king_. But not before turning her head slightly and giving him an encouraging nod.

Yuuto came in after her, patting his back a little in support as he walked past.

Issei charged after them, giving Naruto a thumbs up before continuing.

Finally, Akeno offered him a smile as she passed, joining the rest of the Peerage to the main room.

Naruto was grateful for the small show of support, this was seriously new territory for him.

But it had to be done, not for his sake...but for...

He then felt Mio's arm snake their way around his own, hooking them together.

"...Scared?" the red-head asked quietly.

"...A little." Naruto eventually admitted, honestly feeling some butterflies in his stomach.

"Me too. I'm not used to these political arenas...kind of afraid that I will do something stupid and start a war, or something like that." Mio admitted with a self-mocking grin.

The shinobi grinned as well, nudging her slightly with his arm. "That's what I'm supposed to do, dattebayo. You can't take that from me...that'd leave me out of a job."

His 'sister' shrugged. "Like I said before. I've learned some things from you. I never said they were all good things, now did I?"

...Bleh, good point. He was a bad brother and a terrible role model.

"...We can't stay here forever. So how about we go ahead...and face this together?" Mio asked quietly, turning to face him with a bashful smile.

Naruto couldn't have agreed more.

So they walked in, together.

* * *

Naruto and Mio walked inside the large hall, silently gaping as they took in the sights of the main room.

It was massive, the hall itself was probably the size of a six-story apartment building in both height and width, it was ridiculous!

More importantly, the hall was filled with devils, all without a doubt from noble lineage.

Naruto shook his head, he had to concentrate. First things first...meet with the Maou.

"Mio, ready to meet the Maou?" the shinobi asked, looking towards the back of the room.

There was an elevated stairway, he had no doubt that Rias' older brother was there.

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess...let's go."

So the duo moved with purpose, past the many groups of devils cautiously, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.

At least they _tried_.

While the 'siblings' were making their way to the opposite side of the hall, Mio accidentally stepped on someone's cloak.

 ***SLAM***

The entire hall went silent as a devil fell flat on his face.

Then the chuckling began, stifled, but definitely present.

Mio's eyes were as wide as saucers, glancing at the man in question and her foot, seemingly blaming the appendage for the damage.

"...Damn it Mio." Naruto mumbled quietly.

She could do nothing but give him an apologetic look.

The devil that fell on the floor got back up slowly, wiping himself of the dust, and turned to face them.

He was a young man with dark skin, strange marks on his face, and blue hair that was standing up.

He was also _pissed_.

"...How _dare_ you peons humiliate me! Who the hell do you think you are!? Seeing as I don't recognize either of you...I can assume that you are merely low-class trash! Where's your master!?" the devil shouted in anger, clearly embarrassed of his fall.

The shinobi raised his hands up in surrender. "Woah woah! Let's calm down here...we're sorry ok? We'll just be on our way now..."

Naruto tried to shepherd Mio away from the escalating scene, but the devil moved in their way with a sneer.

"What? That's it!? I'm a high-class devil you peasant! You should be bowing and groveling for forgiveness! Perhaps my illustrious self could forgive you if you kiss my feet in recompense."

Naruto's face twisted in annoyance, this was _not_ how he wanted to make his first impression...

"Now now, Zephyrdor-san of the Glasya-Labolas clan...they've apologized. No need to cause unnecessary trouble when there was none to be had." a familiar voice intervened.

Naruto's eyes snapped to the voice, surprised.

"S-Sona-kaichou!" the blond said in slight shock, he honestly wasn't expecting to see her.

Though he probably should have.

The student council president of Kuoh Academy gave Naruto a measured nod before turning to Zephyrdor.

Zephyrdor sneered at the young female devil. "What's the heiress of the Sitri clan doing protecting trash? You should be careful...you don't want any unnecessary rumors to spread around, ya know?"

Sona merely raised her glasses back to the bridge of her nose.

"I think I'll manage." was all she said.

Before anything could escalate further, another voice stepped in.

"Now now, we are all her to celebrate are we not? Let's not cause a scene on such a joyous occasion." a masculine voice called to the group.

All eyes turned to watch as a well-built man walked up to the group, another high-class devil.

He was a young man with a muscular body, he had black hair that was spiky and slanted to the side, as well as violet eyes.

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly, this guy...was different from the rest.

"...Tch, now the failure of the Bael clan has arrived too...what's a failure like you want? Sairaorg?" Zephyrdor remarked rudely and without a hint of respect.

Sona was about to castigate him for his tone, but Sairaorg spoke first.

"...Perhaps I'm a failure in your eyes, but it doesn't change the fact that we're all here through the graces of Lucifer-sama. We should honor him and his guests...unless you're silently implying that Lucifer-sama made a mistake in allowing our friends here to come?"

The aggressive devil's face locked up for a moment, dreading the implications, before snarling at the well-built devil.

"...This isn't over, _failure_!" Zephyrdor called out, before turning around and storming away from the group.

Mio let loose the breath that she was holding in.

Yeah...she really wasn't sure that this was a good idea at all. Not even a few minutes into this thing, and she was sure that she already made a new enemy.

She even dragged other people into it...

"Hey, thanks for the assist you two. Not too sure what I would have done if he continued to run his mouth." Naruto thanked with an easy grin.

Honestly though, he probably would have punched him across the room for being such an asshole.

...Yeah, he was no diplomat to be sure.

Sona sent him a small smile. "Of course Uzumaki-san. As student council president...it's my duty to look out for the students of Kuoh Academy. Even if they are particularly...troublesome."

Oh...if only she knew how that word made him feel right then and there.

The devil known as Sairaorg gave him a large grin as well. "No worries! The only time that someone should have the right to battle one another with words...is when they are battling one another with their fists!"

Naruto and Mio felt small sweatdrops begin to form, was this guy for real?

"...Uzumaki-san, this is Sairaorg Bael, the heir of Bael clan. He's a bit of a...battle maniac." Sona muttered quietly to Naruto.

Yeah, he noticed.

"Hey! Naruto! Mio-chan! Are you two ok!?" Rias called out to the duo.

The small group turned to face Rias, who rushed towards them in a hurry.

"I heard the commotion! I came here as soon as I could to try to help but...it seems that my worry was baseless." Rias remarked as she glanced at the two high-class devils by the blond's side.

"Rias. Why is Uzumaki-san here? Bringing him here is...a bad idea in general." the Kaichou of Kuoh Academy said with a disapproving stare.

The red-head shook her head at her close friend. "Many things have happened recently Sona...his presence here was requested by my older brother."

The heiress of the Sitri clan didn't budge from this information. "I've heard, but it also wasn't a mandatory request. Bringing a human here, no matter how knowledgeable, _isn't_ a good idea. He could be targeted because of it! Not to mention his sister. Just look around you."

Naruto frowned as he turned around to look at his surroundings.

His eyes narrowed as he realized that they were the center of attention for a lot of these high-class devils...

"...Did you hear what the Gremory heiress said? She said 'Naruto'..."

"Isn't that the name of the guy who canceled the marriage...?"

"It is. So this is that bastard huh...?"

Mio moved closer to the blond in consternation, suddenly aware of the negative emotions being aimed at them.

Rias bit her lips, watching as many devils began to glare at her savi- _friend_. Was this a mistake after all?

Too many devils valued the names of noble families and power, Naruto must have seemed like a _nobody_ to them.

...And this nobody canceled a marriage of two nobles, no doubt there were negative feelings about this.

Naruto prepared for any kind of hostility, knowing that he could take anything these people dished out, but Mio on the other hand...

"Hey! These are the guests of Maou-sama! He's expecting these two as well! It's best not to keep him waiting, right?" Sairaorg called out with a heartily, seemingly not seeing the escalating situation.

That broke the spell of hostility over the many devils surrounding them, and they quickly began to disperse, not wanting to be seen publicly glaring at the Maou's 'charity case'.

The shinobi sent a thankful nod to the heir of the Bael clan.

"Thanks once again, you really are an alright guy." Naruto stated with a relieved smile.

Sairaorg just let loose a humorous snort. "Ha! An 'alright guy' he says! You're really something else!"

Then his expression turned serious for a moment, staring deeply into Naruto's eyes.

The blond didn't flinch, staring back without hesitation.

"...I like your eyes. Care to give me your name, through your own consent? Much better to hear someone's name from their own mouth rather than from someone else's." Sairaorg eventually asked with an excited smirk.

"...Uzumaki Naruto, remember it." Naruto said with a grin of his own.

"Don't worry Uzumaki Naruto...even if you didn't tell me to, I would have." the muscular devil remarked with confidence, before turning to Rias.

"Rias...you've found someone incredibly interesting. Hold on to him." Sairaorg stated with conviction.

"...Don't need to tell me twice." Rias muttered in reply, before turning away from him resolutely.

The heir of the Bael clan grinned, then turned away, intent on finding his Peerage.

As the group watched the devil walk away, Sona turned to Naruto with a stern look.

But before she could say anything, the blond cut her off.

"Hey, I understand that coming here wasn't a smart idea by any means...but I have to speak to the Maou Lucifer. Mio also has to speak to him. I understand that you're trying to look after us, but let us make our decisions. We'll deal with other problems when we have to." Naruto chastised while putting his hand on her shoulder.

Sona's expression didn't change, she only concentrated on his eyes.

She saw nothing but determination.

She sighed, he could be so...

"...Fine. Do what you will." the high-class devil relented.

Rias gave Sona a comforting smile, she knew full well that her close friend meant well.

But there was no convincing Naruto when he was like this.

Mio-chan was seemingly getting that trait from Naruto as well...

Sona turned to Naruto one last time, with one last warning.

"Uzumaki-san...please _try_ to avoid causing trouble. It would be very much appreciated if you could do that." Sona remarked dryly.

Naruto shrugged helplessly.

Trouble found him, not the other way around.

With that, she gave Mio and Rias respectful nods, before leaving to find her Peerage as well.

Rias finally turned back to the two that she left to find in the first place and gave them both deadpanned looks.

"...This time, you're following me to onii-sama. I don't want you two to cause another scene." the Gremory heiress said with a wry smile making it's way to her lips.

Neither Naruto or Mio could really refute her, so they did the next best thing.

""...Sorry.""

Rias sighed, at least she managed to grab the two before anything truly disastrous could happen...

She glanced at Naruto in particular, at least he didn't do anything too-

Her eyes bulged when she realized something.

Something that normally wasn't a big deal, but in these circumstances...was a _very_ big deal.

Naruto's shirt was unbuttoned, showing off his black t-shirt underneath.

It was one thing for a well-established devil to do it, it was one thing for a random stranger to do it, it was one thing when the party was a happy occasion in the minds of most devils...

It was another thing _entirely_ when this celebration was meant to show that an 'arrangement' that most of devil society wanted was getting canceled.

When the person _responsible_ for canceling the marriage was walking around in their high-class party.

When that person wasn't even a _devil_.

In short, Naruto's minor breach in protocol could very well generate a _lot_ of bad feelings.

So this was why Rias was scrambling around Naruto and pulling him to the safety of the Maou's personal box, which was overlooking the entire party.

"Hey hey! What the hell!? What are you doing, Rias!?" Naruto cried out in shock, as he was blatantly dragged away from the party.

"Shh! Be quiet! Your shirt! Look at your shirt!" Rias whispered harshly while she dragged the blond away.

Mio was jogging behind the two, confused at her fellow red-head's actions.

So why...?

Mio noticed it.

"...Damn it Naruto." Mio mumbled quietly.

The shinobi gave her an apologetic look.

Then he frowned.

Damn it...their roles were reversed.

So Mio and Rias did their best to hide Naruto's unbuttoned shirt by congregating by his side and forming what amounted to a small huddle.

Although no one actually said anything, some devils began to seethe at the blond, mostly due to their own misconceptions of what they were seeing.

Two red-heads walking closely together, practically mashing their bodies to a single guy?

There were many curses being sent to the blond, much to Naruto's confusion.

* * *

"I'm glad to see that you have all made it here without trouble...at least I _hope_ that you all made it here without trouble." Grayfia stated with a pointed look.

She was referring to the trio of teens that have arrived at the Maou's box, an area that overlooked the main hall of the celebrations.

Basically VIP seats for anyone that the Maou wished to save from the gossiping and conspiring noble devils below.

At least to Naruto it was.

In regards to the maid's earlier statement, Mio looked away uneasily.

Naruto scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.

Rias cleared her throat.

"I suppose you could say that Grayfia, is onii-sama ready to see them?" Rias said quickly, trying to change the subject.

If the maid noticed their evasiveness, she didn't comment. But before she could say anything, someone else spoke up.

"RIA-TAAAAAAAN!"

To Naruto and Mio, all they saw was a crimson blur rush pass them and crash into Rias, sending her to the ground.

Both teens were dumbfounded to watch as a young man practically body slammed Rias to the ground, seemingly crushing her with a hug and crying waterfall tears.

"Ria-tan! I was soooooo worried! I thought that I might have to send Beowulf to help train your Peerage for the rating games against Riser! But you somehow managed to get out of the engagement! Onii-sama is so happy!" the young man exclaimed with bountiful tears streaming down his face.

Rias couldn't respond, she was too busy trying to breathe.

Naruto was about to intervene into the weird scene, but the beautiful maid stepped in.

But the blond didn't expect her to step in so...boldly.

She literally walked up to him, a stoic face still in place, and pulled at the man's ear to get him away from Gremory heiress.

"Sirzechs-sama, please control yourself. We are still in public and there are guests present, so please retain your proper bearing as a Maou." Grayfia scolded with a stern look, completely uncompromising.

Naruto's and Mio's eyes bulged at what the silver-headed woman said.

Sirzechs!? As in the Maou Lucifer!?

Sirzechs yelped as he was pulled away from Rias by his ear, flailing his arms as he felt his ear being stretched to the absolute limit.

"Ahhhh! Grayfia~!" the Maou cried out.

As Grayfia ignored her _king's_ unspoken begging, Rias gained some distance and took large gulps of air, thankful that she could breathe again.

Naruto walked up to her, an incredulous expression on his face.

"So...your brother...is he always like this?" Naruto asked in slight awe, honestly not expecting for the powerful man to be so...

Eccentric.

"...You have no idea." was all the red-headed devil said, an annoyed glare aimed at her older brother.

Then she shifted her sights to Mio, with a pointed look.

The message was obvious.

'I told you so.'

"...I'm sorry for believing that my older brother problems were worse than yours." Mio mumbled quietly, genuinely remorseful for her little sister-in-arms.

Rias nodded solemnly, as long as she understood her pain.

Naruto rolled his eyes at their dramatics, he wasn't _that_ bad. While this guy was just a bit...eccentric. Nothing harmful.

"Hey! You've got an imouto too right!? So you must understand my pain here! Help me!" the Maou cried out to Naruto, seeking assistance against his slightly tyrannical wife.

The shinobi was at a loss here, looking slightly uncomfortable at getting asked for help by a faction leader...against his wife.

"Please! Our little sisters have united right!? So just like they have made a team...we should team up too! Onii-chans unite!"

Naruto's jaw was slightly unhinged after hearing that desperate plea, maybe Rias really had a point about her brother after all...?

...But wait.

The _possibilities_...!

Just what could his genius do with the resources of a Maou!?

What ultimate pranks awaited such an alliance!?

"...Gehehe..."

Naruto unintentionally let loose a creepy chuckle, much to the rising horror of Mio.

"No wait! Naruto! It isn't worth it!" the half-devil claimed in horror, desperately trying to make sure that he wasn't corrupted by the Maou.

The shinobi frowned, it wasn't worth it?

How could that be so? He could create high value pranks with a Maou's resources...what could go wrong with this plan?

"It's a trap Naruto! He will you down the path of the sis-con! Don't do it! I've heard of the horror stories!" Mio pleaded, remembering all of the embarrassing situations that Rias-sempai's brother made her go through.

She couldn't let Naruto fall for the same trap!

Grayfia was just watching the entire scene unfold by this point. A twitching eyebrow was the only sign of her annoyance.

The current Maou Lucifer was still begging for his _queen_ to let go of him.

Rias was still catching her breath and eyeing her brother warily, just in case he tackled her to the ground again.

Naruto was deciding whether teaming up with the ultimate sis-con would be worth it and his 'sister' was trying to desperately dissuade him.

She sighed.

Why was she the only sane one here...?

* * *

"Ahhaha! Sorry about that everyone...I was just excited that my precious sister has finally been freed from her engagement. Seeing her again after hearing the news just made me want to hug the life out of her!" Sirzechs claimed with enthusiasm.

Naruto looked amused by his admission, but Rias definitely wasn't.

"...Onii-sama...you jerk." Rias mumbled quietly, a light blush on her face.

Sirzechs gave her an apologetic smile, but he didn't seem _that_ sorry.

"Ok then! Now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like for everyone except Naruto-kun and Mio-kun to leave. I wish to speak with them alone."

Grayfia bowed, acquising to her _king's_ wishes.

Rias stared at her brother for a moment, curious to what he would be talking to Naruto and Mio-chan about...

Then she sighed, she wouldn't get anything from him while Grayfia was around. Best to wait for another time.

So the maid escorted the Gremory heiress out of the Maou's box, to give them some privacy.

Once the two women left, a serious expression finally reached the current Maou Lucifer's face.

Serious time.

"Naruto-kun, I've heard of your exploits from Grayfia, first and foremost...I'd like to thank you for helping my imouto." Sirzechs said, honest gratitude evident in his facial features.

Naruto grinned. "No worries Sirzechs-san. She just needed a little help...so as a friend, I provided it. That simple."

The red-headed Maou smiled at that response.

But that smile very quickly turned into a frown.

"Naruto-kun...I'd really like to believe that. But to be perfectly honest, I'm not too sure if you're that trustworthy." the Maou claimed.

But before the blond could say anything, Sirzechs continued.

"Please understand Naruto-kun...that for me, you came practically out of nowhere. You're strangely powerful, strangely skilled, strangely befriended the heiress of one of the most powerful devil clans, and helped her for free...in essence, the devil side of me is suspicious of your motives. After all, why am I only hearing about you now? Someone of your abilities should have been noted by many factions, as a possible ally, enemy, or simply a neutral. Yet the first time I've heard your name...it was as a result of you helping my precious imouto, in a summer home, as a close friend. All in a short time as well."

Sirzechs sighed after explaining himself a little more, he then opened his eyes to gauge this mysterious blond's reaction.

Instead of angry or worried, which was what the Maou expected, the blond seemed...

Confused.

"Uh...wait. This is the _first_ time you've heard of me? That's weird...I thought that the information of my victory against that fallen angel; Vretiel, would have spread by now." Naruto said with a confounded face.

She _was_ a big deal right? At least he thought so...yet this is the first time that the powerful man had heard of him?

When Naruto ventured to ask, he noticed that the Maou's eyes were trained on him intensely.

"...That was you...? Then that means that you're...the 'Unknown Variable'...?" Sirzechs asked hesitantly, not quite believing that this human boy could defeat Vretiel.

But if he _was_...

"Ah...that stupid name again...where the hell did it even come from?" Naruto grumbled out loud, disgruntled that such a name has stuck to him.

The Maou's frown deepened. So he was the 'Unknown Variable' that he has been hearing about huh...? What an interesting turn of events.

"I see, well I think that complicates things a bit. But nevertheless, you still aided my imouto in her time of need, so I will properly pay you back for that in a moment. But first...I still need to speak with Mio-kun here." Sirzechs stated, turning to the young daughter of the Original Lucifer.

Mio shifted uncomfortably, she's been having trouble gathering the courage to truly partake in the conversation. So to suddenly get dragged into it was...

The shinobi noticed her discomfort, so he moved closer to her and faced the Maou. "Um...if if she's uncomfortable, then is it ok to do this at a different time?"

"No wait."

Sirzechs and Naruto turned to look at the young red-head, a little surprised that she wanted to go through with this.

She bit her lip, her face tightened, and her fists clenched. She wasn't sure if she had to guts to keep going.

No...she had to keep going, she had to learn the truth of her birth father.

She took a deep breathe, then exhaled.

Finally, she gave the current Maou Lucifer a determined stare, ready to keep going.

Seeing this, Sirzechs obliged. "Ok Mio-kun...do you know anything about your birth father?"

The young half-devil closed her eyes, trying to drudge up anything of her birth father...

"...Nothing, I don't remember anything of him." Mio mumbled apologetically.

The red-headed Maou shook his head. "It's fine, I didn't really expect anything, just needed to make sure. Hmm...maybe if I tell you a bit of what I remember of the Original Lucifer, that could help you remember something? If there is something anyways."

Mio's back straightened, unintentionally making her more alert and attentive.

Naruto was watching the current Lucifer with interest as well, looking for more information on the first Lucifer.

"...The Original Lucifer...was a vengeful and selfish man. Even more so than most devils, even of his time. A lot of pride, both in himself and to his species. He always believed in the superiority of devil-kind over other races, especially to the angels under the God of the Bible. However, that pride, selfishness, and vengeful spirit was what pushed him to consistently wage war against Heaven and the Fallen Angels as well. No matter how many of his kind fell, he would always pursue another battle, a chance to kill more of his enemies." Sirzechs began quietly, remembering the few times he saw the dangerous man.

The two teens were watching the older male with intensity, very much interested in what happened.

Sirzechs continued. "Although many devils were loyal to him, they began to resent his heavy hand and warmongering ways. Many devils lost loved ones during the Great War, but any that tried to protest about it were eliminated without remorse. The rest of the Maous staunchly supported Lucifer in his wars, so eventually...devils simply had enough. A civil war broke out, the Original Yondai Maou on one side and the Anti-Maou Faction on the other. I fought in that war as one of the most powerful members of the Anti-Maou Faction...and we eventually killed off most of the Original Maous...except Lucifer."

At this, the current Maou Lucifer leaned back into his chair, relaxing himself after recounting so many memories of trials so long ago.

Naruto was watching him with sympathy, he doubted that it was easy...killing off so many of his fellow devils. But these Original Maous sounded like bad eggs.

Mio for her part, was feeling intensely conflicted feelings. On one hand, she was learning more about her origins, the story of the father that she has never known...but on the other, she was also learning about all of his atrocities.

She wasn't too sure how to feel.

Sirzechs finally began recounting the last, and most important part of the story. The piece of information that no doubt had to do with the young girl in front of him.

"The Original Lucifer escaped the final battle of the civil war, escaping from the Underworld and into the human world. This civil war took place about three hundred years ago...and although we've searched for him across the globe, we haven't found him...until recently that is. We eventually found him and brought him back to the Underworld to be trialed and executed for his crimes...that was about fifteen years ago." the Maou stated solemnly.

Naruto's eyes widened, that was...!

"...That's around how old I am..." Mio mumbled out loud, eyes downcast.

The room was silent, only the sounds of the chattering of the party was keeping the occupants company.

"...Look, I'm sorry that I've dumped this information on you, but this is _extremely_ important. Do you recall _anything_ of your father after hearing his story?" Sirzechs pressed.

Mio shook her head quietly, she honestly couldn't remember anything.

The Maou sighed, he was afraid of that.

That left only assumptions left...

"...I was afraid of that, unfortunately I'm going to have to rely on my own theories for his actions." the current Lucifer said quietly.

The red-headed devil turned to face the two teens, grave expression at hand.

"Mio-kun...he has a lot of pride and a vengeful spirit. He simply isn't a person who would gracefully give up or peacefully stand down, if he feels that someone has wronged him...he would do everything in his power to get them back. It is precisely because he is like that...that I feel that you are his attempt at getting back at me." Sirzechs eventually said.

Mio's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"...Get back at you...? I-I don't understand..." Mio stuttered.

But the moment he said those words...she knew.

She _knew_.

Naruto stood up, fury beginning to course through his veins at the implications of those words. "You're not saying that he...!"

"...That's right. I believe that the Original Lucifer has birthed Mio-kun specifically to overthrow the current government."

The room was silent once more, the harsh reality of such a proclamation stopped both teens cold.

Mio slumped into her chair, eyes staring forward, no expression on her face.

That's strange...why did she feel so tired...?

Naruto grit his teeth, he really wanted to punch something right now...!

At least with his father, he didn't have a choice but to seal the kyuubi into him...

But Mio's 'father' has left his daughter with such a burden...! For no reason! For nothing except his selfishness!

That really pissed him off...!

"...I'm afraid that's not all." Sirzechs interrupted, feeling that he needed to get this all out of the way now.

Both teens regarded the Maou with wary stares, there was more?

"Considering his personality, considering how long he has remained free in the human world, and considering his last act before getting caught...what do you think he has been doing for the last three hundred years or so?"

Mio's fists clenched so hard that his knuckled turned white. Could it really be that...?

...She wasn't the only one?

"...I'm sorry, that's the only thing that makes sense, given the information at hand. I believe that Mio-kun wasn't the Original Lucifer's first attempt at revenge, rather...I think that he has created multiple offsprings. That being said, it is only a theory. But given what I remember from the man...a viable one." Sirzechs continued, giving the young half-devil a sympathetic stare.

"...Mio." Naruto said quietly, moving closer to her as her body started to shake.

"...Some part of me hoped that my father turned a new leaf. A part of me hoped that...maybe...he wasn't as bad as the stories made him out to be. But this is the truth isn't it...? I'm not his daughter...I'm his ' _legacy_ '." the half-devil spat, her lips trembling and her eyes watering.

She wouldn't cry...not from this.

Not for him.

"...Like I said, it's a theory for now. I'm sorry for causing you grief, Mio-kun. It must be difficult for you." the current Lucifer said apologetically.

The younger red-head shook her head slowly, wiping away the stray droplets flowing down her face.

"It's fine...better to hear this now rather than later. Can we...can we please just change the subject?" Mio begged, a hint of desperation making it's way to her voice.

Naruto agreed, a change of topic was needed.

Sirzechs coughed into his palm, swiftly changing gears. "Alright then, Naruto-kun. I'm sure that Grayfia talked to you about how we're going to help Mio-kun here. We figured that this was the proper way to repay you for helping my imouto. But as I'm sure you've noticed...I've already told the nobles here about your actions against Riser Phenex."

Naruto sent him an annoyed look. "Oh yeah...I've noticed alright."

Sirzechs merely scratched his cheek in embarrassment, silently apologizing. "Well...if it makes you feel better, not only did I _not_ mention that you are a human...I was also about to _officially_ announce your presence to this function. I'd also make it known that you...have my favor through your actions, something like that could give you a healthy amount of influence to these nobles."

The shinobu blinked.

Then he grinned, that would definitely help.

Seeing that he's got the blond's approval, he was about to get up and address the nobles below their elevated perch.

But he was cut off.

A familiar pillar of fire sprung up from the main room floor.

* * *

"Thank you for taking me all of this way! Yuki-san!" Asia thanked with a large smile.

The young hero smiled in return, happy to have helped.

They were in front of the Hyoudou residence, where Yuki helped the young nun get to in one piece. Just in case there were any creeps looking to attack the innocent girl.

Now the powerful human was waving goodbye to the female blond, as she left the premises of the Hyoudou residence.

"Alright then! We got the nun back to her house safe and sound! So! What's next on the agenda?"

Yuki regarded the excitable succubus with curiosity, why was she here again?

Almost as if the loli was reading her mind, she answered the hero's unasked question.

"I'm bored." Maria claimed.

Of course, how could she have forgotten?

"Maria-san...shouldn't you be focusing on something else?" Yuki said eventually, giving a pointed look at something behind her.

Maria blinked as she turned and saw a bunch of luggage.

Oh yeah...she was supposed to drop Mio-sama's luggage off as well, right?

The succubus sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, as she picked up all of the heavy luggage without effort and began to rush back to the house.

Yuki just sighed, this would be a long few days...

The hero's eyes snapped to her pocket, as she heard her phone's ringtone go off.

She immediately grabbed it and checked the caller id...

Her eyes hardened slightly, this was...

Yuki accepted the call and placed it onto her ear.

"...Hello, Otou-sama. What's wrong?" the young teen asked quietly, making sure that no one could eavesdrop onto her conversation.

"Ah, Yuki-kun! Glad to hear from you! I was about to do something stupid, so I figured that I should contact you to inform you...just in case." Jin stated with a humorous tone.

Yuki's eyes narrowed, what was he going to do?

She also noticed something...off.

"Otou-sama...why is there static in the call? I thought that these hero-made phones should have no interference, no matter where they are on the planet?" the young hero pressed, suspicious of her father's behavior.

"Ah...smart as always. Ah well, like I said...I'm about to do something stupid. But I think an old man like myself can do stupid things every now and then, just do me a favor and... _don't_ try and find me. I know how stubborn you could be...but this is important."

Yuki's hand clenched the phone.

"Otou-sama...I...!"

"See ya later, Yuki-kun."

Just like that, the connection was cut.

Yuki stared at the lost connection, biting her lip as she contemplated the information she has received.

...She couldn't do anything.

"...Stay safe...otou-sama."

* * *

Naruto watched with a growing frown, as a familiar face appeared from the flames of that orange magic circle.

"...Riser Phenex?" Sirzechs asked with a small frown.

Many nobles were shocked at the blatant entrance, making way for the young son of the Phenex clan without much thought. Bringing all focus onto the young man.

Just as he wanted.

"Uzumaki Naruto! I know you are out there! I know that you can hear me! So know this! I, Riser Phenex, challenge you to a duel!" Riser called out.

The entire main hall became deathly quiet after this proclamation.

The shinobi's face contorted into shock, just what the hell was this guy thinking!?

But nevertheless...it's best that he face him now rather than allow him to run his mouth, it'd reflect bad on the both of them.

So Naruto, much to the shock of both Sirzechs and Mio, _jumped_ out of the Maou's box and fell down several stories in front of Riser.

He landed like a cat, with nary a sound or a broken bone.

"...Riser-san. I would normally make jokes about your hair or about your fashion sense right now...but this really isn't the time. So stop speaking nonsense." the whiskered teen claimed seriously.

Riser merely grinned at his serious expression. "Now now...I'd wait and listen to what I have to say before dismissing me."

With that statement, he walked up to the younger blond, allowing for the two males to stand right next to one another.

"...If you don't accept my challenge to a duel, then I'm going to reveal to everyone here...that you're actually a human." Riser said eventually, victorious smirk reaching his face.

Naruto's eyes snapped to the older blond, expression tightening.

"...You wouldn't. I'm here because your _Maou_ asked me to come. Would you really jeopardize your position for a chance at getting back at me?" the shinobi asked, disbelieving that the Phenex could be so ridiculously reckless.

Riser merely shrugged. "As long as you agree to the duel, then Maou-sama can't really do anything about it. The noble devil families will protect me from any repercussions, because if I win...I have the right to tell _everyone_ how a _human_ has canceled the marriage of two pure-blood devils. I assure you...that many devil clans would support a pure-blood devil any day over a mere human."

Naruto gnashed his teeth in rising frustration. The last thing he needed was for the noble families to hate him...he still wanted to get them to protect Mio!

But at this rate...

"...If I win, then you have to vow that you won't spread the fact that I'm human to the noble families." Naruto demanded harshly, his annoyance preventing him from speaking diplomatically.

The son of the Phenex clan grinned.

"Fine by me."

* * *

"...What is Riser thinking? Surely he must know that this is an absurd waste of time? Surely he must know that while Maou-sama won't intervene in the duel, he could still make life miserable for himself and his clan? Just what is going on in his head...?" Sona wondered aloud, confused by his actions.

"I'm afraid that I'm stumped too, Sona. He's arrogant and foolish...but he isn't stupid. Yet he's going through with this anyways." Rias agreed, troubled by the Phenex's state of mind.

The two high-class devils were watching as the two duelists have walked outside, safely away from the castle grounds.

Grayfia was the referee and everyone else was spectating the match.

"...You've noticed it too, right Rias?" Sona asked quietly, observing the young Phenex flex his arms confidently.

"...Unfortunately, yes. His demonic energy has...skyrocketed. He was at the lower-end of high-class power before...but now he's at the upper-end; almost ultimate-class. This shouldn't be possible...right?" the Gremory heiress asked hesitantly.

The Sitri heiress nodded. "It should be, yet there Riser stands. I don't know how strong Uzumaki-san is...but something about this feels...off."

Rias couldn't help but get that same feeling as well.

Something about this didn't make sense, no... _everything_ about this didn't make sense.

Riser's actions.

His increase in power.

And...this foreboding feeling...

Something bad was going to happen.

She could only hope that the blond could handle it...

* * *

"Are both duelists ready?" Grayfia called out.

Naruto nodded, inhaling a lot of air, seeking to balance himself from his annoyance.

Riser nodded, his confidence seemingly unshakable.

"Alright then...may this duel...begin!"

* * *

 **AN: Hey there! Sorry for the late chapter, finals week is coming up and my study time is eating up my work for the story. Winter vacation is almost here...hopefully I can make chapters faster when that comes along. :P**

 **Anyways, the fight with Riser begins in earnest next time, a lot of crazy shit will happen, I can assure you.**

 **It will be epic. :P**

 **This was hard to write for some reason btw...had to rewrite this three times before I was satisfied. Maybe a minor case of writer's block?**

 ***Shrugs* who knows?**

 **Next chapter should be coming in earlier than usual, cause have a little break before classes restart for finals week.**

 **Lastly, I should note that I use the High School DxD light novel canon over the anime canon, and that there are sometimes stark differences between the two.**

 **Just thought I should mention it when someone brought up how holy water did damage all the way to Riser's soul...which didn't happen in the light novel at all. So yeah, light novel is being used here. :P**

 **Cya later!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	23. Chapter 23

Harsh blue eyes was staring down at the castle courtyard, unwavering in their target.

The battle between his pawn and the 'Unknown' was about to begin...

"...Lucifer-sama, is this safe? Even with the abilities you've taught me...I don't know if I can hide our demonic energy from someone like Sirzechs-sama..."

The _true_ Lucifer ignored Diodora's doubts, he knew full well what the boy's 'upgrade' was capable of, it would keep them both under the radar of anyone's senses.

Especially since they made sure to transport here at a very...high location.

The two devils were currently on top of a mountain, overlooking the castle. The castle itself was facing _away_ from the mountain, so it was a perfect area to scout out the young man's abilities.

He knew full well that the boy, Uzumaki Naruto, was more powerful than his new pawn...but that wasn't the point.

Information was power, anything he could gain on his future enemy would be a boon. Especially since he stood in the way of getting to Naruse Mio...

The leader of the Old Maou Faction waited patiently, hopefully the young Phenex would at least push the boy hard enough to use more abilities.

* * *

"Damn...it's that asshole from before. Does he _want_ to get embarrassed in front of everyone?" Issei asked with an incredulous look on his face.

Naruto beat him easily before, so...what? Does he want another beating?

Masochist much?

The rest of the Gremory group was watching the standoff between Riser and Naruto play out, slight tension in their facial expressions.

"I don't know if this clash will be as easy as last time to be honest, Issei-kun." Yuuto said, a frown marring his handsome features.

The brown-haired boy glanced at his blond comrade, confused. "Huh? Are you serious? You're acting like this isn't the same bastard that Naruto beat up the other day. I'm telling you, this guy may as well as pay for his burial. He's got no shot."

"...Actually, I think that Kiba-kun may be right." Akeno muttered out loud.

All eyes snapped to the _queen_ , the second-in-charge of the entire group.

"You probably can't feel it Issei, but Riser's demonic energy has skyrocketed to new heights...so much that he may be able to actually give our favorite troublemaker some problems." Akeno analyzed with narrowed eyes, although she had no idea _how_ the Phenex managed to get such an increase in strength.

"...Riser has got stronger. A lot. But...Naruto-sempai should still beat him." Koneko pointed out, not seeing any scenario that the Phenex could come out on top.

Issei looked relieved at that. "Oh, good. For a second there...it seemed like all of you were beginning to believe that Naruto may actually lose. Too bad I'm not that strong yet...I'd like to get a chance to knock that bastard's smug grin off of his face."

The other three members of the Peerage glanced at one another, sharing similar concerns.

"...That's just it, Issei-kun. Don't you think that he's a little... _too_ confident? I mean he's arrogant, sure, but he isn't incompetent. So maybe...he has a backup plan, or something like that?" Yuuto eventually interjected, a suspicious stare trained at the far away Phenex.

Issei frowned at that, thinking about the possibility.

"Well...I don't think that I could put it him past him to be honest, he really is just a bad egg." the wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ muttered.

"Hey! How dare you put my onii-sama down like that!"

The small group of teens turned in surprise to see a young girl accosting them.

She was a young girl with blue eyes and blond hair that was tied into two twintails, which in turn had curls that were shaped like small drills. Her expensive pink dress gave them all an impression of nobility.

But Issei pointed out the one most important thing about the girl so far.

"Eh? 'Onii-sama'? Wait...so you're that asshole's sister!?"

The young blond raised her nose in the air, annoyed at the _pawn's_ reaction.

Nevertheless, she introduced herself. "That's right, my name is Ravel Phenex of the illustrious Phenex clan. I couldn't help but notice that you were speaking ill of my onii-sama...that is unacceptable! I demand an apology!"

Akeno gave everyone meaningful looks, conveying to them that they really shouldn't go out of their way to anger the blond. It wouldn't reflect well on their _king_.

Yuuto and Koneko nodded, accepting their _queen's_ wishes.

But unfortunately, Issei didn't catch her meaning.

"Man...you have a good face but a terrible personality, huh? Why should anyone apologize to an asshole like that? He deserves the throttling he's about to get." the perverted boy claimed stubbornly.

Ravel looked like she has been physically slapped, as she started at the brown-haired boy incredulously.

Then her face contorted in outrage.

"That's an impossibility! Onii-sama was definitely just toying with his enemy before! There's just no way that he could lose! You'll see!" Ravel claimed loudly, incensed by any talk of her brother losing.

Before Issei could retort, Yuuto tried to intervene.

"Um...sorry to interrupt you two, but I believe that the match is starting." Yuuto said, pointing at the castle courtyard.

Both young teens stopped what they were doing to look at the duel that just started.

"Hmph! Onii-sama will show you the power of the Phenex clan, you will eat your words." Ravel stubbornly claimed, before gluing her eyes onto the clash.

Issei sighed.

What did he do to deserve this...?

* * *

The go ahead has been given by the _queen_ of Sirzechs.

Yet neither of the combatants were attacking or charging one another.

Instead, Naruto and Riser were staring at one another, one with a cocky smirk, the other with a serious stare.

The shinobi then turned his head, subtly glancing at the castle, where all of their spectators were.

...How should he go about this?

He was being watched by a bunch of high-class devils, most of which probably hated his guts.

So...while he wanted to punch this guy's face in, he didn't necessarily feel like showing off his more powerful abilities.

He didn't know how much powerful his fellow blond has become, he only knew that his energy signal has risen by quite a lot.

Well then, he may as well try out some experimental stuff then. He's been meaning to try something that he was testing out while training...

"...I'd like to apologize to you, Riser-san." the shinobi called out to his fellow blond.

Riser's smirk grew, seemingly fed by the younger blond's capitulation. "Ah...so you've finally seen the light, have you? Seen who's the superior being?"

Naruto tilted his head a bit. "Actually, I wanted to apologize for not making my last beating...stick. Obviously, since I was so focused on getting my friend out of an engagement, I wasn't giving you the full effect of my foot-up-your-ass. So I'm going to fix that. If I did that in the first place...then you might either have been too traumatized to be so annoying or maybe even have changed for the better."

The Phenex's smirk finally dropped, changing into a scowl.

"...I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should."

Naruto gave him a mocking grin.

"Sorry, to say...I feel the same way. You chose the wrong time to get back at me, I happen to be in a pretty bad mood."

Riser ignored his opponent's words, glaring at the man who has humiliated him.

"I'm putting you back in your place, in order to restore the natural order of things. Your defeat here is guaranteed, _human_." Riser claimed, before spreading his legs out to fight.

"...Fine, let's see how much stronger you've become then." Naruto retorted quietly, crouching to get ready to pounce.

Good thing he did.

Riser raised his hand and created a large magic circle, bigger than his own body.

From it, spewed flames that flew straight towards the whiskered teen.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly when he noticed the heat of the flames. This was...!

The blond narrowed his eyes, he needed to test something.

So Naruto ran _towards_ the incoming flames, making sure to keep note of how hot the flames were as he approached.

At the last moment, he slid under the incoming flames, using his momentum to move past it while in that position.

After finally clearing past the attack, the shinobi acrobatically got back to his feet and gave his opponent a harsh stare.

"...There's no way you could have increased your demonic energy _and_ the potency of your flames so quickly...what the hell did you do?" Naruto asked seriously.

Those flames were almost as strong as the very flames he faced in the Valley of the End...

A _massive_ difference compared to what the Phenex's flames were like before.

Riser shrugged, seemingly amused by his enemy's confusion.

Naruto frowned, he's had enough of this new and cocky attitude, he won't show off any jutsus unless some major shit happens, but his strength and speed?

He didn't particularly care about those at the moment.

But first...he still needed to figure something out. This was a perfect opportunity for it.

But before he made to attack, Riser slammed his foot onto the ground, creating a magic circle under himself.

The circular object then spewed large walls of flames that enveloped the young man that created it, surrounding him like some overbearing shield.

Naruto realized that that's _exactly_ what it was.

"Now human...did you really think that I didn't learn from our last encounter? That I didn't try to find a way to circumvent your abilities? Well unfortunately for you I'm not that foolish! My flames have become more powerful, now you have to go pass them in order to inflict damage on me at all! What will you do now!?" Riser exclaimed, a large smirk once more adorning his features.

The shinobi glanced at the wall of flames, it was indeed a hell of a lot more powerful than before...

With his speech over, Riser manipulated the flames in front of him to spread, causing the flames to spread outwards. From there, he aimed the flames towards his enemy, hoping to ensnare him with the scorching heat.

Seeing the incoming heat, Naruto dodged out of the way by tucking himself into a roll, moving away from the attack, before getting back up and checking on the wall of flames.

Just as he stopped, he was forced to move as Riser sent several fire balls at him by using the wall of flames for ammunition.

Naruto continued to dodge around the attacks, not seemingly bothering to do anything to attack back.

Instead, with his brows furrowed and face scrunched up, he seemed to be focusing on something else _entirely_.

Riser assumed that his concentration was due to his desperation to avoid his attacks, so accordingly tried to overwhelm his opponent with more attacks.

The fireballs were getting shot out at a frantic pace, all in rapid succession as they converged into Naruto's position.

Naruto himself began speeding across the castle courtyard as the fireballs rained around him, causing large explosions that rocked the area.

Man, the courtyard was pretty damn big...

The blond clicked his tongue when he noticed that Riser sought to catch him in a pincer, throwing his flames like a particularly large douse from a flamethrower and leaving them like a wall in front of him.

The whiskered teen smashed his fingers into the ground in order to slow down his momentum and shifted courses, not crashing into the flames and continuing to dodge incoming fireballs behind him.

However, he made _extra_ sure to stay close to the flames...

Ok...his tests were almost done.

One last test.

For some strange reason, the blond suddenly stopped moving. Allowing for the fireballs to catch up to his position, only deigning to take off his jacket that he wore for the party.

A maniacal grin at hand, Riser obliged the suicidal act by allowing for his rain of fire to hit his enemy where he stood.

Naruto did nothing, simply stood in position as he stared at the flames reaching his position...

* * *

The current Maou Lucifer watched as the fireballs reached the young human that he invited, detonating like a bomb that enveloped the blond and smashed apart the ground. Melting it the rocks that were at the explosion site.

Sirzechs and his wife were watching the clash on top of the keep, using their elevated position to watch the battle without anything blocking the way.

"...Just what are you doing, Naruto-kun?" Sirzechs asked quietly, confused at the mysterious blond's actions.

It wasn't like Naruto-kun couldn't have dodged the attacks, yet he just stood there and took it. Just what was he doing exactly?

The red-headed male narrowed his eyes, as a matter of fact...he seemed to be _allowing_ for the attacks to get closer and closer...

"Sirzechs-sama, have you noticed how much more...powerful Riser-sama has become?" Grayfia muttered to her _king_ , staring pointedly at the child of the Phenex clan.

He was _not_ able to do that before...

Sirzechs eyes widened as her words clicked something in his head.

The realization eventually caused a small grin to grow on his face, looks like Naruto-kun was smarter than he let on at times...

"...Sirzechs-sama?" Grayfia asked quietly, unsure of what happened to make the Maou grin.

Sirzechs waved his beautiful wife's concerns away, pleased that he at least had some grasp on what the 'Unknown Variable' was thinking.

He deserved the name was all he could say.

* * *

Riser was watching the small inferno he caused in front of him, it was beautiful.

He never thought that he could be _this_ strong!

Truly, a few Phoenix tears was more than a fair trade for such power!

With the promise of more power if things goes awry as well...

The young Phenex didn't even notice how thoroughly _enveloped_ he has become on the idea of _power_...

But before Riser could continue to congratulate himself, a blond blur broke through the flames of the inferno, speeding away from Riser's position.

The son of the Phenex clan snarled as he recognized his enemy. Why won't he just stay down!?

Naruto for his part, singed but still fine, studied his person for damage.

He got hurt alright...

"Good, time to end this then." Naruto muttered, before turning to face the smug older blond.

With that idea in mind, Naruto charged forward, making straight for the wall of flames covering the young Phenex.

Riser raised an eyebrow, a frontal assault? Was he stupid?

Just in case, Riser manipulated the flames around him and shot them as streams of fire towards his enemy.

Naruto, in a burst of speed, clearly dodged the attacks by spinning his body around one of the fiery attacks and then jumping over the other, launching him into the air.

The high-class devil smirked, perfect target opportunity.

Before Riser could take advantage of the opportunity however, _something_ happened.

For some inexplicable reason...the airborne human _moved_.

He didn't just move however, he was practically _launched_ like a missile while in the air and towards Riser!

Riser's eyes bulged at this, what the hell just happened!?

The devil quickly recovered from his shock, but realized that the maneuver would allow for the human to land right in front of the wall of flames.

Fine, but he wouldn't actually pierce his wall without that blue orb from before...

As predicted, Naruto landed gracefully in front of Riser and looked at him, with his jaw set and eyes fierce.

Riser smirked. "So, you finally managed to get close to me, congratulations. What will you do now, I wonder? These flames are constantly being fed by my demonic energy...so they are top-notch! If you could barely handle my flames before...you would get incinerated by these!"

Naruto didn't say anything, he just raised himself up and stared at his opponent, the man hiding behind his fire.

Fitting.

"...I think you're misunderstanding something here, Riser-san." the younger blond said without any change in his facial features.

Riser's smirk cracked.

"...I admit that you've gotten a lot more powerful in a short time, these flames are near the level of one of my closest friends..." Naruto admitted easily, casually walking towards the flames.

Before his expression darkened.

"...But unfortunately for you, that was the level of flames that was able to hurt me _three_ years ago."

Riser's jaw unhinged for a moment.

"Wait...what?" Riser stuttered, unbelieving of what he just heard.

But that was all he managed to get out.

As right when he stuttered out a sentence, Naruto took that opportunity to charge straight _into_ the wall of flames, without even a hint of hesitation.

Then, gobsmacked, Riser stared at cerulean eyes that pierced through the walls.

" _Surprise_ you son of a bitch!" Naruto roared out as he sent his fist straight towards the devil's jaw.

 ***Crunch***

Damn it, he loved that sound.

Riser was sent flying out of his own barrier, sending him _over_ the castle walls and outside the courtyard.

The flames that composed the walls immediately began to dissipate once the continuous flow of demonic energy has ceased.

Naruto quickly checked his body...

As he thought. Light burns everywhere, but nothing bad.

The shinobi then gave chase, jumping over the castle walls and joining the annoying devil at the...

At the...

...What was it called, the castle grounds or something like that?

Anyways, the blond was going to continue the fight outside the walls.

As he left, he heard the shuffling of movement from inside the castle, no doubt their spectators would follow them.

After a split second of catching up, he moved fast enough to see that Riser was only _just_ crashing into the ground when he arrived.

He fell straight _into_ a rock formation. Making a decent sized crater on impact.

The shinobi finally closed the distance between them and landed in front of the furious devil.

"You...you! How!? You were dodging my attacks the entire time! So wouldn't that mean that my flames were too hot to take!? I don't get it!" Riser shouted in anger, it didn't make any sense to him!

The shinobi tilted his head, staring at his fellow blond with a frown.

"Your flames were pretty hot...but as long as I don't stay in the flames for that long, then I can take it. I said it already, right? Your flames would have been dangerous three years ago. The only reason I went through all that trouble before was to test your new abilities." Naruto explained patiently.

Riser's eyes widened. A test?

"...What? Why do you look so surprised? You do realize that your _massive_ jump in power is pretty damn suspicious right? The only problem I had, was that I had no idea _what_ was powered up exactly. So I intentionally allowed myself to be close to some of your attacks, testing it's heat. Then I made sure to keep the charade up to test your reflexes and tactical thinking. The only thing I saved for last, was to see just how long I could take your flames. All so I could make sure that your little 'wall of flames' wouldn't stop me." Naruto claimed with a shrug.

The older blond was incredulous, staring wide eyed at the human in front of him.

"...You're insane! Who would let themselves get hurt just to test their opponent's abilities for!?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, a hint of a snarl making it's way to his lips as he regarded his downed enemy.

"...You probably wouldn't understand, but I have some goals that I'd like to achieve before I...'leave'. My goals are extremely difficult to get in meaningful ways, especially with what I have planned. But more importantly, there have been some... _incidents_ lately that have made me very conscious of...coincidences." the blond noted with a glare aimed at the young Phenex.

Riser didn't know why, but his body was actively trying to sink into the rock formation that he was stuck to, seemingly wishing to hide from the human's harsh glare.

"...Both; my goals and my comrades were threatened by this 'incident'...and now there's another 'incident' where some random asshole gets a large power up for no specific reason...excuse me for being blunt, but I _really_ don't like that. I also can't help but notice just how... _close_ these situations are to one another." the shinobi muttered darkly.

The first incident involved a bastard that could hide his energy signal, beyond anything that Naruto really dealt with before.

This second incident had a guy that received a massive boost in energy and power, beyond anything that training for a few days could do.

Look underneath the underneath right? Well color him suspicious as fuck.

"Are...are you accusing me of something?" Riser growled, a hint of fear beginning to reach it's way to the devil's heart.

Naruto smiled.

There was no mirth in it.

"Not yet. But really...despite all of my justifications and words, there was another thing that I wanted to do. Part of it is for a genuinely good reason...and the other part is a little selfish." Naruto stated calmly, before continuing. "The good reason is to stop you from getting back at me by hurting those I care about...and given your track record, I think it could happen. While the selfish reason...is because you caught me at a _really_ bad time."

Riser shrunk away from his enemy, getting a bad feeling...

"Riser Phenex. I want to make sure that you know the difference between our abilities. You've gained great power and large reserves of demonic energy...but that's it. To put it simply, that's about to cost you." the shinobi warned, grabbing a slip of paper inside his pants pocket and placing it onto the palm of his hand.

He only brought one of these...it was experimental. He just hoped that the thing wouldn't literally blow up in his face.

Before Naruto could complete his dastardly scheme however, Riser immediately made to escape by flaring his fiery wings and making some space.

But unfortunately for the devil, Naruto wouldn't let him.

Faster than he could have seen, a vicious fist sent Riser to the ground, intercepting him before he got too far into the sky.

Crashing into a heap, Riser managed to remain cognizant enough to create a magic circle and pour as much demonic energy as he could without blowing it up.

Seeing the attack, once more, he rocketed away from his position in the air towards Riser. Almost as if he was launched from a cannon.

Smashing his foot into Riser's gut, he sent his opponent at just the right angle to sent him skipping across the ground. Repeatedly smashing into the ground, bringing up a lot of dust from his impacts.

The moment he stopped and his regeneration managed to heal his shattered limbs, Riser finally completed his attack and sent it's fiery rage soaring to his enemy.

The blond's features were stern and unyielding as he raised his hand up and allowed the piece of paper to complete his work for him.

He just hoped it wouldn't blow up...!

" _Fūka Hōin_...!" (Fire Sealing Method) the whiskered teen shouted.

The large amount of flames that were heading towards him were suddenly caught into a suction, drawing it away from Naruto and to the small piece of paper on his hand.

Once the deed was done, the seal only had an extra piece of kanji that was called 'fire' to notify the user that the fire was stored.

The shinobi grinned. At least one piece of good news today.

That being said...!

The blond ripped the seal off of his hand.

Meanwhile, Riser's expression became increasingly worried, his current power wasn't enough...!

He needed more, otherwise he would lose again!

As Riser was becoming increasingly worried, he didn't notice that his enemy has made another move.

"Hey! Riser!"

Naruto immediately threw the seal at Riser.

"Wha-?"

Riser was only able to get one shocked word out.

Before he could finish, the small piece of paper lit up like a small fire cracker in the dark night.

Then suddenly, light enveloped the area around the seal as Naruto made a break for it, knowing what was about to happen.

He never _did_ complete the seal.

 ***BOOOM***

* * *

 ***BOOOM***

The explosion was a ways away from the castle, but all of the inhabitants definitely saw it clearly.

"Incredible...! That charity case is thoroughly crushing Riser of the Phenex clan!"

"...Looks like he wasn't all talk after all."

"I wonder if it's possible to snatch him up for my Peerage..."

These were a few of the many murmurings of the high-class devils that were watching the battle from the safe confines of the castle.

Sona ignored their annoying words, as was custom for her.

That was usually the same for Rias as well, but instead of her usual actions...

The heiress of the Sitri clan glanced at her friend's clenched fists, watching as her eyes changed from their normal blue-green to the swirling Power of Destruction.

Yes, she wasn't happy at _all_.

She supposed it made sense, Rias may very well be indebted to the mysterious teen.

It was then, that a familiar face walked past them in order to get a closer look on the battle outside of the castle.

"...Mio-chan?" Rias asked, surprised that the younger red-head didn't greet them when she passed them.

Mio blinked, breaking out of the daze that she was entrapped in.

"Ah...Rias-sempai. I didn't see you there. What's up?" Mio stated quietly, looking slightly disoriented while doing so.

Both high-class devils noticed.

"Um...Mio-chan? Are you ok? You seem kind of...out of it." Rias pointed out, regarding her younger friend with a worried look.

Mio grimaced. "I'll live, I heard some unpleasant news recently...and it's left a bad taste in my mouth. More importantly though, how's Naruto doing?"

Sona glanced at Rias, noting that the 'sister' of Uzumaki was being evasive.

If Rias noticed, then she didn't acknowledge it.

"We think he was holding back at the beginning, but he's throttling Riser now. Kind of satisfying actually...I was so focused on my engagement before, that I wasn't really paying attention to the beating that Riser was getting. So seeing this fight is a plus for me." the Gremory heiress replied happily, enjoying herself immensely.

Mio wasn't paying attention however, she was focused on the other voices that grabbed her attention.

"Hey, that kid is pretty strong, is it possible to trick him into being my slave?" a high-class devil muttered to himself.

Mio's eye twitched.

"Hah! You're not the only one wondering about that. I recently heard some schemes being bandied about to get that kid to work for them. It's an...attractive idea."

Her fists clenched and unclenched, trying to get rid of the emotions that were rising to the forefront.

"Hmm...surely Maou-sama brought him here as a prize, no? After all...we lost the chance to get another pure-blood child through the engagement that was canceled. So perhaps a chance to get at this powerhouse is his attempt to smooth over the feathers he is ruffling?"

"Oh! Excellent point! Then perhaps it _is_ open season on the boy! Perhaps promises of wealth and women could entice him..."

Teeth grinded against one another, as the _bastard_ of the Original Lucifer heard these words.

...Was this it?

Was this what the other half of her blood contained?

This complete and utter _selfishness_?

Maybe it was due to the bitter realization of her origins...but she couldn't help but look at the devil blood flowing through her veins as a curse by this point.

Her family was killed because of it.

She was hunted down because of it.

Her _trash excuse_ of a father gave it to her.

Now?

She was hearing high-class devils talk about someone precious to her like they were some kind of horse at an auction.

It was _disgusting_.

"...Mio-chan?"

Mio's dulled eyes cleared.

Pink eyes turned to see the worried blue-green eyes of her friend.

...That's right.

Not all devils were like that.

Rias-sempai, Sona-san, Sairaorg-san, the current Maou...

Not to mention their Peerage...

She took a deep breath, willing her dark mood to go away.

"...Sorry, I was thinking about something. I think I'm better now." Mio admitted, giving her friend a grateful smile.

Rias stared at her, searching her eyes for any deception.

She found none, and that relieved her.

"Rias, Mio-san. Be quiet for a moment." Sona stated briskly, staring at the rocky area that comprised the area outside the castle with intensity.

Both red-heads regarded the Sitri heiress with surprise, shocked that she would-

They both felt it at the same time.

All three devils turned to focus on the battle occurring outside the castle. Watching as the Phenex devil's fire expanded well beyond what he was capable of before.

Nearly catching their human friend in it's confines, the young man jumped away from the flames.

But that wasn't what the three devils were worrying about.

"...Is that Riser...?" Rias asked quietly, sweat beginning to form on her face in nervousness.

This demonic energy she was feeling...it wasn't upper high-class level anymore.

No...this was...!

"...Ultimate-class." Sona said seriously.

Mio's eyes were wide as she felt the demonic energy continue to rise.

Rise...

Rise...

 _Rise_...!

What was going on out there!?

* * *

 ***BOOOM***

Lucifer stared down at the battlefield, as the blond menace that he wanted to study has outmaneuvered his pawn.

Not only has Riser Phenex _not_ been strong enough to face the mysterious man, he also didn't force him to use any techniques.

Not even the one that destroyed Diodora's face.

Worse yet, the human has studied Riser's growth in power, no doubt he had an overall grasp of how his power up has worked...

It was specific, a large rise in power that not even his benefactor could give.

Mostly due to it's source.

Now if he was too liberal in giving out these power ups...no doubt the boy would know who to connect it to.

"...Annoying." the devil muttered darkly.

Nevertheless, he may as well go all in by this point.

If Uzumaki Naruto was going to find out more about his abilities than he'd like, then he may as well make damn sure that he learned more about the human's abilities as well.

The young Phenex would no doubt claim that his regeneration would eventually give him a victory, but the entire point of this engineered battle was to study, not to actually give Riser a victory.

"...Riser Phenex, I saw you as a pawn, something to be used and thrown away like trash. An unnecessary tool that could be easily replaced." Lucifer muttered quietly, bringing his hands together around his chest.

Diodora, who was fuming at Riser's weakness, immediately turned to face his master. Shocked that he would give the Phenex more power.

"But Lucifer-sama! Riser doesn't deserve the increased power! He isn't doing any better than before!" Diodora protested.

Lucifer sent him a dark look.

"Exactly. No matter how much power I give him...he will always lose to that human. Power isn't the answer to forcing Uzumaki Naruto to fight harder...it's to circumvent his strength. The strength that relies on close quarters combat. I may be giving Riser more power...but I doubt he will appreciate it." Lucifer said, glaring at the battlefield.

It angered him that he was forced to do this to make any sort of positive impact on this debacle.

But...it should still be entertaining.

The devil leader then continued to mutter to himself, bringing forth a power deep within himself.

"Riser Phenex, you were once a pawn to be disposed, however...now you shall be seen as something else entirely. You are now my instrument, my advance guard. The one who will reveal my new enemy's abilities and provide me victory in the future through your sacrifice." Lucifer muttered quietly.

Right before him, a pendant appeared on his chest, bearing a symbol.

The symbol was composed of right-angled, intertwined lines that overlapped without a beginning or an end.

An endless knot.

"Come forth...! _Telos Karma_...!"

* * *

Naruto was staring at the damage he has done with his seal.

Maybe it was a bit much...

...Meh, Riser's regeneration could handle it.

But he suspected that the damage would force his regeneration to stall, as when he used his _rasengan_ on him last time...it took a while to heal.

So the bastard probably doesn't heal for a period of time, depending on how intense the damage is.

"You... _bastard...!"_

Naruto raised a eyebrow, as he noticed that the smoke has cleared enough to see his opponent in the middle of a crater.

He was pretty messed up.

Both of his legs were blown off, completely.

...

"So...when's your healing supposed to-?" the shinobi tried to ask.

But before he could, fire enveloped his lower body, repairing the damage done by the explosion.

Ah. There it was.

The high-class devil got onto his feet, a snarl in place as he gave his enemy a heated glare.

"...Look, what's the point of all of this? Why try to beat me? All you're doing is making a fool out of yourself. In front of an audience no less." Naruto sighed, getting tired of this ridiculous fight.

There was no point to it, he got what he wanted out of this...a bit of a stress reliever and some extra knowledge, just in case he has to deal with someone with a similar random power up.

Riser gnashed his teeth together.

That man...that man promised him extra power if this wasn't enough.

If he could just stall, then surely...!

"The point? What's the point? You don't get it, do you? The fact that you're just a human, yet you've defeated me...it's something that cannot be tolerated! There is a social order that must be adhered to! One that has been present in devil society for over two thousand years! Your mere _presence_ could very well threaten all of that! So...I must put you down, to prevent you from becoming a focal point of resistance." Riser stated seriously, a grimace forming on his lips.

Naruto said nothing, giving the devil a level stare.

"That's bullshit, and you know it." the shinobi retorted.

The devil's grimace turned back to a snarl.

"Oh don't give me that look you arrogant fuck. I have no idea if devil society is really as you say it is, or if my presence could really unravel it. What I _do_ know however, is that little speech of yours if just a convenient justification to get back at me. Seriously, I've dealt with your kind before, so trying to frame your excuse as something high-minded is something I've heard before." Naruto pointed out dryly, before stretching his back, totally at ease with the situation.

Before Riser could say anything in reply however, Naruto continued.

"...There is one thing that I'd like to know though. Say...aren't you being a little _too_ ballsy with your actions? I don't know about you, but challenging me to a duel in the middle of a Maou-sponsored party is a bit...much, don't you think? Why would you do that?" the blond human asked, genuinely curious about the devil's reasons.

Riser opened his mouth to retort, prepared to keep up with his stalling tactic...

Then paused.

Wait...why _did_ he do that?

Sure, there was a chance to get out of any possible trouble with authorities by playing his cards right...but didn't he also lower public opinion of his family? His actions reflect the Phenex clan after all...

More than that, didn't he basically _defy_ the Maou? Sure, the Maou couldn't interfere with clan affairs, exemplified in why the Maou couldn't just outright cancel his engagement with the Gremory heiress. But...if he really wanted to, the Maou could still make life _miserable_ for him.

 _And_ his clan.

So why did he...?

Riser grasped his head, feeling a prickling pain in his skull, bringing him down onto his knees.

"Wha...? Why? I don't get it...?" the high-class devil muttered, questions beginning to filter into his head.

"Woah. Hey, you doing alright over there?" Naruto questioned, confused at his opponent's behavior.

Riser was just staring at the ground for a moment, trying to decipher his own actions.

The name of that Sacred Gear was...

His eyes widened.

"Hey! Listen to me, Uzumaki! You have to-!" Riser warned desperately.

He stopped suddenly at mid-sentence, mouth wide open as he tried to speak.

But instead of words, he instead sucked in and released a large amount of air quickly, desperately trying to breathe.

Naruto, alarmed at this behavior, tried to move in to help.

But before he could reach the hapless devil...

He exploded.

An extreme amount of heat flew outward from the devil's body, engulfing him in his own flames. Continually spreading outward like some sort of living being that was hellbent on killing the shinobi.

Accordingly, Naruto jumped away from the fire that suddenly had a life of his own.

Once he reached a minimum safe distance, he stared at the conflagration of flames in horror.

Did...did the Phenex just...?

Before he could ponder the question, the flames that he was eager to get away from began to coalesce.

Coalesce into _something_.

Fiery red _grew_ into gargantuan sizes, growing and _growing_.

The shinobi noticed that the large conflagration spread large appendages from the general shape of the... _thing_ that it has become.

It looked like...

Wings.

"...A bird?" Naruto quietly wondered, unsure of what to do in this situation.

The 'bird' flared it's long wings, stylized with what looked like molten feathers, raising it's now completed head.

Then it screeched.

 ***SCREEEEEEEEEEE***

* * *

"What...what is that!?" Diodora screamed out, terrified of the power that the fiery creature was emitting.

Lucifer on the other hand, seemed thoroughly satisfied with it.

"Well...I suppose it's what happens when a high-class devil that can barely control high-class demonic energy...suddenly gets ultimate-class demonic energy." the devil leader noted dryly, amused in spite of himself.

What he did was actually quite simple, devils that can't control their large power reserves properly...tend to go berserk. As exemplified by new servant devils that lose their master and can't control their powers.

All he did was apply that theory to a far more powerful devil.

Interesting how a Phenex becomes a carbon copy of the legendary bird that they are named after when they go berserk...

"Now...I doubt that you could hold back anymore Uzumaki Naruto...show me your power..."

* * *

"Sirzechs-sama, I believe this is getting out of hand." Grayfia noted, staring up at the large fiery bird that has emerged from the Phenex's flames.

"...I think so too, but for now...don't do anything." Sirzechs ordered, intently watching the battlefield from his elevated position on top of the keep.

The maid gave her _king_ an incredulous look, shouldn't this warrant some intervention by this point?

Seeing his wife's look, he decided to explain.

"This is an ample opportunity Grayfia...an individual's true nature will be revealed in the face of adversity. A true way to see who Uzumaki Naruto really is, better than any cross-examination I could have come up anyways." the Maou stated seriously, continuing his study of the blond teen.

The maid didn't say anything, she simply stood by her husband and followed his gaze back to the young human, standing in front of the _phoenix_.

"...This could backfire terribly and is overwhelmingly foolish, Sirzechs-sama. You realize that, don't you?" Grayfia said eventually, glancing at the red-headed male.

Sirzechs merely grinned.

"I'm aware, but that's why I have you...my beautiful wife. In case my stupidity catches up with me."

* * *

Naruto grit his teeth, this massive bird was emitting even more power than Riser after his power up!

This was bullshit! Was someone out to get him or something!? Just what kind of shitty luck was this!?

The blond's eyes snapped to the gargantuan creature, which has flapped it's wings and become airborne.

Naruto set his legs, the duel was probably still on...even if this made absolutely no sense. Maybe he could try to-

"ONII-SAMA!" a voice cried out from behind the blond.

Naruto turned around in a panic, who the hell was that and what were they doing out here!?

He witnessed a young blond girl in a pink dress that had similar features to Riser...

Naruto's eyes widened, could it be...?

 ***SCREEEEEE***

The shinobi didn't even bother looking back, knowing full damn well that the large bird was soaring towards them.

He charged to the girl, intent on getting her out of the virtual battlefield that this rocky area has suddenly become.

It was only when he got close, that he noticed that someone else had a similar idea.

Issei was charging right after the girl, arms outstretched as he reached her before the blond did and enveloped her in a hug. Stopping her advance to the deadly beast. Even making sure to cover her body with his own, knowing full well that the bird would reach them faster than they could escape.

It was then and there, that Naruto made his decision.

He grit his teeth.

"Damn it...so much for holding back...!" Naruto roared as he quickly made a familiar hand seal.

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu_!"

A cloud of smoke surrounded the blond, and soon after...several blurs came flying out of the cloud in order to form up in front of the beleaguered duo.

"Now! We'll do this together! Form a wall!" Naruto ordered, quickly making grabbing motions around his left hand.

The clones followed suit, creating their signature jutsu as the beast released flames from it's mouth towards the wall of clones.

They all raised up _rasengans_ and formed a defensive perimeter around the two hapless devils, holding the line as the flames reached their position.

The flames made contact.

The series of Narutos grit their teeth as the powerful flames pushed them back, nearly tripping one of them and allowing for the inferno to break through...

But they held firm!

Naruto turned to meet Issei's shocked eyes and shouted to him over the roaring sounds of the flames.

"What the hell are you waiting for!? _GO_!" the blond ordered, trying to do his part in keeping the flames at bay.

The brown-haired boy stared at his friend, in shock at his quick save, but managed to gather his wits and scooped up the blond devil. Quickly making his escape back to the confines of the castle.

Naruto didn't waste any time once Issei got away. He immediately broke off of the defensive line in order to get away from the crumbling wall of _rasengans_.

While the blue orbs were doing their jobs splendidly, the clones behind the orbs were still taking damage from the intense heat.

The flames were simply too close to them, searing into their collective skins and doing enough damage to pop them.

So the shinobi jumped away from the area that the flames encompassed, getting some quick flashes of a clone's memories...

Then a _lot_ of memories.

Ah...so he guessed that-

 ***BOOOOOM***

Naruto turned around to watch as the torrent of fire incinerated the ground where the clones once stood. Turning the entire rock surface into a molten crater.

Yeah...that sure as hell looked familiar...

The blond quickly chanced a glance towards the castle, instantly feeling relieved when he noticed that Issei made it back into the safe confines of the castle and to the rest of Rias' Peerage.

He also noted that many of the nobles were panicking quite a bit...

Hmph, spineless bastards.

Naruto's eyes snapped back to his new enemy, which screeched in challenge and flew straight at him with incredible speed.

The shinobi readied himself, lowering his center of gravity and waiting for the right moment...!

 _Now!_

Right before the winged creature made contact, Naruto jumped high into the air and dodged it's attack entirely.

The impact it made on the ground was massive, the flames that it was made out of was melting the rock surface.

As he was in the air, Naruto made a familiar hand sign...

 _"Tajū Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_

Immediately, hundreds of clones appeared around the original, all with one purpose.

As one, they began forming their own _rasengans_ , seeking to destroy this beast with one large assault!

Larger variants were to be avoided if possible, he still didn't trust the nobles around here.

So as one unit, the group of blonds fell on top of the flaming bird and threw their left arms forward, carrying their deadly package.

""""" _Rasengan!"""""_

The creature looked up to see the many clones descending on it like flies.

It screeching in retaliation and spewed a new inferno from it's mouth, heading straight up towards the falling shinobi.

The real Naruto widened his eyes, they weren't in any kind of cohesive order...! If that large area of effect attack hit them...!

It'd be every man for himself.

Knowing this, one of his clones immediately grabbed him by the arm and _threw_ him away from the incoming attack.

Naruto watched as the _entire_ clone army was obliterated in one shot, not standing a chance with a small blue orb as a defense.

He gracefully landed on the ground and regarded the bird that has gone airborne again.

...Looks like he should prepare for the worst.

This thing may well force him to bring out the big guns.

With that in mind, he quickly created another clone, one with a very specific task.

The clone in question glanced at his creator, unsure of this was really a necessary measure...but not questioning it either.

Just in case...even though it's been a long time...they'd use their secret weapon.

"...It's been a while since we've resorted to _that_ , eh Boss?" the clone muttered with a grin.

"...Yeah, just send it to me the second you've gathered enough. I'll end it with one blow." the real Naruto retorted, a sly grin on his face.

With that in mind, the clone dashed off, seeking to find a safe area to find some solitude and safety.

 ***SCREEEEE***

Naruto turned back to the beast and jumped away from it's latest attack, moving on top of a rock formation and away from the small canyon area he was in.

Fire was spewed like a flamethrower, flowing down the canyon like a river of lava that had no end in sight.

Turning the rocks around the area into molten rock, almost heating it to the point of turning it into magma.

But that wasn't what Naruto was paying attention to.

The large bird continued to spew the deadly flames, it's mindless destruction continuing, but if it didn't stop soon...then those flames would eventually lead back to...

Naruto raced towards the bird, seeking to grab it's attention before the flames it was spreading reached the castle at the end of the small canyon they were in.

He glanced towards the castle, seeing frantic movement inside it's confines.

Come on...! He wasn't going to make it!

Before he could stress about the situation further however, large silver magic barriers formed all across the area of the castle that the flames were moving to.

Naruto grinned, he recognized that magic circle!

He'd thank her later, but first things first.

The shinobi continued his trek to the massive creature, before inhaling a lot of air...

"HEY! BIRD-BRAIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WASTING YOUR TIME WITH THEM!? YOUR FIGHT IS WITH ME YOU STUPID FUCK! COME AT ME!" Naruto screamed at the fiery beast, goading it to following him as he jumped high in the air.

The fiery creature noticed it's challenge and began flapping it's wings, preparing to give chase, taking their battle to the skies.

* * *

"G-Grayfia!" Rias shouted, immensely thankful that the maid was intervening.

The entire castle was in _complete_ disarray, nobles screaming in fear of the monster that has appeared outside the castle.

Rias, Sona, and Mio managed to keep their wits about them, but Rias and Mio nearly fell into panic themselves when they noticed that the Gremory's Peerage was chasing after Issei and his quest to keep Riser's younger sister from getting herself killed.

Luckily, Naruto intervened and prevented them from getting killed, but that only managed to raise more alarm bells to her.

Naruto's clones...one of which were capable enough to destroy her and her Peerage...were completely _overwhelmed_.

She couldn't have been more thankful that the _queen_ of her brother had stopped the massive doses of flames that were soaring towards the castle with her magic barriers.

"Rias-sama, Sona-sama, Mio-sama, all of you must back away from the front of the castle grounds, my barriers will stop the flames themselves...but the heat from them will still do immense damage in close quarters." Grayfia said sternly, pointing out that they weren't exactly safe yet.

Mio was watching the state of the front of the castle, checking the damage.

It was getting bad...despite the fact that the maid's barriers were stopping the flames, it was still melting the entire front of the castle...

She looked up, seeing the massive flaming bird soar to the sky, most likely chasing after Naruto.

Was he luring it away from them...?

"Grayfia-san, why aren't you stopping that creature? Surely the duel has been canceled by this point, it's posing a threat to not only Uzumaki-san...but to the occupants of the castle as well." Sona questioned quickly, seeking for some sort of solution.

Grayfia turned away from them, looking at the flames that were still burning outside the barrier despite the fact that the phoenix has stopped it's attack, the flames were simply _that_ strong, continuously perpetuating itself.

So strong that she legitimately had to work at keeping them at bay.

Her husband had decreed that she had to stop the flames themselves from hurting the occupants...but that she wasn't to intervene with Naruto-sama's fight unless his life was in danger.

From what she has seen so far, it hasn't come to that yet.

"Once these flames are dispersed Sona-sama...I will intervene in the fight with Naruto-sama and that creature. The safety of the guests are my top priority." Grayfia responded to the Sitri heiress.

Sona glanced at the two red-heads, noting their grave expressions.

They couldn't do anything, they would only get in the way of Grayfia and her work.

The flames would incinerate them the moment they left.

Naruto...was on his own.

* * *

Naruto was soaring higher and higher into the sky, trying to lead the beast _away_ from the castle.

Man...this was probably the perfect place to truly give his experimental ability a test.

The one he kept using against Riser, to his advantage.

The problem was...he would have to use it several times without pause, to make sure that he didn't get himself killed while so high in the air.

Even _he_ knew that using an experimental jutsu several times without even _completing_ it...was pretty damn stupid.

It didn't change the fact that he needed it now, he could only hope that he didn't blow his legs off.

As the blond started slowing down from his ascent, the creature below him let loose a massive fireball, easily dwarfing the ones that Riser was so fond of throwing out.

Knowing that he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that, the blond focused on his legs...

Allowing his wind chakra to flow onto the soles of his feet...

Sharpening and condensing the molecules of air that was being pooled onto them...

Then...

After condensing the wind chakra enough, using his chakra to _stick_ to the condensed wind chakra, as if it was water.

From there, he _launched_ himself from the little air pad he made so that he could soar towards the screeching bird.

He also angled himself so that he could _barely_ dodge the fireball that was aimed at him before, singing his right arm a bit in the process.

Naruto grit his teeth, he had to end this...with his trump card or not!

The second he passed by the fireball, he made his familiar hand sign, ignoring the wind that was making it hard to see.

 _"Tajū Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_

All around him, hundreds of clones appeared from smoke clouds, knowing what the plan was.

All of them made to grab one of their brethren, preparing to launch them at the fiery menace so that it couldn't try to intercept them mid-attack like last time.

" _Now!"_ the real Naruto ordered.

"""""Right!"""""

With that, several projectile shinobi were being launched towards their enemy, making grabbing motions on their left hands to create blue orbs.

But there was another reason that Naruto took this fight in the air...

They were so high up...that he doubted that anyone could see their jutsus from up here!

With that in mind, the poured _more_ chakra into their hands!

 _Now!_

""" _Ō_ _dama Rasengan!"""_

Seeing the bombardment that was flying straight towards it, the flaming bird made to get away, frantically swinging it's wings to fly _over_ the falling blonds.

It worked.

The many shinobi couldn't shift their trajectory in time, leaving the flaming bird free to move pass them and sail towards the hapless clones that launched them in the first place.

Too bad that Naruto made a contingency plan!

"Now! Pincer it!" Naruto roared, forming wind chakra onto his legs again and restarting the process of creating air pads, with his clones following suit.

Once that was completed, they stopped falling towards the ground and screamed back towards the flying bird.

Before the fiery creature could do anything however, the clones that were left behind _also_ went through their process of creating air pads, _launching_ them towards the much closer bird with large blue orbs on their hands that they just created.

Both groups made sure to launch themselves roughly around the same time as their brethren, forming a wall of spiraling orbs to prevent them from getting destroyed by their enemy's fire.

The small armies quickly began converging towards the fiery creature, and there was nothing it could do to stop it.

"Now! As one! _Ōdama Rasengan!_ " Naruto shouted, as similar war cries reverberated across all of his clones.

The creature screeched, as large holes began appearing all across it's flaming form due to the efforts of the small army. Practically ripping apart one of it's wings and blowing off the other from it's body.

More importantly, making several holes across it's torso.

Fire was spewing out like blood, causing it all to fall from the beast and spiral to the earth like small meteorites falling from orbit.

The real Naruto, who was a part of the group that has taken a chunk out of the beast's wings, got the memories of the clones soon afterwards, reinforcing his belief of how hot the flames of the creature actually was.

Even he had some trouble grinding through, the heat was pretty unbearable. No doubt his many clones would pop if they were inside that flaming bird for too long.

Then the shinobi got another piece of information from one of the recently deceased clones, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise.

There was someone _alive_ in there...?

"...Riser-san!" Naruto's shouted out in wonder, surprised that the devil was actually in that thing.

Not only that, but thanks to the clone's sensing abilities at close quarters...he was able to sense that the young Phenex was actually getting his demonic energy sucked away by the creature...

So that meant that the creature's power actually could be growing by siphoning the Phenex's power!

Naruto's eyes narrowed when he realized something else, what if...

He turned to watch the fire bird closely, wondering if-

Shit, he was right, why did he have to be right?

The large holes that were dotting the creature from before...they were closing up.

As if the bird was regenerating, the flames from across it's body was spreading to the gaping holes across it's body, restoring the creature to what it was before his assault.

So...this thing was beginning to sound like the very bird that the Phenex clan was said to be based off of.

A phoenix, he was fighting a _fucking_ phoenix.

Beautiful, just...beautiful.

Naruto mentally switched gears, complaining about the situation wouldn't solve it.

Thinking about it, Riser's entrance into the battle made things more complicated. But it could also work to his advantage here, maybe if he could cut off the demonic energy powering that thing...

He didn't have time to ponder, the flaming bird came soaring towards him, flying a little low as if attempting to catch him.

Why would it...?

Oh.

He was free falling.

Right...can't fly.

Once more, he concentrated wind chakra onto the soles of his feet again, making another air pad...

Then he jumped.

Naruto bit back a scream, as it felt like thousands of mini knives ripped apart his feet.

Damn...that wasn't good. He knew he shouldn't have used this new jutsu so liberally...!

But hopefully it would be the last time, as instead of jumping _away_ from the phoenix moving towards him, he jumped _towards_ the giant bird.

Since the flaming bird was below him and he had his clones' memories...he should have a clear shot to...!

The shinobi raised both of his arms and made grabbing motions over his left hand, creating a _rasengan_.

He didn't have enough time to make anything better...so this'll have to do!

He crashed against the top of phoenix, grinding his way through the inferno that comprised the beast.

He grit his teeth as he continued to push through the flames, ignoring the pain as he reached his destination.

There it was...!

"Wakey wakey asshole!" the shinobi shouted, allowing for the blue orb in his hand to explode between himself and the unconscious Phenex.

The explosion pierced the bottom of the flaming bird's stomach, making an escape route for the Phenex and Naruto.

The second he got out, Naruto made a hand sign to summon his clones.

It was time to finish this!

He didn't sense the phoenix get any weaker...and judging by the fact that the hole was closing up just fine, he'd say that it's regeneration was still in play.

Damn...well, fine.

All he had to do...was obliterate it, right?

Make sure that there won't be _anything_ left to regenerate, right?

Then...it was time.

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu_!"

Four clones were formed.

One of them allowed themselves to fall, in order to catch the devil that was falling to the earth.

The rest knew what to do.

Two clones grabbed the original and huddled together, while the last clone grabbed the huddled group and flung them towards the phoenix, which was heading towards them after it healed.

One of the clones took the lead, forming an enlarged _rasengan_ in it's left hand.

The descending phoenix opened it's mouth and spewed a firestorm towards the three blonds that were heading towards it.

With an _Ōdama Rasengan_ at hand, the lead clone used it as a defense and kept ascending towards the flaming bird, gritting it's teeth as it realized that it wouldn't be able to stop itself from popping.

As predicted, the heat of the flames proved too much for the clone, and it expired, leaving those behind it defenseless from the fiery onslaught.

At least...it was supposed to.

Instead, inexplicably, something began to _split_ the flames apart.

Something...sharp.

Something... _deadly_.

Whatever it was, it kept cutting straight through the flames until it reached the deadly creature itself. Cutting through it's wing without any trouble or opposition.

The phoenix screeched as it lost control of it's flight and spiraled down towards the earth.

The one responsible for it's forced descent finally reached the end of his own ascent, turning around to finish off the beast once and for all.

With a blue orb in hand.

With a blue orb that had massive wind blades in hand.

The last clone grabbed the arm of it's maker and flung it towards the falling phoenix, allowing itself to pop once it's job was done.

Naruto descended rapidly, reaching the phoenix before it could regenerate in time, raised his deadly jutsu in the sky...

Then slammed it onto the phoenix's torso!

 _"_ _Fūton: Rasenshuriken!"_ Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs, allowing for the deadly jutsu to obliterate all that was before it.

Before releasing the jutsu from his hand.

The _r_ _asenshuriken_ sent the phoenix sailing towards the earth at extreme speeds, the wind blades buffeting the bird and doing immense damage.

Similar to a comet from the sky, the phoenix was sent hurtling to the ground.

Also similar to one, it detonated once it reached it.

 ***BOOOOOOOM***

The _rasenshuriken_ let loose a massive dome that enveloped the nearby rock formations, obliterating it with it's potent microscopic wind blades.

The massive dome of wind continued to deconstruct anything inside it down to a cellular level, leaving nothing behind as the wind blades did their deadly work.

As Naruto was free falling towards the ground, the force of the winds from the dome helped slow down his descent despite how high in the air he was, it was simply _that_ powerful.

Naruto closed his eyes.

The battle was over.

* * *

Mio was watching the sky with trepidation, looking for any signs of her 'brother'.

Last she saw of him, he jumped high into the sky, drawing the attention of the phoenix away from them and to the sky.

All she knew from there, was that there was a lot of power being thrown around up there...

The damn clouds were making it difficult to discern what was really going on, much to her frustration.

So it came to no one's surprise that she was immediately locked on to the first thing that broke through the sky's clouds.

Besides the strange fire shower of course.

It was...

"That's the phoenix! It's crashing to the ground!" Rias called out, pointing to the falling bird.

Indeed it was.

Sona, who was still by their side, narrowed her eyes as she noticed something about the fiery creature that was crashing to the earth.

"...What is that...? That bright light on it's torso?" Sona asked quietly, noting that _something_ was pushing the large beast to the ground.

It was bright alright, easily standing out despite nearly being covered up by the largess of the phoenix.

Many in the castle watched as the bird finally reached the earth, relief coloring most of their faces as they believed that the threat was finally over.

 ***BOOOOOOOM***

Everyone jumped as a loud explosion reverberated from the distance.

Then they all stared in awe as a large and bright dome of wind materialized out of nowhere, enveloping the surrounding area that the phoenix crashed to.

"...It's...beautiful." Mio couldn't help but note in awe.

But she would forget that opinion quickly.

Soon after the initial explosion, devastating winds hit the occupants of the castle, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.

Screams echoed the area as nobles scrambled to get a foothold or to grab something solid and hold on for dear life.

Mio, with her hair flying around her face, watched in amazement as the winds were practically _pushing_ the castle back.

She felt the old structure shake and quake under the strain of the winds.

Then she saw the flames that had taken up residence in front of Grayfia's magic barriers begin to get snuffed out.

That was insane! The dome of wind was ridiculously far away!

It was only when the dome finally dispersed, did the powerful winds finally cease their oppressive push against everyone inside the castle.

Once she managed to get back to her feet, Mio only had one word to describe what just happened.

"...Wow."

* * *

Naruto trudged away from the destruction that he recently caused while ignoring the pain on his feet, moving towards a prone form.

A stray thought hit him.

What the hell happened to that clone he sent out to the clone that he tasked with unlocking their 'secret weapon'?

...Well, he'd find out after he talked to this asshole.

He was now standing over the fallen form of Riser Phenex.

"...Guess it's over...huh?" Riser asked quietly, his expression exhausted and gaunt from fatigue.

Naruto nodded, it was.

"Whatever power you accepted, it obviously left some bad shit behind. You nearly killed a friend of mine and a blond girl...she called you her 'onii-sama'." the shinobi muttered to his fallen enemy.

Riser's eyes turned to lock with Naruto's, urgency in his blue depths.

"...I...I didn't...right...?" the devil asked quietly, almost fearing the answer.

Naruto shook his head.

"You didn't. I managed to give them both some time to escape. Your sister is alive and well." the younger blond responded.

The Phenex breathed a sigh of relief, turning to face his mysterious enemy.

This strangely powerful human.

"...You saved me...right? Why...?" Riser asked after a moment's pause.

Naruto stared at Riser, unsure of whether he should answer or not.

He decided to do so.

"...If I killed off or thoroughly punished each and every arrogant asshole I've met throughout my entire life...then I would've lost some very valuable friends and comrades in the future. I guess...somewhere deep inside...I hoped that you weren't as bad as you made yourself out to be." the shinobi explained, his eyes looking at things that only he could.

Naruto then turned back to the fallen devil, giving him a small grin of approval.

"Glad to know that you at least give a shit about someone...caring about your sister is something that I can relate to."

Riser said nothing, continuing to regard his former enemy.

He then closed his eyes.

"...I surrender."

* * *

The second that Lucifer's creation was obliterated by the wind done, the devil decided that he has seen enough.

Via magic circle, the two devils against the current government of the Underworld returned to their hidden hideout.

The home base of the Old-Maou faction.

Lucifer thought about what he has seen.

Unlike those in the castle, he had prime seats to watch what the human could do, since the mountain he was standing on also pierced the clouds.

The boy was...far more powerful than he thought.

No wonder Diodora was crushed.

The boy may well be an equal to some of the more powerful ultimate-class devils, such as Tannin, or maybe even stronger...

Nevertheless, the fact that a _human_ had such strength was...interesting. Perhaps certain people would love to hear about such information...?

Maybe they could deal with the boy, so that he could get his true prize...

But before he could think on it further, his eyes sharpened when he realized something.

They just returned to the home base of the Old-Maou faction, a large citadel that served as their permanent residence.

It was...quiet.

Too quiet.

"Diodora. Stay here." Lucifer ordered, storming towards his own home with a dark look in his eye.

The high-class devil didn't question his master.

The powerful devil entered the citadel and made for his throne room, looking for any servants or guards along the way.

Nothing. There wasn't anyone there.

He made his way to the massive double doors that greeted anyone seeking to enter the throne room.

He slammed them open, a furious expression on his face.

"...Ah...I was wondering when you would get here. Took your time, eh? No doubt you're like your father...acting so high and mighty that you think that the world revolves around you. But I have my own life to live you know?" a man on Lucifer's throne drawled lightly.

Lucifer glowered at the man, even though he knew for a fact that he should be dead.

This was a man of legend, a man that fought the Original Lucifer to a standstill.

"...How are you alive...Toujou Jin?" the powerful devil questioned darkly.

Jin wagged his finger at the devil leader, shaking his head as if he has done something wrong.

"Now now...I can't reveal my secrets _that_ liberally, don't you think? Instead...why not see if we could rip secrets away from one another, shall we?"

Jin brought forth a large steel broadsword.

While Lucifer materialized a wicked blade, a devil sword.

Both combatants were quiet, studying one another.

Then they charged.

* * *

 **AN: Hey everyone! New chapter here, yay!**

 **Now before anyone cries about the "cliffhanger"...I thought about just skipping the entire fight scene that's about to occur in favor of showing the aftermath, better that instead of showcasing the powers that could be used for greater "wow" factor for later.**

 **That, and I wanted to focus on the aftermath of the battle that has occurred.**

 **I did say a lot of shit would happen, right?**

 **Well then, finals week is here, so don't expect a new chapter next week. I will be skipping a week, so do your best to hold out everyone!**

 **Quick note! I realized after reading a comment that my summary stinks. :3**

 **Anyone care to help me out? XD**

 **-RekkingPride**


	24. Chapter 24

The Naruto clone gnashed his teeth together as the two devils that he was about to ambush managed to escape via magic circle.

Damn it...he was too late. He climbed up a damn mountain for nothing.

The clone sat down petulantly, frustrated that the _bastard_ got away from him.

...Again.

Toad-like eyes stared at the spot where the two devils have left, one of them was wearing a mask...

More importantly, thanks to the power that was now coursing through him, he recognized the energy signal that the masked devil was giving out.

That bastard that attacked them before...it was definitely him.

'Naruto' sighed, the battle between that fire bird and the boss was already over. So there was no point in giving him the extra power anymore...

The clone frowned for a moment, allowing himself to question something since he had the time and peace of mind for it.

It was a pretty important question too.

...Why did the natural energy feel...off?

It was strange, back at the Elemental Nations, the natural energy felt like water that was seamlessly pouring inside him. Filling him up with new power and strengthening him for any fight.

But this world's natural energy felt like...

Well, it felt greasy, slippery, maybe even _darker_.

The power derived from natural energy felt the same at the very least. No threats to upend his fun while in this state, but still...

This world's natural energy not only felt weird, it was also harder to take in when compared to his world.

The fight between the boss and the phoenix-thing wasn't a long one, but it shouldn't take _five_ minutes to gather natural energy. By the time the clone was done gathering the natural energy, the boss was already about to finish off his enemy with the _rasenshuriken._

It barely took one minute at the Elemental Nations...and he was pretty sure that it had nothing to do with how long it has been since he's used it. Gathering natural energy wasn't something that Naruto could get rusty in.

The clone sighed, just one thing after another.

Well...he better inform the boss at the very least, he would want to know about these thoughts and what the clone has seen.

He glanced down from his elevated perch on the mountain, sensing that the boss was carrying their former opponent towards the castle. He had plenty of time to think about the information he was about to receive.

The clone then made sure to look around, he was pretty far away from the castle when he was gathering natural energy before...but now he was much closer to it. But devils couldn't sense his regular chakra, so hopefully they wouldn't sense him...

With that thought in mind, he internally dispersed the natural energy that was intertwined with his physical and spiritual energy...

Then he dispersed the chakra in himself.

 ***POOF***

* * *

The dome that appeared on the battlefield has finally blinked out of existence, it's oppressive winds finally dwindling to nothing.

To the relief of everyone inside the castle, especially those that came to the party for political reasons.

Many of the noble devils were anxious due to the battle that has taken place so close to them, after all...no one there was expecting such a thing.

They weren't just anxious however, they were also _afraid_.

These were beings that knew _everything_ about the world around them.

Who was important, who was powerful, who had a name that could cause the bravest of souls to flee in fear.

Yet this... _boy..._ was not known as such an individual.

He came out of nowhere, ended a pure-blood marriage that was vital for the survival of pure-blood devils, and was invited by the Maou himself to attend an important function.

 _How could this be?_

There was no such thing as a powerful individual that didn't have a name attached to them.

Yet this young man was an exception, someone unaccounted for in the grand scheme of things.

That lack of knowledge helped give birth to a fear that every sentient being has, perhaps to devils most of all.

Fear of the unknown.

Devils are beings that can live for thousands of years, they live in a society that has been mostly unchanged for most of that time. It's stable and comforting to stick with what they know.

For many, change in any shape or form is far more terrifying than any enemy.

They know what to expect from their enemies.

They know who's powerful and influential.

They know who can be considered among the top ten strongest on the planet.

But they _didn't_ know about Uzumaki Naruto.

They didn't know what to expect from him.

They didn't know how powerful he was.

They didn't know how to deal with him.

For beings that live life in a society that has stayed more or less the same for thousands of years, that's _terrifying_.

Sooner or later, that knee-jerk reaction would transform into _resentment_.

They had names, power, wealth, and influence lapping at their feets. All through the grace of the their circumstances of birth.

They were _meant_ to be important, to be secure in their power in every single way.

Now that security was threatened, in more ways than one.

New variables meant new circumstances, new circumstances which could transform into a new reality.

An uncertain future. One that couldn't be planned out of.

They didn't want to face an uncertain future, they didn't want to deal with it.

Yet that option was out of their hands, they were utterly impotent in the face of this new variable.

Of this _unknown_ variable.

So all they could do was lash out. Against the circumstances, against the individuals that have engineered this terrifying prospect of uncertainty.

Yet they couldn't even do that, everyone who was directly responsible for bringing this boy to the limelight was far too powerful for them.

So for now, they did nothing, but the negative emotions that many nobles were feeling wasn't about to go away anytime soon.

No...the resentment would be hidden, bottled up, until something managed to push their frustration into intolerable levels. Or rather, until someone could give it the final push that it needed.

If that happened, then they would do the next best thing to soothe their damaged pride, rising fear, and hidden resentment.

Find a scapegoat.

* * *

"I can't believe how reckless you all were! Running towards the battle like that! If it wasn't for Naruto, all of you would've been killed! Especially you Issei!" Rias reprimanded, pinning all of her Peerage members with a hard stare.

Around the time that the flaming bird appeared, Riser's little sister; Ravel, panicked and attempted to help her brother. Much to everyone's shock.

Issei, being who he was, only hesitated for a split second before running after her, trying to stop her from getting herself killed. Which in turn, caused the rest of the Gremory Peerage to chase after him.

The Gremory heiress could only shake her head at the turn of events.

"Ah...apologies Buchou, we acted without thinking. But seeing Issei-kun run off like that...well, I think I speak for all of us when I say that we felt like we _should_ have backed him up." Yuuto claimed, giving his 'king' an apologetic smile for the trouble.

The red-headed devil sighed at this sentiment, it seemed that it was shared by everyone else too.

Her beliefs were compounded by the next set of comments.

"Now now Buchou, how could we possibly leave our kohai to that scary monster? We did act without thinking...but I don't really regret it." Akeno piped up cheerfully, completely and utterly unrepentant of her actions.

"...Won't abandon family." was all Koneko said, giving her 'king' a firm stare.

Issei gave everyone grateful looks, thankful that they would back him up here.

Rias for her part, held the bridge of her nose in frustration, they were making her out to be the bad guy here...

She stopped after calming herself down and gave her 'queen' a pointed look, hands on her hips. "You know for a fact that this situation isn't as clear cut as you're making it out to be, right?"

Akeno shrugged slightly, not losing her easy smile at all.

"True, but at it's essence, we moved to help a precious family member, no? Outside of all considerations, we did _that_. I suppose that I'm merely focusing on that specific fact." the 'queen' admitted easily.

Rias could have face palmed, she was intentionally being obtuse about this...

Koneko stepped up silently, moving towards her 'king' and tugging at her skirt.

"...You would do the same for us, Buchou." Koneko stated.

The Gremory heiress could only stare at her cute servant, surprised to realize at how utterly _correct_ the young 'rook' was.

She sighed once more, a wry smirk appearing on her face, very much against her will.

If she was in their shoes and watched one of her Peerage members run towards imminent danger in front of her, she would have done the same thing. All logic and reasoning be damned.

"...Fine, you're right. I'm being hypocritical, I admit it. Just...be more careful, ok? All of you nearly gave me a heart attack." Rias grumbled, turning away from the slightly smug look that Akeno was giving her.

She felt a hand land on her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze.

"Sometimes, even a 'king' could be overthrown by their servants." Sona pointed out, eyes dripping with humor.

The red-headed devil rolled her eyes at that, slightly annoyed that one of her closest friends was getting some amusement out of her predicament.

With that unpleasantness out of the way, she finally noticed that someone wasn't taking part in the conversation.

She turned around to see her kohai staring off into the battleground.

"Mio. Naruto is fine." the high-class devil murmured.

The younger red-head's shoulders twitched, slightly surprised that her inner thoughts were so see-through. So she turned around and regarded her sempai with a sheepish expression.

"S-Sorry. I'm just a little worried that he might have gotten hurt, but this is _my_ brother, right? So he's probably fine." Mio said, before turning to look at someone behind Rias. "But I think we have more pressing issues, like what to do about the little girl?"

All eyes turned to the young Phenex girl, unconscious and leaning on the wall ever since she was retrieved from the fight outside.

Issei, who was sitting right next to her, only shrugged. "No idea, I was hoping that she would have woken up by now. I don't really want to leave her behind if we have to go anywhere, maybe Grayfia-san can do something?"

Mio glanced towards the front of the castle, where the flames from the deadly phoenix once threatened them.

The maid was inspecting the burned and melted area where the flames once raged, staring at it as if it was a disconcerting puzzle.

The teenaged group glanced at one another, unsure who should approach the icy woman and seek her advice on their conundrum. She wasn't exactly the easiest person to approach.

Mio glanced at Rias, hoping that maybe she could-

"No way, Grayfia is scary when she's in maid mode. So don't look to me to solve this problem." the red-headed devil stated, shooting down the younger devil's idea before it even began.

The high-class devil then turned to her 'queen', maybe she could-

"Ara ara, Buchou. How could I, a lowly servant, possibly request anything of the second-most powerful woman in the Underworld? I simply don't have the prestige to ever _hope_ of trying!" Akeno exclaimed dramatically, feigning her disappointment with her inability to help.

Rias just sent her a dry look, she knew damn well that the black-haired sadist was just enjoying watching her squirm.

Before the Gremory could try to punt the issue to someone else, Sona intervened again, trying to be the voice of reason.

"Instead of trying to ask individuals to speak to Grayfia-san, perhaps it would be prudent to speak to her as a group? With Issei-san taking the lead of course." Sona spoke out, glancing at the owner of the 'Boosted Gear'.

Issei squirmed a little, suddenly feeling that he was being put on trial. "Wait, why me!? I'm pretty sure that I would mess everything up if I went!"

The Sitri heiress pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose, the glare of the light reflecting on her lens as she gave Issei a stern stare.

"Because _you_ are the catalyst of this situation, thus you should be the one to resolve it."

Ah...his reckless actions were coming to bite him in the ass now, huh?

That sucks.

Yuuto was watching everyone's interactions with a smile, glad that most of the tension has bled away now that the immediate danger was gone.

He turned to ask Koneko, who was by his side, what she thought of the situation-

He stopped.

"...Koneko-chan? What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost..." Yuuto asked quietly, unintentionally grabbing everyone else's attention.

Koneko suddenly started shivering, her eyes were wide and her expression was scrunched up in a mixture of fear and disgust.

"...Natural energy." the 'rook' spoke with a soft tone, her eyes downcast.

Many faces paled.

Issei looked at the young girl in confusion, what the hell was natural energy?

Mio was just as confused, but before she could ask, her sempai went up to the clearly distressed girl quickly.

"Koneko-chan, are you _sure_ that you sensed natural energy? Absolutely certain?" Rias asked quickly, kneeling in front of her Peerage member to look her in the eye.

Koneko just nodded slowly, her eyes staring past her 'king'.

The red-head's eyes narrowed at the confirmation.

Akeno walked up to her and whispered in her ear urgently. "Buchou, if it's who we think it is then..."

Rias was aware, as far as she knew...there was only one person that could enter the Underworld, stay undetected, _and_ utilize natural energy.

The high-class devil stood up and marched past all of the teens in order to reach the 'queen' of the current Maou Lucifer.

This was more important than petty fears.

* * *

Naruto was staring ahead, contemplating upon the information he has just gotten from his clone.

Looks like he wasn't able to hide most of his abilities after all...now the guy that he wanted to thoroughly trash knew about his power.

Or at least, most of it.

Maybe it was a good thing that the the blond didn't manage to use senjutsu, best to keep it under wraps for future battles. Wouldn't want someone to create some kind of defense against it after all.

The shinobi's eyes narrowed a little as his thoughts drifted towards another matter.

...Who was that guy? The devil next to the bastard that attacked him the other day?

He had a lot of demonic energy...he was almost as strong as that stoic maid from before.

Shit...this entire event went downhill pretty damn fast, first Riser-san, then the phoenix, now a strange and powerful devil that was spying on him?

His luck was absolute _shit_ when it came to these kinds of things.

Now Naruto was just trudging towards the castle, holding his former enemy over his shoulder and trying not to wince at the pain from his feet.

He shouldn't have used his new trick so much, obviously. It backfired pretty badly, he was lucky that he didn't do _more_ damage.

The air step...a work-in-process 'trick' that relied on very careful application of wind.

It was pretty simple, he pretty much just focused his chakra onto the soles of his feet, then transformed it into molecular wind blades, similar to those found on his wind-based _rasengans_.

He condensed it enough to 'stick' to it using his chakra, then used it as a temporary floor to jump out from. It was his first _real_ attempt at removing his flying weakness.

That being said...it had quite a lot of weaknesses, one of which he was literally suffering from.

It would always take him more than a split-second to create the air pads under his feet, leaving him open to an attack should someone utilize the opportunity.

Not only that, but the air pad itself could only stay condensed for a split-second as well, since Naruto had to release the condensed wind in order to grab it with his chakra. The wind blades inside the condensed air pad would be released almost immediately after he stopped holding it, meaning that the wind blades could possibly hit his own feet.

Which is exactly what happened during the fight with the phoenix, much to the shinobi's annoyance.

The only saving grace for his poor feet, was that the wind blades weren't nearly as powerful as the ones used in his _rasengans_.

Although, he supposed that someone could claim that he should just _not_ use sharp wind blades to form the air pad, but there was a problem with that idea.

He can't use anything except wind blades, during his elemental training, he only learned how to convert his chakra into sharp wind blades.

From cutting a leaf...to splitting a damn waterfall.

Until he learned to utilize his wind abilities differently, he wouldn't be able to change his issue with his newest trick.

In short, he had a _lot_ of work to do to get the air pads completely down. He wasn't even going to get _started_ on the other experimental jutsu...

He also needed proper names for them. First and foremost. Priorities damn it.

Naruto winced again, his feet were still aching from the wind blades that hit his feet...it'd take a while for that to disappear.

Those thoughts soon disappeared as he got nearer to the castle.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw a lot of armed devils, seemingly standing still and surveying the area. Were those...guards, or something like that?

If so, then that's not good...he should probably hurry.

He made to take a heavy step, using incredible force to launch him into the air and get to the castle sooner.

...

"Fuuuuuuuuuu-!"

His foot! His _damn_ foot!

The second he took that step, it felt like hundreds of little needles were stabbing his foot viciously. It was pretty damn painful.

Naruto glared at his own feet, as if it had done him an injustice, and finally glanced back to the castle.

Ugh...fine. He would have to slowly make his way there then. Hopefully Grayfia-san could take care of any mess that started up.

What could possibly happen in his absence with the Maou there anyways?

* * *

"Grayfia, I require your assistance."

The silver-haired woman turned away from her study of the melted architecture in order to look at her young sister-in-law.

"What is it, Rias-sama?" Grayfia responded obediently, still playing her role as a maid.

The woman was taking note of the damage done to the front of the castle from the flames from before, it was quite extensive. But more than that, they were legitimately dangerous.

What caused the young Phenex to grow in such power? The first growth in power after he appeared at the party was incredible enough, but what about _during_ the battle?

These were important questions, she was hoping to get some information from Riser-sama when he came back.

Grayfia's eyes silently drifted off to where the the phoenix was vanquished, there was also the issue of the young human's power...that dome of wind he created was...something else to say the least.

"We have a problem, Grayfia. Koneko-chan sensed someone using natural energy." Rias stated seriously, eyes firm.

The maid's eyes widened slightly as she turned to regard the red-head, that meant...

Her eyes closed.

"I understand, please gather your friends and go to the main hall Rias-sama. For your safety, I must speak with the rest of the devils who have attended the function." Grayfia murmured to the high-class devil, straightening herself and moving back towards the main hall.

But not before creating a mini magic circle besides her ear and speaking into it, giving out instructions for the castle guards to take positions outside the castle and throughout the structure itself.

Rias watched her go, feeling a small amount of apprehension, before turning and going back to her friends, who were watching her with baited breath. Obviously curious to hear what has happened.

"So? What's the verdict?" Sona asked quickly, seeing the maid leave quickly with such a serious expression gave her a clue however.

"We are to go back to the main hall, for our safety." the Gremory heiress responded briskly, the tension of the day's events finally getting to her.

Slightly nervous glances were shared between all of the teenagers there, so it seemed that this was being taken seriously.

"Buchou, I understand that we shouldn't stay out here anymore, but...what should we do about Koneko-chan? She's quite out of it." Akeno pointed out, looking at the 'rook' with a worried expression.

Before Rias could make the call, Koneko finally spoke.

"No, wait...I'm fine. Please...let's just go."

Akeno looked at her 'king', her expression spoke more than her words could have conveyed.

Koneko wasn't fine at _all_.

Like a little cat with it's hackles raised, Koneko was twitchy and she kept glancing around the room. As if she was trying to find someone before they managed to get her.

But they couldn't deal with this here, so no one said anything about it.

"Uh, question; what do we do about the blond bishoujo?" Issei asked, raising his hand to illustrate his query.

Rias' gaze turned from her 'rook' to the young Phenex that was resting against the wall, still unconscious.

Hmm...her parents didn't take part in the day's festivities, mostly because they were both busy, since they both managed the political and economical status of the Phenex clan. Basically, Riser's younger sister didn't necessarily have someone to look over her...

"It wouldn't be too much of a hassle to take her with us, would it? I don't think any of us would like to just leave her here or to hand her to someone else. We can leave her under Grayfia-san's care once she's done with her work." Yuuto interjected, seeking to give his 'king' another option.

The red-headed devil agreed, that was probably the best they could do, given the situation at hand.

"Issei, take her with you. We are going to stay with her until Grayfia is done making sure that the castle is secure, she probably has to speak with onii-sama as well..." Rias said before frowning in thought, she shook it off after a moment and continued. "Also, _p_ _lease_ be careful with her, she's a pretty important individual."

The brown-haired boy nodded, scooping up the young Phenex carefully in his arms, making extra sure not to ruin her dress.

The dress was probably worth more than he'd ever want to think about.

Akeno nodded at her 'king', they were ready to go now.

"Wait! Aren't you all forgetting something?" Mio called out, an distinct frown visible on her face.

Everyone turned to her, mostly giving her questioning looks.

Mio's frown deepened. "What about Naruto? Aren't any of you worried about him? He's out there, by himself, with a dangerous person out there!"

She had no idea about the specifics, but she knew that Koneko has sensed someone dangerous, that was the only explanation she reached to which would justify everyone's reactions.

Sona shared a look with Rias, both confirming their own feelings on the matter without verbally speaking.

"Mio-chan...I understand that you're worried. But going off to find Naruto right now isn't the smartest move for anyone, for him or us. We are _way_ out of our league compared to an SS-ranked criminal, so much so that we would be more of a hindrance than helpful." Rias explained patiently, carefully laying out her position.

Sona nodded. "More than that, if we left, then there would be a possibility that _we_ would need rescuing, placing everyone in danger, including Uzumaki-san himself. The best thing to do, would be to wait for him. Besides, he seems quite capable, if his performance outside is to be considered."

Mio stared at the two high-class devils, biting her lip as conflicting feelings froze her still. The fact that the criminal was an SS-ranked criminal just made it worse for her.

"...I know it's stupid, but I still don't want to leave Naruto all alone out there. He could be hurt. He could be weakened. Can't we just wait for him _here_ or something?" the younger red-head pleaded.

Sona sighed, pushing her glasses back towards the bridge of her nose. "Mio-san...let's consider your option for a moment. Not only would we be leaving ourselves to possible attacks from an SS-ranked criminal, we would also be placing Ravel-san in danger, Rias' 'rook' in danger, and compromising the security of the castle itself. All while placing ourselves and Uzumaki-san in greater danger. Does that sound like something your brother would want?"

Mio went silent, staring at her feet with a new-found forlorn expression.

"...Alright, fine. I understand. Just...let's just go." Mio muttered, turning around to leave the area and go inside the main hall.

Rias watched her go off, sighing at the turn of events.

It's not like she didn't _want_ to help him, but it would really be stupid of them to overestimate themselves, especially when they had to take care of Koneko-chan and Ravel from harm. They would very simply, get in the way of everyone.

Naruto could take care of himself, Mio should have more faith.

With that out of the way, the rest of the teenaged devils walked after Mio, entering the safe confines of the main hall.

* * *

Grayfia finally shut down the small magic circle by her ear, finished giving out the instructions to the guards to ensure everyone's safety.

This was turning out to be a rather embarrassing situation overall, no doubt some would be dissatisfied with the situation. But she seriously doubted that any of the noble devils would actually do anything about it, except complain of course.

Many were simply too afraid of Sirzechs-sama's power and reputation.

Not all...but many. For now that was good enough for the situation at hand.

She moved quickly towards the large ornate door which led to the main hall where most of the nobles retreated to. The battle outside spooked most of them once the 'phoenix' emerged, it _was_ quite surprising she supposed.

The maid opened the ornate doors without hesitation, moving into the main hall in order to address the devils within. Their safety was paramount.

Especially since very few devils that attended this function were...experienced.

The abruptness of the party itself made it difficult for certain people to attend, since some devils, especially Clan Heads, had a lot on their plate.

So really, most of the nobles attending were relatively young and inexperienced with such situations, what with many of them being born with silver spoons in their mouths.

Representatives, heirs, and wealthy high-class devils were mostly in attendance. That made it imperative that for her to give out a warning, just in case.

"Excuse me, noble devils." Grayfia called out, not particularly loudly, but with enough authority to grab everyone's attention anyways.

She idly noted that the rest of the devils that were staying at the front were now entering the hall, listening to her words as she addressed the majority inside. Including her young sister-in-law and her friends.

Good.

"First and foremost, I would like to apologize for the disruption earlier today. The duel between Riser-sama and Naruto-sama has gotten out of hand, but the phoenix that appeared during the battle has ultimately been vanquished." Grayfia stated levelly, preparing to give the important information. "However, I have been recently notified that an SS-ranked criminal may be in the area, whether it is true or not, I'd like to ask for everyone to depart early for their own safety."

The immediate aftermath of her announcement, was silence. An undertone of shock was reverberating throughout the hall.

It took a while for people to actually process the information properly, such was their disbelief at the turn of events.

Then they processed it.

A large amount of the devils began to shout in anger at the announcement; first a duel, then a legendary creature, now an SS-ranked criminal?

All on top of the information of that the much-celebrated pure-blood marriage was to be cancelled?

Many devils among the crowd were _furious_. Even more so than before.

Except they wouldn't be bottling it up this time, now everyone will know of their displeasure.

Before anyone could really allow their anger to run wild, many of them stopped cold in their tracks when the 'queen' of the current Maou Lucifer flared her demonic energy, sharp eyes accompanying it as she stared at the crowd with an emotionless expression.

It was a warning.

Just as quickly as it had begun, the crowd settled down, caring far too much about their safety than having their opinions heard.

Grayfia sighed, relieving everyone of the pressure of her power. Hopefully everyone understood by this point.

There would be no more conflict while she was around.

That being said, she needed to speak to her husband, he needed the details of what she has learned...and it needed to be done personally. She couldn't afford to have their conversation eavesdropped on.

The maid glanced up to look at the Maou's box, high up on the other side of the wall.

Sirzechs was calmly regarding her, waving her up so that he could receive the details.

"I must speak with my master, everyone may leave at their leisure. If you wish to stay a little longer, then please stay inside the main hall, guards have been posted to ensure your safety. Sirzechs-sama shall be watching in his private box, so your safety is guaranteed while in the main hall." Grayfia explained briefly, before walking towards the crowd so that she could make her way to the Maou's private box.

The crowd parted ways almost immediately, giving her easy access through them.

None of them were taking any chances.

Mio couldn't help but be silently impressed as she entered the main hall with the rest of the teenaged devils, Grayfia-san must have an enormous amount of respevt for that kind of reaction. From nobles no less.

Or maybe it was fear? She honestly couldn't tell.

The second that Grayfia passed by the crowd and walked up the stairway to speak to the Maou Lucifer, several of the noble devils began to congregate towards one another. Maybe they wanted to get one last deal or favor in before they left?

A frown began marring her features as she stared at the group of wealthy and influential devils that comprised the crowd.

The entire reason that she came to this function to begin with, was to speak to them and get some sort of legal barrier against any attempts at her life. But now...

Well, that seemed unlikely by this point, the sheer amount of _everything_ that happened today just eclipsed all other concerns.

Then there was her concerns with how Rias and her Peerage looked at Naruto...

"You seem upset, still thinking about your 'onii-chan'?" Akeno quietly asked, a teasing smile on her face she she approached the younger red-head from behind.

Mio tilted her head slightly to regard her sempai of two years. "...Partially. A bit more upset at Rias-sempai. Although I admit that she is right in a practical point of view, it still seems so...impersonal of her, not to be worried I mean."

The black-haired young woman gave her an indulgent smile, placing her hand on top of her shoulder in comfort. "It's sweet to see you so worried, but please try to understand that Buchou honestly wants to do what's best in these... _interesting_ circumstances. You do realize that don't you?"

Mio turned away from Akeno, she knew that already. She just disapproved of it anyways, logic be damned.

If someone told you that you'd have to leave a family member behind for the greater good, you wouldn't like it. You'd be pissed, even if it's the logical thing to do.

"Besides, this is Naruto that we're taking about. He just finished wiping the floor with a phoenix, what's an SS-ranked criminal to that?" Akeno spoke up wryly.

She didn't notice the look that she got from her kohai.

It was a look that belayed the younger girl's feelings.

Confusion.

How? How could they have so much absolute faith in him?

Weren't they worried at _all_?

He wasn't some sort of immortal, some kind of superhero. He was _Naruto_.

He was overwhelmingly strong, sure. But he wasn't impervious, he could still get hurt, bleed, _die_.

Yet they weren't worried at all.

She knew they cared, but even if you had faith in another person, you still can't help but worry about their safety anyways, it was a normal fear.

Then something clicked in Mio's head.

They never saw him fail...

They weren't there when he failed to catch that masked man in the forest.

They weren't there when he admitted that he had some insecurities about who he was, when Mio and Maria inadvertently discovered that they had no idea who he was after searching his room.

They never saw him _fail_...!

What must he look like in their eyes? A young man with incredible power and ability, someone who could defeat powerful figures from different factions. Someone who could take out a legendary beast with a single attack.

As a half-devil, Mio sometimes couldn't help but see Naruto as something higher, a viewpoint that she has been trying to temper. Something that neither of them needed.

But what about pure devils? Or part-devils that simply didn't repress that part of themselves? How did they see Uzumaki Naruto? Especially when power is highly respected by devil culture as a whole?

She wasn't sure, but she was positive that their expectations for him were too high.

Hero worship.

Nevertheless...while she still believed that they had too much blind faith, their logic was still solid. As much as she hated to admit it. She was just being very stubborn about it.

And childish.

So Mio opened her mouth, preparing to apologize for her behavior from before.

"None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you! If you just stopped being selfish and accepted the union, then everything that occurred wouldn't even have been possible!"

Both Mio and Akeno snapped their heads towards the scream, staring at a familiar devil that was castigating Rias while she was talking to Sona; with her Peerage behind her. Both devils were staring at the noble devil in shock at the interruption.

Mio's eyes widened, that guy was the same guy that made a scene when she accidentally tripped him earlier!

"...I don't see how you could have made the correlation, but the break up of the engagement had absolutely nothing to do with the day's events." Rias retorted sharply, annoyed at the disruption of her conversation with Sona.

The devil sneered. "Oh! No correlation, huh? How about the fact that if you had just married the Phenex, then the duel would have never happened to begin with! Then that monster that came out from that duel would have never appeared! Finally, the schedule for the marriage itself would have been more carefully chosen! Meaning that we would have spared from hiding from an SS-ranked criminal!"

Murmurs of agreement began to rise from among many of the devils following the rant.

"Now that I think about it...that's true. Shouldn't the Gremory heiress be more aware of her position? She's being awfully obtuse about this..." a young male devil mentioned slowly, sharing a look with a female devil beside him.

Said female devil snorted. "I seriously doubt that she was being obtuse, more like she took advantage of the situation. Using that Uzumaki-guy for her benefit...kinda makes me doubt her position to be honest."

Numerous opinions began to get bandied about, slowly forming the small crowd into something else...

Sona glared at the devil that castigated the Gremory heiress. "Zephyrdor-san of the Glasya-Labolas clan...once more you're causing trouble when there was none to be had. Your assumptions are based on nothing but speculation and half-truths. For all you know, Riser-san could have transformed into that beast-"

"Stop protecting her!" Zephyrdor interrupted harshly. "Everyone knows that you're childhood friends with Rias Gremory! Your objection is filled with bias, pure and simple! If Rias Gremory just followed her obligations as a Gremory instead of lashing out like a child, then none of this would have happened! "

Sona was taken aback by the ruthless shut down of her argument, leading to some cheers from quite a few devils that were getting riled up by the spawn of the Glasya-Labolas clan.

Many among Sona's Peerage snarled at the blue-haired young man, furious with how he was treating their 'king'.

Rias just grit her teeth, this looked like it was getting out of hand. "Why are you blaming me? Instead of looking at me as the culprit of these unfortunate events, why not-!"

Before she could even get started, many among the crowd began to 'boo' her, stopping her words from getting heard, as the large crowd slowly began to form itself into a mob. Intent on nothing except finding a reason to vent their frustration.

With that, Sona's Peerage quickly formed around Sona and Rias, seeking to protect them should hostilities arise.

Yuuto stood up, preparing to defend his 'king' should things get out of hand as well. Although he was pretty sure that combat may be necessary.

Even worse, the guards were all posted outside, so it wasn't like they could break it up...

"...No...no...not again...please no..."

The 'knight' glanced at Koneko, watching in growing dread as the young girl began shaking and hyperventilating while looking at the crowd.

...She's seen this before...

Yuuto turned to look for Issei, finding him placing Ravel down on the floor, against the wall. Before summoning his _Boosted Gear_ and preparing himself for a fight.

Akeno watched the entire proceedings in confusion, before preparing herself to defend her 'king' as well.

"...That's it." Mio whispered beside her, a tone of finality to it, as bangs shadowed her eyes.

Before the second-in-command of the Gremory group could have asked her, Mio turned around and ran.

* * *

"That's what happened, Sirzechs-sama." Grayfia finished dutifully, bowing to her husband once she was done.

Sirzechs was unresponsive, placing his hand on his chin and scratching it while he was thinking.

Just what was going on recently...? A phoenix appears onto the battlefield, now apparently someone who can utilize senjutsu has appeared near the castle?

It _could_ be Koneko's sister...but considering the crazy things that have been happening recently, he was somewhat inclined to wait for more proof.

That being said, he would have to reassure everyone who hasn't left the castle yet that their safety was guaranteed still. He'd also have to go through damage control later...man...a _lot_ of Clan Leaders were probably going to be upset at the turn of events.

That meant a lot of paperwork...

The red-headed Maou stopped his musings when he began to hear the rising din from the main hall.

Sirzechs moved away from the well-covered inside of the Maou's box to the 'balcony' piece of it, to check the main hall from his elevated position. He ignored the dull ruckus that the crowd from below was causing before because he assumed that everyone had much to talk about before they left, but now the noise was becoming more...aggressive.

The second he saw what was happening outside, his eyes narrowed.

"...I thought that I set them straight, I'll stop this immediately." Grayfia said quietly, preparing to interrupt the rising tension.

"No, wait." the current Maou Lucifer muttered, stopping his wife as he took a step forward. "I'll do it myself this time."

He prepared to spread his wings and descend onto the floor, intent on preventing any more conflict.

But he stopped, incredulity stopping him cold as he watched a certain daughter of the Original Lucifer climb up the stairway and end loud din from the mob by shouting at the top of her lungs-

* * *

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The entire room went silent as the loud scream echoed throughout the hall, gaining everyone's attention at the sheer abruptness of it all.

"...Mio-chan?" Rias whispered, eyes wide as she regarded her usually unassertive kohai.

Mio was standing on top of the stairway that led to the Maou's box, staring down at the crowd assembled before her as if she was preparing to give a speech to a large group of supporters.

Except she didn't look the part.

Her eyes were dilated. Her fists clenched. Her shoulders shaking. Her chest heaving.

With clenched teeth, she prepared to release _everything_ on her captive audience.

"... _Hypocrites_...!" Mio spat out, glaring heatedly at the crowd of devils staring back at her.

Silence was all she heard in response.

"...Hypocrites! Each and every _damn_ one of you! All of you who are condemning Rias-sempai for her selfishness are nothing but hypocrites!" Mio screamed out, pointing an offending finger at the large group of devils in front of her.

The incredulity that everyone was feeling was only compounded by these words, keeping them silent and passive throughout her statements.

But that was changing, as many of the noble devils began to feel red-hot anger from the girl's claim. Their displeasure was about to be voiced, but the young half-devil continued unabated.

"You all claim that Rias-sempai's actions make her selfish, yet are any of you any different!? You make political ploys to enhance your position while detracting your enemies, scheme to use someone for your benefit whether they like it or not, and all of you even celebrate an engagement when one of the participants clearly don't want it! How are _any_ of you in any position to denounce her exactly!?" Mio began, gaining more and more traction as she continued, releasing all of her frustration and anger over the day's events in one singular rant.

The anguish she felt when she learned of her origins...!

"Maybe Rias-sempai is being selfish, but how _dare_ you criticize her when none of you are any different! The _fucking_ gall!"

Her impotence when watching her brother fight Riser...!

"More than that, a bunch of you were planning on getting Naruto into your Peerages! Through hook or crook! Yet you denounce her for using him!? The _arrogance!"_

Her disgust of the blood running through her veins...!

"Also, before anyone could claim that Rias-sempai is obtuse, who exactly are you all following again!? Oh right...it's the devil that threatened my brother; the guy who had the Maou Lucifer's favor and who could take down legendary beasts! Who the hell is obtuse here again!?"

Her fear of Naruto's safety...!

"All of you are just making a scapegoat out of my friend! Look at a _fucking_ mirror already!"

All of these emotions were being released as Mio screamed out her negative feelings towards the many noble devils that were taking part of this pity party.

She's had _enough_.

The red-headed half-devil stopped for a second, taking a deep breathe to try and center herself. She had one last thing to say...

"...Even if any of you aren't hypocrites, you would still be using her family as the basis of her being self-sacrificing. But guess what...this is the part where _I'll_ be selfish, because even if all of you care about clan obligations and letting family define who you are...I _don't_. You could all complain about it, but at the end of the day, I will _never_ judge someone through their family, so all of you who are seeing her as 'just another Gremory'...could just fuck off!"

...

...

The room was deathly silent after Mio has finally finished her rant, everyone staring at the fifteen year old red-head who has just viciously brought the verbal beat down.

Where the hell did _that_ come from...?

Rias especially was incredulous, shocked that all of this could have come from the usually mild tempered Mio. But nevertheless...she couldn't stop the warm feeling that her fellow red-head's words has elicited. A sense of pride helping to fuel that good feeling.

Meanwhile, the daughter of the Original Lucifer was breathing hard, taking in a large amount of air to compensate for the long-winded rants that she has just released.

It was while she was taking in so much air, that she noticed the clapping.

A constant clapping noise that was coming from the opposite side of the hall, where the main doors that led to the front were.

She glanced at it, curious to see who was-

She froze.

"Yoooooooo~! That was pretty damn impressive! Someone should you give you a medal for that!"

All attention snapped towards the large ornate doors, eyes widening as a certain blond finally made it to the castle.

Mio for her part, only began to respond when her face began to heat up, embarrassment was flooding her cheeks with red as she began to stutter out the perpetrator's name.

"N-N-Naruto!" Mio cried out, a complete one-eighty to her disposition just a few seconds ago.

Naruto waved at her lazily, a large grin on his face as he regarded Mio and the current situation at hand.

"Well...I probably missed a lot of important crap, but it seems that you handled it pretty damn well, if I say so myself! Who knew you had _that_ in you!? I've never been more proud!" the whiskered blond claimed, sniffling slightly as proud faux tears began to flow down his face.

Damn it, they grow so damn fast!

Mio's cheeks just went full-blown crimson at his words, flustered that she was caught ranting by the _one_ person she was hoping wouldn't see her. "Y-You! How much did you hear!?"

The shinobi shrugged from his position on the opposite side of the hall, slightly raising his voice so that it could travel to the other side of the room. "I heard when you said 'THAT'S ENOUGH!', so...I guess half-way?"

The red-head's jaw just dropped, that was practically the entire thing!

Ugh...this was just a _bad_ day in general...

* * *

"...Well, I think we can definitively say that Mio-kun is Naruto-kun's younger sister." Sirzechs piped up dryly, staring at the half-devil on the stairway with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk.

"...I think that that's a fair assumption." Grayfia agreed levelly, still stoic as always.

* * *

Naruto grinned as he saw the thoroughly red face of his imouto, he wasn't exactly sure why she was red faced but...it was pretty damn funny.

"Naruto! Welcome back!" Issei called out, running towards him with a grin. Before frowning and looking around for another body. "Where's the bird-brain?"

The shinobi gave him a smirk in greeting, then pointed at a spot where he laid Riser down, slumped against a pillar. "Sleeping, getting your ass handed to you can be pretty taxing, you know?"

Issei smirked and was about to make another comment before the flood gates opened from everyone else.

"Well well! Look at who finally decided to show up! I knew that you'd be fine, Mio really should stop being such a worrywart sometimes. Glad to have you back, Naruto." Rias said warmly, crossing her arms across her chest.

The blond scratched the back of his head bashfully, an easy smile on his face as he did so. "Sorry for taking so long, my feet are kind of killing me here, so had to move slowly."

"Ara ara, it seems that the illusive foxy-kun has returned, how naughty of you to embarrass your sister in public." Akeno greeted, a sly grin framing her lips.

Naruto coughed into his hand, glancing uneasily away from the black-haired young woman. "...Didn't _really_ do it on purpose..."

Yuuto walked up to the group as well, making his own input. "I think Naruto-san just did what he has always done, doubt that he meant anything bad of it."

Naruto gave the bishōnen a deadpanned look. "You make it sound like I do this kind of shit on purpose..."

Yuuto shrugged, he wasn't exactly wrong.

The shinobi snorted, amused in spite of himself.

Then everyone heard the soft pitter-patter of fast footsteps. Turning just in time to see Mio tackling Naruto with a hug.

Somehow he held firm, but was shocked nonetheless, wide-eyed as he tried to balance himself and the young girl that pushed her face onto his chest.

She didn't say anything, she just stayed in that position, holding him tight as if she was afraid to let go.

Then she spoke.

"...Welcome back...Naruto."

The shinobi stared at the red hair of his psuedo-sister for a moment, slightly confused.

Then he grinned.

"...Nice to see you too, Mio."

Happy grins were exchanged as the two siblings were reunited, it was pretty cute, watching those two.

After several moments, Naruto finally dislodged himself from Mio's iron grip and patted her on the head, much to her external annoyance and internal happiness.

It was good to have him back.

The shinobi was about to say something clever, but his grin turned into a frown as he looked around and noticed someone missing.

"Hey...where's Koneko-san? She doesn't want to say hi?"

The expressions on everyone's face dimmed slightly at the question, much to the blond's confusion.

"Well...you see, many things happened while you were making your way back." Rias began, trying to explain everything that has transpired since he was away.

But before she could...

"Perhaps it's best that I explain the current situation, Rias." Sona remarked, slowly walking up to the group with her Peerage behind her.

Naruto's hackles were raised when he realized that the entire Student Council was here, he couldn't help it, he was practically conditioned to prepare himself to move when they were all here.

It didn't help that Saji-san was giving him the stink eye...

"Uzumaki-san." Sona said, grabbing his attention. "The entire castle is on lock down, there is proof that an SS-ranked criminal might be in the area."

Naruto gave his kaichou a surprised look. "Seriously? _Now_ of all times? How do you know?"

She tilted her head towards someone behind her.

The shinobi moved his head to see behind her clearly, and saw the missing Koneko, who was resting against the wall.

"She lost consciousness soon after the mob formed against Buchou." Yuuto said quietly, giving the young 'rook' a sympathetic glance.

Naruto's eyes snapped towards Sona after he stared at the unconscious young girl, seeking answers. "So then...how did _she_ know?"

Rias decided to answer this time.

"She sensed someone using natural energy, judging by her expression, a _lot_ of it. As far as we know...there's only one person who has that kind of ability, Koneko-chan's older sister; Kuroka." Rias explained, eyes downcast.

"...Natural energy?" Naruto asked quietly, face and eyes suddenly unreadable.

Sona nodded, assuming that the blond's sudden reticence was because of his lack of knowledge of the term. "It's a form of energy that comes from nature itself, used in the forming of a dangerous power called senjutsu. Koneko's sister was said to have become mad with power because of it."

The shinobi glanced away from the Sitri heiress to regard the unconscious Koneko, her sister went mad with senjutsu...? It sounded a lot different than the senjutsu he knew...maybe this difference explained why the natural energy felt different?

He frowned, more importantly, his clone would have sensed another senjutsu user around here, so it's more likely that...Koneko-san just sensed _his_ use of natural energy.

That meant that _he_ was the one who caused the entire situation...

He had to make it up to Koneko somehow, without letting anyone know of his own use of senjutsu...

Too many questions would arise because of it, that and senjutsu doesn't seem to be too highly regarded in this world.

Naruto moved away from his internal thoughts to look at Rias, deciding to go with the flow for now. "So the castle is secure then? No problems?"

The red-head nodded in affirmation, then her brows scrunched up. "Well... _mostly_. Since you've seen Mio's...ah... _performance_ , you know that some of the devils became a little antsy. Nothing too bad though."

The blond nodded slowly, staring at the crowd of devils that were talking among themselves, this time intent on getting their business done and leaving.

Smart moves on their part.

"Mio." Naruto called out, grabbing his psuedo-sibling's attention. "You have had a pretty rough day, so just let me handle the tough shit from now on. I'm going to see the Maou."

Mio's pink eyes trained themselves on Naruto's blue, unwavering as always.

She nodded. "Go for it."

Naruto grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

* * *

"Ah...Naruto-kun. Quite the day wasn't it?"

Naruto didn't respond, he simply stayed silent as he gazed upon the red-headed Maou with a serious expression.

Sirzechs raised an eyebrow, curious to why the blond seemed so serious, surely he didn't-

"Why didn't you intervene?" the shinobi asked, the tone of his voice framing it into more of a demand than anything else.

"It was necessary." the current Maou Lucifer responded levelly, not beating around the bush.

Naruto's face scrunched up in disgust. " _Necessary_!? How exactly is gambling with the lives of everyone here and your own damn _sister_ necessary!?"

The Maou raised a hand up, seeking to calm down the angered teenager. "It was _necessary_ to find out who you really are, it was paramount, both as an older brother and as a Maou. Besides, no one in the castle was in any danger, I sent Grayfia to the front and I myself was watching the battle on the one of the highest points of the castle. Making sure that any attack from the phoenix would never hit the castle from the air."

It was necessary, because he wasn't just dealing with a random human that happened to have defeated a high-class devil.

It was because he was dealing with the 'unknown variable'...the figure that defeated Vretiel, a powerful fallen angel. A dangerous individual.

The shinobi's face softened slightly, slightly mollified to know that the Maou wasn't leaving it _all_ to chance. He still wasn't done though.

"Still, even if finding out who I really am is somehow _that_ important, it doesn't change the fact that your actions gave everyone here a scare. Do you really think that everyone's just gonna walk off the fact that a fucking _phoenix_ appeared and tried to kill them!? More than that, if you just intervened, then the mob from earlier wouldn't have formed to begin with! They formed because they were scared!" Naruto angrily continued, remembering how mobs were formed back at the Elemental Nations...

Back at Konoha...when everyone was afraid of the kyuubi...

He bit his lip and held his stomach. _No one_ should go through that fear.

Sirzechs sighed, rubbing his brows as he felt a pang of guilt, he honestly didn't think that everything would get that bad. It was a miscalculation on his part.

"...Honestly, you're right. I should have seen this coming, especially when considering what happened with Kuroka..."

The shinobi perked up, that was the second time that he's heard that name, also apparently this 'Kuroka' was the source of Koneko's pain...

Sisters...huh?

"What do you mean? Did something like this happen before?" Naruto questioned seriously, eyes aimed unerringly at the Maou.

Sirzechs glanced at the 'unknown variable', seeing that he would not leave without the information, and feeling that he had no need to keep it from him. "A few years ago, a young woman by the name of Kuroka was said to have mastered the art of senjutsu, a powerful energy that is formed by combining natural energy and chakra; another mystical energy that is only accessed by yokai.

Naruto's heart leapt, senjutsu, natural energy, _chakra_. These were all familar words to the shinobi, maybe these yokai might have a connection with the Elemental Nations...?

Maybe even this 'Kuroka'?

The Maou continued unabated. "Anyways, the natural energy of the world has become... _tainted_...over the years, it's filled with negative feelings such as hate due to the many conflicts that have occurred over the years. So when Kuroka became proficient enough in senjutsu...well...they say that she became drunk on her power, killing her 'king' in a rage. Because senjutsu is so versatile, many devils feared that Kuroka's sister could become just like her, killing innocent devils after going insane with power. So many devils came to the conclusion that Koneko-chan had to be destroyed before she followed the same fate...falling to mob mentality and allowing their fear to overrun their senses."

The shinobi stared at the Maou, giving him a grim look after hearing all of that. That was terrible...condemning someone for something that they _might_ do?

More than that, it wasn't even much to be afraid of, unlike the kyuubi, which could annihilate Konoha if it was released, Koneko could do...what exactly? Kill a single high-class devil before she's taken down? By sheer numbers or by an ultimate-class devil?

She wasn't _that_ big of a threat, so what was with the fear? It wasn't even a reasonable fear...

It was absolute bullshit.

Sirzechs shook his head. "There is something you must understand Naruto-kun, devils...don't like change, any large shift that occurs outside of their understanding, and they begin to lash out. That is one of the biggest weaknesses of devils as a whole, something that even the newest generation could fall victim to. Even the Great War, which killed off so many devils, was something that a lot of devils didn't want to change, based solely because it was what they knew."

Naruto stared at the floor, deeply disquieted, before turning back to the Maou. "So...you're saying that this can inevitably happen again?"

The Maou merely nodded solemnly.

The blond said nothing for a moment, eyes unseeing.

Then they went back to the present, his eyes now hardening as Naruto made his decision.

It was stupid, foolish, and just flat out insane.

But it had to be done.

He stood up from his seat, moving towards the external section of the Maou's box, to the balcony to oversee everyone in the main hall.

"Wait! Naruto-kun! What are you doing?" Sirzechs called out, confused at the blond's actions.

Naruto stopped right before he pushed aside the curtains to reach the balcony section, turning around with hard eyes.

"...What I have to... _Maou-sama_." Naruto responded quietly.

The older man winced slightly, the tone of his voice was all he needed to know about how much respect he has lost from the young human.

He was a young man that consistently called people by their names, trying to familiarize himself with whoever he was talking to, so for him to use a title...

Sirzechs watched him leave the well-covered inside of the Maou's box, feeling that he might have to make it up to the teenager one day.

One day...

* * *

"What do you think that they're talking about, Rias?" Sona inquired, curious to see if her friend might know something.

The red-head shrugged, she was pretty clueless.

The Gremory and Sitri groups were waiting around for Naruto to finish his meeting with the Maou Lucifer, curious about what they could possibly be talking about.

Everyone was utterly exhausted by this point, no one was expecting the amount of excitement that happened today, so really, everyone just wanted to go home.

Riser was dropped off right next to Ravel, they were both unconscious and being tended by Grayfia, who has decided to watch over the duo as her husband and Naruto-sama finished their talks.

Koneko was being watched by Yuuto, sitting next to her slumped form as he looked on worriedly.

Everything was silent for now, everyone in hushed whispers as most people were finally beginning to leave, finished with whatever business that they had to attend to.

" _Hey! You assholes over there!"_

All eyes snapped towards the Maou's box, where many jaws were being dropped at the blond's temerity.

It was Naruto!

Uzumaki Naruto was pointing an offending finger at the noble devils that were still present at the main hall, still congregated together. "Before anyone of you panic, don't worry. I'm not here to verbally beat the shit out of you, Mio did enough of that for the both of us. I'm just here to give you all a message!"

Mio felt her cheeks go red-hot again, he didn't need to remind her...

"Listen! I've heard about all the shit that went down today! Then I heard about the shit that has been going on _before_ today! Knowing all of this now...I've come to a decision, a big one." the shinobi began, scanning all of the relatively inexperienced devils of pure lineage.

The hall was silent as they regarded the blond, who was straightening himself, about to drop the bomb.

"I've decided...that outside of my dream...I'll make it a side-goal of mine to fix devil society!" Naruto declared, a massive grin making it's way to his face.

...

...

"""""EHHHHHHHHH!?"""""

Naruto's grin only widened at the thoroughly flabbergasted response. "Oh yes! I've seen some stupid shit that devils seem to think is acceptable practices, all while pretending that they are so damned _deserving_ of the power and influence that they got. Well I think that someone ought to do something about that! No more of this mob bullshit! No more of this class bullshit! No more of this psuedo-slavery Peerage bullshit! I won't ignore it anymore! So spread the word! Spread the word that Uzumaki Naruto is here to _rock your world_!"

It was a declaration that would shake the Underworld. One that would be spread through word of mouth, one where many would swear up and down, that they were there to see.

One that would be pointed to down the road...as a _major_ shift in the course of history.

Things were _changing_...whether people were ready or not.

* * *

Sona was staring up at the blond delinquent, who has always foiled her efforts so much at Kuoh Academy with his intractable belief that he didn't need schooling.

Was this...was this really _that_ Uzumaki Naruto? The same one from school?

Did he always behave this way?

Because seeing him now, watching him declare such things was doing wonders for her perception of him.

She let loose a small grin, pushing her glasses back from the tip of her nose, back to the bridge of it.

It looks like she was wrong about him.

Who knows? Maybe she could really get behind such a radical idea...it _just_ might coincide with her goals as well...

* * *

Naruto had a large grin on his face as the magic circle finished transporting them back home.

 _Home_. How ironic was that word?

They were back at Kuoh Town, all exhausted and looking forward to some rest.

Mio practically lost knocked out soon after his speech, the stress of the day tiring her out, Naruto was literally giving her a piggyback ride to take her home.

The day was a bust, there was no denying that, his main goal for going to the party was pretty much unattainable by this point.

Partially anyways, but he also learned quite a few new things, and had a new goal to aim for.

Naruto let loose a small chuckle, he should begin to write down a list at this rate, didn't want to lose track of how many goals he had to keep track of after all.

His good humor dampened slightly when he reached the front of his home.

Someone was waiting for them.

"Yo brat, been a while. Kind of hoping that you still don't hate my guts though." an older man drawled lightly.

Shaggy brown hair, check.

Two scars, check.

Messy clothing, check.

Glasses, check.

Cigarette, check.

"...Toujou Jin...you look like shit. More than usual I mean." Naruto retorted smartly, pointedly staring at his bloody left arm.

The hero blinked, glancing at his arm with a raised eyebrow, seemingly never realizing that it was heavily damaged. Then he glanced back at the whiskered teen.

"Thanks, you look pretty spry yourself, where'd you get the suit? At a dumpster?" Jin replied, a wicked grin on his face.

Naruto looked at his sorry state, right...the phoenix.

"Recently got out of a life-and-death struggle, you?"

Jin shrugged. "Same."

Both humans went silent, staring one another down for a moment, before the Great Hero finally scratched the back of his head in exasperation. "Look, there's something I gotta talk to you about, even if you still hate my guts. Even if you hate me, you don't hate Yuki-kun, right? Or all of your friends, right? This is about _everyone's_ safety."

Naruto said nothing for a moment, studying the Great Hero...

Then sighing.

"...Truth be told, I'm still slightly sore about your deception, but I've mostly gotten over it. That and...well...I really shouldn't be pissed at _two_ separate faction leaders..." Naruto grumbled out, looking disgruntled.

Jin raised an eyebrow in interest, before shrugging. Not really his problem.

"Before I tell you, I should make sure that Yuki-kun hears what I have to say as well." Jin explained.

The shinobi nodded, made sense.

...

A long moment of silence passed.

"...What?" Naruto asked, annoyed that the hero was dragging out the conversation.

Jin coughed, glancing away uneasily as a slight pout made it's way to his lips. "Well...you see...I have a favor to ask."

The blond groaned, they were back to this shit again? "...What do you want?"

The Great Hero, the most celebrated and most powerful hero in the Hero Tribe, bashfully scratched the back of his head as he gave Naruto the mission.

"...Can you mediate between me and Yuki-kun? I'm afraid that she's...quite upset at me at the moment.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

This day was getting better and better...

* * *

Lucifer was staring at the wreckage of his home base, the home base of his Old Maou Faction.

The citadel...it was...

In pieces.

The entire western quadrant of the massive structure was blown away, the walls giving way to some sort of severe attack which cut it to pieces.

The ceiling was blasted open, with the pillars which once held the ceiling aloft, now alone and left with nothing to hold.

The throne room, which was once filled with opulence and splendor, was now in shambles, with the floor caved in and creating what looked like a bottomless hole on the ground.

Large gashes were everywhere around the throne room, one of which was responsible for cutting down the supports of a tower in the southern quadrant of the citadel.

...Which was hundreds of meters away from the throne room.

So Lucifer was understandably frustrated, blue eyes staring at his own broken sword, before throwing away the weapon with a snarl.

He'd need a new weapon...

It was also official, he needed to draw attention away from his faction, they were simply not ready yet to strike. Several more things were required to obtain before he made his move against the current government...

Patience...he waited more than a hundred years...he could wait a few more months.

His thoughts inevitably fell back onto the strangely powerful human...

...The best way to deal with that...was to get _other_ powerful beings, those that had a vested interest in such individuals.

His eyes narrowed, he knew just who to contact, they were technically 'allies' in the organization that they were both a part of...but also rivals.

Then the powerful devil frowned, no... _his_ involvement wouldn't be enough, he wasn't ready to make his move yet either...he needed someone more...brazen.

A dark smirk made it's way to his lips, yes...

There was another...

* * *

 **AN: *Peeks out of the corner.* Hi, been a while huh? Apologies for taking so long, one of my finals was rescheduled a week later, which meant that for two weeks, I was essentially study-mode. Only recently I was able to work on the story...**

 **Anyways! Not much to say, a bit tired as I was working on this for a while, so...tell me if anything's wrong, still welcome to criticism. :3**

 **Yeah...geez...gonna send this before I fall asleep on my keyboard...till next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	25. Chapter 25

"...So Naruto-sama...what exactly happened?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, acutely aware that Maria's eyes were boring into the back of his head, wanting answers.

He supposed that she had a genuinely good reason to...what with Toujou Jin relaxing on a living room couch, Mio being exhausted, and himself wearing the ragged remains of a fancy suit.

That reminded him, he had to apologize to Rias for ruining it, he borrowed it from her after all.

Oh wait, it was her older brother's.

Never mind.

"...Many many things happened." Naruto eventually replied, staring resolutely away from the prying succubus.

Her eyes were dry as she regarded him, obviously not letting this go.

Then she simply sighed.

"Look...I can understand the secrecy, really I can. But if you're going to do this, the _least_ you can do is spare Mio-sama from it." Maria stated seriously, reprimanding the blond.

The shinobi finally looked at Maria, confused at her statement, she was getting weird ideas again wasn't she?

The succubus shook her head sadly, before giving the blond a sympathetic look. "Now now Naruto-sama...if you have a 'thing' for older men, who am I to judge? Don't worry! I will keep this as our little secret."

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Wh-! Wh-!? What the hall are you talking about!? Why do you _always_ come up with the most ridiculous scenarios!?"

Jin glanced towards the bickering teenagers, a slightly amused look on his face as the blond brat tried to squash any misconceptions that the silverette had.

Or did she do it on purpose? Hard to tell.

"...I don't know Naruto-sama...what else can it possibly be? You two came here in the cover of night? You both looked roughed up? Why...what else could I assume, except something _raunchy_ of course!?" Maria claimed, a growing perverted smirk growing on her face.

"No! Just _no_! This is Yuki's _father_ for crying out loud!" the shinobi retorted hotly.

Maria's eyes widened, glancing towards the Great Hero at the couch, who was just watching them silently.

"N-Naruto-sama...y-you would start an affair with one of your friend's parents...? Just how much of a pervert are you...?" Maria asked hesitantly.

The blond teen threw his hands up into the air, he should know full damn well by this point that no matter what he said, she would twist it through her own perverted delusions.

It was practically a fact of life by this point.

"...Hmph, you sure have some interesting friends, huh? Although I can't say if that's a good thing or not." Jin drawled lightly, comfortably laying down on the couch now.

Maria perked up at this while Naruto just scowled.

"Don't encourage her..." the shinobi grumbled, making sure to grab the succubus' head to keep her from doing anything, all while ignoring her petulant pout in his direction.

All he had to do was wait a little more...

Almost as if on cue, the doorbell ringed.

Naruto immediately let go of the silverette and made to run towards the door, eager to prevent Maria from saying even more embarrassing things.

"Wait!" the Great Hero cried out, suddenly looking more tense and alert than before. "I thought you would...you know...? _Smooth_ it over for me...?"

The blond teen already passed by the hero, only pausing once and turning to look over his shoulder to regard Jin with a foxy smirk.

"...I never actually agreed to take the job dattebayo." Naruto chirped, before finally moving in to unlock and open the front door.

Maria watched in interest as the blond opened the door and Yuki's father made to try and make himself look more presentable, clearly nervous, all while cursing a certain blond under his breath.

Heh, so he was extra nervous about facing his daughter? How cute.

The shinobi opened the door, allowing for familiar yellow eyes to peer at the blond teen with curiosity.

"Naruto, glad to see you back." Yuki said, a small grin growing on her face regardless of the strange late night call.

Though she'd be lying if she claimed that she wasn't curious about it, if he just wanted to say hi then he could have done it tomorrow morning, couldn't he?

"Heya Yuki, sorry for the late night call from Maria, but someone here wanted to include you in the talks that we were about to have." Naruto apologized, giving her a sheepish smile.

Yuki's small grin was wiped off of her face, replaced with an unreadable expression.

"...You weren't going to include me in these 'discussions' until someone asked you to...?"

Naruto's shoulders twitched, intensely aware that he may have made an error, but not entirely sure where he made it.

"Well...uh, I would have told you tomorrow...I just wanted to let everyone rest is all." Naruto said quickly, hoping that that would placate her.

It did the trick, as the hero's eyes softened, before turning curious once more.

Maria was cheerfully watching the exchange, it looked like a juicy opportunity to have some fun...at Naruto-sama's expense of course.

So she moved to greet the young hero herself, but inexplicably, someone quickly moved past her to give their own greeting.

"So who asked for me? I don't know too many people that would..." Yuki began, trailing off as she stared at something behind her friend; the shock of which caused her eyes to widen.

"...Otou-sama."

The Great Hero waved at his adoptive daughter sheepishly, trying to put on a more confident expression.

But he couldn't, not with her. Not with the last...

"Yuki-kun." Jin greeted quietly, expression drifting from looking nervous to diffident.

Naruto glanced uncomfortably between the two, feeling that maybe he _should_ have intervened in the Great Hero's issue. This was just flat out awkward...

The silence stretched out for a few seconds, both heroes; young and old, staring at one another without a sound.

Then Yuki took a step forward, face stoic, as she confronted her adoptive father.

She raised her arms to grasp Jin's hands, clasping them together in front of her and cupping them with her hands. Almost as if confirming to herself that he was really there. Then she stared at the elder hero in the eye, silent in every aspect.

After a moment, she finally smiled.

"...Don't worry otou-sama, I'm not upset. Your safety is all that matters. So please calm down." Yuki said, softly conveying her relief at seeing her family member alive and well.

Almost as if on cue, Jin's shoulders relaxed and his expression softened, relieved that Yuki was being reasonable about this.

Unfortunately, he missed one minor detail.

The Great Hero of the Hero tribe suddenly felt a chill go down his spine, what was-?

" _However_..." Yuki muttered quietly, light-blue hair shadowing her eyes. "I don't think that you should do something like this again, don't you agree? Otou-sama?"

Naruto shivered slightly, she may be acting calm, but he knew full damn well that the feeling that she was giving off...wasn't too far off from the angry mobs that chased his old master for peeping.

Righteous fury, something that made even the bravest squirm.

The blond didn't even know that Yuki had such a side to her...this was infinitely more intimidating than when she lost her composure a while back.

Jin for his part, was sweating slightly, trying to think of a way to placate the obviously angry young teenager.

Damn those hormones...!

"Now Yuki-kun, you know me by now. I had ample reason to do what I did! If you'd just give me a moment to explain-"

Her hands clutched his own even tighter, moving into his personal space and moving her face closer to his.

Her eyes were still shadowed and hidden, somehow that made it even worse...

"...Please don't do this again." the younger hero demanded quietly, unrelenting.

"Y-Yuki-kun...-"

" _Please_ don't do this again." Yuki repeated.

...

Jin sighed, shoulders deflating as he finally gave in to his daughter's demands.

"...Fine, you win. I promise that I won't do this ever again, ok?"

The female hero's yellow eyes finally emerged from under her bangs to stare at the brown eyes of her father.

After another moment of silence, she finally moved out of Jin's personal space and let go of his hands, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Thank you for seeing reason otou-sama."

Naruto felt a sweat-drop forming, did...did she just browbeat the strongest hero of the Hero Tribe?

* * *

Naruto and Jin were sitting opposite from one another, the older man laying lackadaisically on the couch and the blond sitting upright on a chair opposite of him.

Yuki was right next to the older man, applying first aid on Jin's left arm to stop the bleeding, keeping one ear open to listen in on the conversation.

While Maria was just sitting on an adjacent couch, watching the proceedings with an interested look, curious to what was going on.

"Alright, we're all here now. What's so important, Toujou-san?" Naruto asked, getting their talks started.

Although he'd be lying if he said that he didn't want to get this all over with already, he had a long day.

Jin was just finishing up his latest cigarette, pulling it out of his mouth to puff some smoke, allowing the nicotine to calm his nerves.

The Great Hero's brown eyes trained themselves on the blond's blue. "I suppose that I'm ready to begin, now that Yuki-kun is here. Before I truly give you the information that I recently discovered, I think it would be a bit prudent to give you some...backstory."

Naruto leaned in, curious to what he had to say, but didn't actually say anything. Giving the older man his tacit approval to continue.

"...Yuki-kun knows this, but the Hero Tribe has quite a few powerful sensors among it's ranks. Sensors which are vital in keeping the location and the identity of our faction a secret from other supernatural factions. However, these sensors aren't just used for protecting our faction from discovery, they're also vital to help locate and pinpoint targets that could possibly harm innocent humans." Jin began, giving Naruto an apologetic look for a moment before continuing his explanation.

Not before the shinobi raised an eyebrow in interest however.

The Great Hero coughed onto his hand, consciously looking away from the blond before answering. "Well...I'm sure you remember that Yuki-kun's posting in Kuoh Academy was meant to observe the younger sisters of two Maous and the Original Lucifer's daughter. What you don't know is that our sensors _faintly_ sensed your power a week or so before you were enrolled in the high school, and one of our members masqueraded as a police officer to trick you to attend the high school...by my order."

Naruto stared at the hero, expression unchanging as his eyebrows began to twitch.

"...News to me." Yuki mumbled, staring steadily at her adoptive father as she finished wrapping up his arm. Tightening it a little more than she intended, causing a stray wince from the older man.

Maria just dryly glanced at the blond teenager, finding amusement in the fact that the person who always loved to trick people; was tricked.

Jin shrugged. "Hey, we had to make sure that you weren't a threat. Besides, now you have a viable way to protect your new friends, right?"

The shinobi said nothing for a moment, staring at the hero blankly. Naruto's entire plan to stay out of the limelight in beginning of this strange world was thwarted by the Hero Tribe...but more specifically by the man in front of him.

In short, all of the stressful shit that he has had to endure for others, was because of Toujou Jin.

Beautiful.

Naruto glanced at the two teenaged girls in the room; Yuki was pinning her father with a stare, obviously expressing her silent disapproval and Maria was just playfully smirking at him.

The succubus was enjoying this far more than she should.

The blond teenager sighed, it wasn't like his entrance at Kuoh was a _completely_ horrible event. He had new goals to pass the time before his _Kuchiyose no jutsu_ worked properly. Not to mention the friends he had made here.

Also...well trouble would have found him _eventually_ , it was more of a matter of 'how' or 'when' he got into trouble, not 'if'. It didn't change the fact that he was upset at the information, just that he couldn't really blame him for it.

So with that in mind, Naruto motioned for him to continue, silently stewing anyways.

"Alright, with that in mind, our sensors have begun to notice strange increases in demonic energy recently, impossibly sharp increases. With multiple individuals. It should be noted that this troubling information was relayed to me and the rest of the higher-ups at least a year ago, so we only recently began an investigation about it. Incidentally...we found a link to connect all of these strange power ups; a terrorist organization." Jin explained, solemnly remembering the events that culminated with his own private investigation.

He didn't notice how Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Wait...that sounds familiar..."

Everyone's eyes trained themselves on the blond, purple eyes widening in particular when it's owner just remembered something.

"Naruto-sama! Now that I think about it, you never told us what happened at the devil party!" Maira pointed out loudly, eyes shining with anticipation of what he had to say.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Ah! That's right!" Snapping his fingers at the epiphany.

Yuki gave him a dull stare, did he forget about the party already...?

Ignoring her stare, Naruto quickly explained. "Toujou-san, I just remembered! Phenex Riser's demonic energy and power with flames increased dramatically as well! He challenged me at the party and grew in power _twice_ in total; with the second time turning into a phoenix. Does that sound like what your sensors felt?"

Jin straightened his back, frowning. "It does, suspiciously so. Then perhaps this devil had dealings with this terrorist organization..."

Then he stopped, blinking as he realized something.

"Wait...did you say he turned into a _phoenix_?"

Naruto nodded, it sounded insane now that he put it into words, but it wasn't the absolute _craziest_ thing he has ever seen.

"...On behalf of Naruto-sama, I apologize, he is obviously exhausted from all the events that happened today." Maria apologized, bowing her head to the brown-haired hero.

The shinobi gave the succubus an annoyed glance, quickly raising his hand to her and flicking her ear in retaliation.

Maria yelped at the sudden action, pouting at the blond for the gesture, before sticking her tongue out childishly.

Ignoring the both of them for a moment, Yuki regarded her father carefully. "Have you ever heard such a thing, otou-sama? Devils becoming powerful beasts?"

Jin didn't respond for a moment, scratching his head at the information. All of this was very quickly becoming more complicated...

"...I suppose it _could_ happen, if someone's demonic energy became too powerful for them to control, but for one of the Phenex clan to lose control...well...the power increase must be incredible. Which _doesn't_ bode well for any of us." the Great Hero eventually responded, before coughing to gain Naruto's attention again.

Naruto finally stopped fighting with the silverette next to him by roughly pushing her face away from him, she was trying to pull his cheeks in recompense for his flick. No way would he let her.

"Uh...right." The shinobi said awkwardly. "Continue."

Yuki's lip twitched upwards for a moment, trying to hide her amusement.

Jin just obliged the whiskered teen, puffing out some smoke before continuing. "Alright brat...this is where it gets interesting. We didn't have much information on this terrorist group, except the fact that they were against the current government in the Underworld, but that was obvious. So, I unanimously decided to get more information from the group themselves by pinpointing their location and asking politely."

Dull stares were directed at the hero, everyone seriously doubted that he just 'asked politely'.

A wry smirk made it's way on the Great Hero's lips. "Well...we sent more than a few scouts into the Underworld, researching into the location of this terrorist organization. We eventually learned of the name, the purpose, and where the home base of this group was."

Maria raised her hand, she was finally free from Naruto's grip on her head. "Question; how did you get scouts into the Underworld in the first place? As far as I know, humans don't have the demonic energy to create magic circles to get there. Also, it's not like devils or fallen angels would willingly let you in."

Jin said nothing for a moment, wry smirk still in place, only answering after slowly laying himself back on the couch.

"Who knows...?"

Naruto and Maria shared deadpanned looks with one another, expressing their discontent with his answer.

"Alright, to be serious for a moment, I can't just give you classified information on the Hero Tribe now can I?" Jin pointed out, before continuing. "Now, in light of the information that the scouts have gained, I've learned of a couple of things. First; this terrorist organization was called 'The Old Maou Faction'. Second; this organization had connections with other...morally suspect groups, possibly other terrorist organizations. This is what prompted me to go and personally face them myself."

Yuki frowned. "Otou-sama, why would you do something so reckless? Surely you could have simply had some scouts to investigate the home base of this...'Old Maou Faction'?"

Naruto nodded, eyes narrowing. "She's right, you didn't need to take that risk. You could have slowly gleaned information from those who were supporting this faction, carefully gaining more info without putting yourself in danger. Why rush this? You're pretty damn important, right?"

The Great Hero, still relaxing on the couch, just plastered a reassuring smile on his face.

"Now now, who said that my life had that much redeeming value?"

All of the teens stared at the older man for a moment, silent as many of them tried to process what he had just said so...casually.

Yuki said nothing, closing her eyes in resignation after processing his words. Even now...he was like this.

Jin just shrugged casually after seeing everyone stare at him. "To put it simply, I'm old. _Really_ old. Isn't it the duty of the older generation to protect the younger ones? If I can't risk my own life, then I have no right to risk someone else's. It's just that simple."

The shinobi glanced quickly from the father-and-daughter duo, confused. "Wait, you may seem old in my eyes, but you're not _that_ old. You're like...what? Around your 40's? You have plenty of life in you, don't squander it."

The Great Hero shook his head. "Brat, you don't get it. Do you know why I'm regarded as a legend? It was because I was able to face the Original Lucifer and stalemate him in one-on-one combat...now this wouldn't tell you how old I am...unless I added one more specific detail."

The brown-haired man leaned in conspiratorially, as in he was about to confide with everyone and share a big secret.

"I stalemated him _during_ the Great War. Which ended about...oh...give-or-take three hundred years ago."

Naruto's eyes widened slowly, that was...

"Wait! How the heck is that possible!? You're a human, right!?" Maria cried out incredulously, eyes bulging out from what she has just heard.

Jin gave her a sardonic smile. "Quite incredible, isn't it? The devil leader was also very much surprised to see me as well, but he hid it much better. In the Hero Tribe, there is a method for legendary heroes to gain an extended lifespan, although it's reserved for the absolute best. So for all intents and purposes; I'm immortal, unless I fall in battle that is."

The shinobi whistled, that was some pretty impressive stuff.

Though the blond still gave the older man a sympathetic look, it was obvious that the longer lifespan wasn't exactly full of positives. Hell, if you thought about it, he very well could have outlived most of his family and friends.

Long-lasting life wasn't worth it for that kind of price...

The Great Hero shook his head. "We are getting off topic...where was I? Oh...right. So I personally invited myself into the premises of the Old Maou Faction; it's home base which consisted of a large citadel. I quickly cleaned the place up, eliminating the numerous devils that were inhabiting the structure and learning more about the faction. As I suspected, it's a group that aims to overthrow the current relatively moderate rule of the Yondai Maou, seeing their policies as a betrayal of their species. More importantly...I've learned that they have been keeping in-contact with other shady groups...one of which just so happened to be..."

Jin trailed off of his train of thought, sighing and placing the palm of his hand on his forehead.

He glanced silently at Yuki.

"...This is part of the reason that I wanted Yuki-kun to be here. There have been new developments involving the political situation of the Hero Tribe...you see...prior to my decision to go at this alone, there was an incident. Similarly to how we lost contact with some agents, we've lost contact with an entire _branch_ of the Hero Tribe in China." Jin explained quietly, ignoring the shocked looks that he had garnered from the teenagers around him, Yuki in particular.

"I interrogated one of the devils that worked in the citadel, he happened to have been involved in communications so I believe his words hold merit; apparently there has been quite a lot of communication from the citadel to China...roughly around the same time that we lost contact."

Naruto straightened his back. "So you think that this faction...is connected with the loss of contact?"

Jin nodded, entirely serious.

The shinobi glanced down, frowning. These guys sounded like bad news, no matter how he looked at it, add in the fact that they were against the current devil government...

Well, Naruto had his work cut out for him if he wanted to change devil culture.

"...I also met the leader of the Old Maou Faction. He was young by devil standards, still a brat really. But he was well trained, no doubt about it, by _who_ would be an interesting question however." the Great Hero muttered, scratching his chin.

The blond scowled, so this guy was tough then, huh? "What's his name?"

Jin took out the cigarette out of his mouth, puffing some smoke smoothly, looking at the young man in front of him seriously.

"His name was Leohart, second son of the Original Lucifer."

* * *

Sirzechs Lucifer was staring up at the ceiling, slowly twirling the wine glass in his hand, not paying any attention to the wine inside the drinking glass.

He was sitting in his throne room, contemplating his current situation in the luxury of his room.

"What are you thinking about, Sirzechs-sama?" Grayfia asked lowly, standing by his side, as always.

The red-headed Maou sighed, placing the wine glass down onto the small table next to his throne. "To be perfectly honest; many things. The recent string of incidents that have taken place are...troubling, to say the least. Add on to the fact that Naruto-kun made that little speech before he left and...well, the repercussions of that may very well be far-reaching."

The maid nodded. "What should be done about it?"

Sirzechs shrugged. "What _can_ be done? It's happened, the damage has been done; for better or for worse. All we can do is react accordingly to the consequences."

The _queen_ of the Maou Lucifer nodded slowly, word will slowly spread through word-of-mouth about what has happened today, it won't take long for the media to get a hold of it either.

From there, the information could easily be accessed not only by other devils, but by other biblical factions as well; especially the fallen angels.

Grayfia's eyes narrowed. What would Azazel do about this when he hears of what happened today...?

Hard to tell, that man was slippery.

Before she could continue her musings, a large magic circle appeared in front of them, much to their interest.

Especially for Sirzechs, considering the crest it displayed.

 _Phenex_.

Out from the magic circle, came two individuals; a man and a woman with blond hair and dark blue eyes.

The man looked like an older version of Riser, having similar blond hair which was spiky at the back and the same dark blue eyes.

While the woman looked like an older version of Ravel, also having blond hair and dark blue eyes, except with her hair raised high with ornate hair decorations.

"...Lord and Lady Phenex; to what do I owe the pleasure?" Sirzechs inquired genially.

Lord Phenex bowed to the Maou, indicating his respect. "Greetings Maou-sama, we have come in the hopes of catching the young man that has apparently fought and defeated my son today, is he present?"

The red-headed Maou slowly shook his head. "He left already, I apologize."

Lady Phenex placed her hand on her cheek, frowning. "Oh my, it seems we were too late. A shame."

The clan leader of the Phenex clan sighed, they were hoping to get here in time, Riser only recently woke up and told them the story of what had happened.

Sirzechs leaned away from his seat, eyeing them warily. " Lord and Lady Phenex...why do you seek to speak with Naruto-kun, if I may be so bold in asking?"

He honestly wasn't sure if he should allow them to get close to Naruto, if they wanted to pay him back for defeating their son, then he would have to do his best to lead them away from the human powerhouse.

It would all very simply blow up in their faces, Naruto-kun didn't seem to take the concept of authority too well...

Lord Phenex faced the Maou Lucifer, a no-nonsense look in his eye.

"I wish to thank him."

Sirzechs nodded. "Alright then, that makes sen-"

Then he paused.

Wait... _thank_ him?

Lord Phenex must have noticed the growing incredulity in the Maou's expression, because he immediately attempted to explain himself.

"We haven't really talked about it, but my son-"

Lady Phenex pinched his sides, causing him to wince and quickly rectify his mistake.

"- _Our_ son; Riser, has obtained something of an arrogant streak, something that he has obtained due to his overconfident belief in our regeneration abilities. So imagine our surprise when we found Riser to be...different after he awoke from his unconscious state." Lord Phenex mentioned, thinking back to how different their son acted when compared to the last time they saw him.

Lady Phenex nodded. "I thought he would have been traumatized from such a defeat, but instead he seems to be rather contrite. Honestly; how Uzumaki Naruto managed to help my son learn a valuable lesson about the limits of our abilities without scarring him is something I'd like to know. Checking the pride of a high-class devil like Riser isn't easy after all."

Her husband raised an eyebrow in her direction, didn't she _just_ pinch him over calling him 'my' son...?

Meanwhile, Sirzechs was shaking his head. Naruto-kun was really too much by this point.

He also couldn't help but wonder if they knew about his declaration yet...?

"Very well, I suppose that you'd like to thank him personally then? Perhaps you would like to accompany me when I next visit the human world?"

Lord Phenex perked up at that. "We would like that very much, Maou-sama. Thank you for being so understanding. His actions truly mean a lot to us."

Before the Maou could respond, something else interrupted him.

A green magic circle appeared on the opposite side of the throne room, illuminating the entire room with green luminescent light.

Everyone watched as a young-looking man with green slicked back hair emerged from the transportation device. A bored look on his face as the magic circle finished it's work.

He momentarily looked around, turned to face Sirzechs Lucifer in the face as his equal.

Practically because for the most part, he was his equal.

"Well...many things seems to have happened while I was away, but better late than never, right?" the young-looking man intoned.

Sirzechs merely grinned, as if gazing upon an old friend.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true...Ajuka."

* * *

Naruto was seeing the leader of the Hero Tribe off, shaking his hand as a farewell outside of the house.

"Really, thank you for telling me what you've learned." the shinobi said. "But why would you go through such lengths to tell me all of this?"

Jin's eyes panned from him to the blue-haired hero that was waiting for them to finish their goodbyes, staying silent, before moving back to the blond.

The older man then simply gave him an enigmatic smile. "Who knows? Perhaps on a whim? Or maybe I'm just beginning to like you?"

He shrugged. "We may never know, brat."

Naruto snorted, a strange bastard as always.

Jin's expression went serious for a moment, leaning closer to him.

"But maybe...I'm just hoping that you will protect your friends with everything you have, no matter what comes your way... _all_ of them." the hero whispered conspiratorially.

The shinobi grinned. "Do you even need to ask? If there's _anything_ that I'll do, it's protect those I consider precious."

Though after that statement, the blond shrugged, a self-depreciating smile on his face. "Although, considering the shit I've done today, maybe I might make everyone's lives a bit more... _exciting_ than I'd like."

The Great Hero raised an eyebrow, he did something stupid recently, didn't he?

He had a feeling that he didn't want to know.

"One more thing." the brown-haired man said. "This man...Leohart; he's different from all of the devils you've fought so far, no doubt about it. Almost all devils have the same weakness, one you've probably exploited up until now. But this man...unlike the others, he's a close-combat specialist that was trained _specifically_ to take down long-range fighters."

Naruto's eyes widened. Seriously? That was ridiculously rare in this world, at least from what he had saw.

He could be trouble.

With that last warning given, Jin turned around and began his trek away from the blond's home.

Yuki began walking after him, but turned to the blond after passing by him.

"...See you tomorrow?" Yuki asked quietly.

The blond raised a thumbs up in response. "Of course! Though how long you'll see me is a different question."

The young hero grinned a little, she would expect nothing less.

"Yuki-kun, come on. Let's let the nice brat and loli have their rest!" Jin drawled a ways away.

Yuki didn't respond, only staring at Naruto in the eye for a second longer than anticipated...

Then turning away, jogging after her father and walking step-by-step in tandem with him as they walked away.

Naruto and Maria watched the father-daughter duo leave in silence for a few seconds, calmly taking in the atmosphere.

Until Maria broke it that is.

"By the way Naruto-sama, when are you going to get rid of those dirty clothes of yours. You look like a bum on the street, don't you know?" the succubus pointed out playfully.

The shinobi looked down at his present state of dress, frowning.

Right, burnt clothes from giant fire-breathing bird. Probably needed changing.

"Don't judge, I've had a rough day. I don't see you taking down legendary creatures, do I?" Naruto retorted smartly.

Maria shrugged. "Well I don't ever get into these situations, unlike some people I know. You're just a trouble-magnet after all."

Oh boy...she couldn't even imagine how right she really was, life was just unfair at times.

The silverette turned around, walking to the front porch with her arms clasped behind her head.

"Hey Naruto-sama."

The shinobi perked up at his name being called, following the succubus into the house. "Hmm?"

She turned around, facing the blond with a thoughtful expression.

"With all that's happened recently Naruto-sama...I think that taking some time to relax with your friends is something we should be looking forward to, don't you?"

Naruto's looked shocked, honestly surprised to hear that from the usually playful succubus.

"...Yeah, you're right. I suppose it's times like these that you gotta appreciate the small things, right?" the blond replied, playfully rubbing the top of Maria's head.

Aiming for a goal was great and all, but without taking some time to relax, he would definitely have a much harder time when dealing with the more serious moments in life. Sometimes, just enjoying life was what was called for.

Unbeknownst to Maria, Naruto's expression went serious for a moment.

It didn't mean that he shouldn't have an idea of what he had to do next though, before he concentrates on his objectives with regards to peace and devil culture...there was something else he had to do first.

He knew exactly who to talk to about it.

* * *

Bleary pink eyes revealed themselves to the world.

Mio wiped the drowsiness from her eyes, trying to survey her surroundings and get some idea of where she was.

She was...in her room.

The red-head blinked. She was in her room? When did she get here?

Mio struggled to remember the events of last night for a moment, remembering the party...the reveal of her past...the duel...her tirade...Naruto's declaration.

Then blank.

She must have knocked out after a while, not exactly unexpected with the day she has had. She thought she soldiered through it pretty well, all things considered.

The half-devil slipped off of her bed to place her feet on the ground, only just noticing that she still had her dress on from yesterday's 'function'.

So...they pretty much just dumped her onto her bed then? Nice.

She quickly took her clothes off and got changed into more comfortable clothings, leaving her room to get food and greet her two annoying/lovable family members.

Except there was only one there.

"Maria? Where's Naruto?" Mio asked, scouring the living room as she looked for the missing blond, was he asleep still?

Maria looked up from the pot she was stirring and grinned at her charge. "Morning to you too sleepy-head! Breakfast is almost ready, but Naruto-sama was too impatient and left to school early today."

The daughter of the Original Lucifer stopped moving, eyes wide as she realized what she has just heard.

...Naruto going to school _early_?

Was this some kind of evil prank? Or was the world legitimately ending?

Just what kind of twisted reason did her brother possibly have in going to Kuoh Academy early?

* * *

Naruto suddenly had the urge to bonk a certain red-head upside the head.

No idea why, it was just an urge.

Nevertheless, the blond was currently jogging towards Kuoh Academy, moving at a reasonable pace for ordinary humans so that he could speak to Rias and Sona-kaichou.

It was very important, as a personal issue anyways.

As Naruto was making his way towards school however, he met some familiar faces...

Meh, he had some time to kill anyways, he left a little too early.

"Issei! Asia-san! Morning you two!" Naruto cried out, waving his arms frantically in greeting.

That definitely garnered their attention.

"Ah...hey! Naruto! What's up?" Issei called out, inclining his head in greeting.

"Naruto-san! Good morning!" Asia also cried out, bowing very quickly in her nervousness.

The shinobi grinned at the two, quickly walking in step with them and then taking notice about what was different about the duo.

"Asia-san, you're wearing the Kuoh uniform! I guess that Rias managed to get you in then, huh?" Naruto noted, curiously looking at her new clothes.

The nun nodded excitedly. "Yes! I'm starting to attend Kuoh Academy today, though to be perfectly honest, I'm a little nervous."

Issei sighed, scratching the top of his head. "Yeah, Asia has a pretty noticeable accent, so both of us are afraid that she might get bullied by some pricks. Though I will kick their asses if they ever did it, it could still isolate her."

Naruto sniffed, that is a pretty annoying problem. But...

"I don't know Issei, to put it bluntly...a lot of the guys at school wouldn't exactly object to seeing a new pretty face." the shinobi pointed out bluntly, an amused smirk plastered on his face.

The brown-haired boy's hackles were raised at the thought. "They leer at her, I'll beat them up."

"Issei-san, please don't hurt others." Asia reprimanded, gazing up at him with her innocent green eyes.

The _pawn_ of the Gremory group just huffed, it was hard to stay mad when Asia was so innocent.

Meanwhile, the whiskered teen rolled his eyes. "Issei...aren't you being a bit of a hypocrite right now? Don't you practically leer at any pretty girl that has a big chest? Hell, aren't you a part of the infamous 'Perverted Trio'?"

Issei twitched, annoyed that he was called out at that precise moment, especially with Asia _right_ _there_.

Dick move damn it.

Asia glanced up at Issei, horrified. "Issei-san! Is that true!? That can't be true, right?"

The perverted boy raised his hands in up in surrender, breaking out in sweat a little due to being put on the spot. "Now...I wouldn't say _that_. I just happen to have a... _healthy_ admiration for the female body is all."

Naruto snorted in the background, much to Issei's annoyance.

Nevertheless, Asia sighed out in relief, thoroughly believing the perverted boy.

She never noticed the dark look that Issei threw at the orange-loving teen beside him.

"You know Naruto...maybe some people can claim that I have a little too much interest in bishoujous, but at least no one can claim that I have none at all." the brown-haired boy claimed with a sly grin.

Naruto's head snapped towards Issei, stopping in his tracks to stare; flabbergasted, by the insinuation he was making.

Low blow damn it.

"Hey! It's not that I have no interest, it's just that...I've been busy." the shinobi retorted lamely, realizing prematurely how stupid he sounded.

He really was busy though, by the time puberty really hit him, he was facing the ever-present threat of Akatsuki and focused on saving one of his closest friends. When he got to this world, he had to deal with the ever-present issue of getting back home.

Excuse him for being busy!

"Hey hey...don't worry about it, Naruto. I'm sure you can one day be as honest as I am." the wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ crowed, ignoring the rising annoyance of the blond, which was exhibited by his shaking shoulders.

The shinobi's eyes sharpened and a crooked smile grew on his face when he found some ammunition against his friend in his memory banks.

"Funny...you claim that you're honest, but are you really? If you were a really honest perv-...'healthy' boy, then I wonder why you never stare at Rias or Akeno-san with your perverted eyes, huh?"

Issei took a step back, almost as if physically slapped, horrified by what the dastardly blond was suggesting.

"...Ar-Are you claiming that I'm not a _true_ pervert!?" the brown-haired boy exclaimed, pointing an offending finger at his accuser.

A mocking grin on his lips, Naruto shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Defend yourself against the accusation then."

Issei straightened his back, belatedly realizing that his very _identity_ was being called into question. He _had_ to make a stand here...

He would be fighting for the honor of perverts everywhere!

...

...

...

"I'm a little scared of them." Issei admitted after a moment of silence.

Asia was patting him on the arm, not sure how, but still sure that he needed some comforting.

The shinobi said nothing for a split-second, deadpanning at his male friend, before finally deciding to ask the question that a part of him _really_ wanted to ask, but another part of him _really_ wanted to ignore.

"...Why?"

The perverted boy gave Naruto an annoyed look at the obvious disbelief in his voice. "...Picture this for a second Naruto, you are a normal human that has lived with the assumption that there _aren't_ people who could obliterate you as easily as breathing. Then you find out that you're wrong, and get thrown in the middle of a battlefield where fallen angels are practically carpet-bombing the area. Do you think that you could act completely normal after such an incident?"

Naruto blinked slowly, staring at Issei as if he had just grown a second head.

"So...a part of you is afraid of supernatural girls? Is that it?" the blond inquired, honestly curious.

Issei shook his head. "No, I partially take back what I said. I'm not _really_ scared of them, just...wary. It's just hard to see them entirely as...girls, ya know? Believe me, I've tried to."

"Really? You've tried?"

"Yeah. Buchou was taking a shower inside the club room, it was before we left for that training trip. So I really had the urge to see her bountiful oppai, but...Koneko-chan happened." Issei reminisced, shivering at the memories.

Naruto's eyes became sympathetic. She was a tough one.

Then the perverted boy perked up, pointing a finger at the bridge of the blond's nose and making a declaration. " _But_! Make no mistake! This is merely the exception to the rule that makes up my perverted code! Even then, one day...I will overcome this trial! One day, I will gaze upon their lovely oppai! Just you wait!"

The _pawn_ of the Gremory group then began to cackle loudly, attracting the attention and derision of many of the female students that were making their way to school as well.

Issei stopped laughing and gave his friend a triumphant smirk. "So? What do you think? Pretty badass, right?"

Naruto didn't respond, too focused on something else at the moment.

"...Asia-san's about to cry." the blond commented, almost as if he was taking note of the weather.

Issei snapped his head towards the nun by his side, she was red-faced in embarrassment due to the the attention that the brown-haired boy had garnered with his words. Tears beginning to pool in her eyes as she bravely attempted to ignore the snide remarks coming towards their general direction.

The dam broke soon afterwards.

"Uuuuuuu...!"

Panicking, the perverted boy frantically waved his arms. "Ah! S-Sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't cry Asia! I didn't mean it!"

The shinobi stared at the strange duo; a perverted boy with no shame and a nun with too much innocence.

He needed some popcorn next time, just in case.

* * *

"When did you two form an alliance?"

The Sitri heiress was staring down her childhood friend, they were both alone inside the club room of the ORC building at the moment due to them both arriving early. Rias to do some work that she has to catch up on, and Sona for her own duties as a student council president.

Sona needed to discuss this with Rias.

Rias didn't bother looking up from her work, focused on jotting something down with intensity. "A few days after he's enrolled I think...? I don't quite remember."

Sona leaned in, eyes narrowed as she critically studied her friend's facial features. "You never mentioned this 'Kuoh Pact' of yours...why? I'd think that would be something pretty important to know."

The Gremory heiress finally looked up from her work, locking eyes with Sona, refusing to be browbeaten. "I didn't think that the pact would last, it was supposed to be used as a method to buy time to figure out how to deal with the special circumstances. If I told you without Naruto's consent, it would have broken the pact, thus breaking any trust I might have garnered. Besides, you already knew that Naruto was...'special'."

The heiress' of the Gremory and Sitri clans were currently having a row, discussing the specifics of past events that have led to their current predicament.

Specifically, about Uzumaki Naruto.

"I _know_ that, what I mean is the fact that he was able to defeat a fallen angel _army_. I'd think that that would be pretty important, wouldn't you?" Sona stated dryly.

Rias sighed, laying back on her chair. "I only learned about all of that when Naruto told me, by then he has proved himself to be trustworthy. I should have told you then, yes, but the whole training trip occurred right afterwards. I was distracted, it doesn't excuse my negligence mind you. But at the same time, I assure you Sona, neither you or your Peerage was in _any danger_. I would never purposefully do such a thing."

The two childhood friends kept their eyes on one another, purple and blue-green, logical and determined.

Sona closed her eyes. "Fine, that's fair. But I expect to be informed the next time something of consequence occurs in Kuoh Academy, you should be more aware of the people around you."

Rias nodded slowly, she would have to speak with the whiskered teen about it, but she was sure that he would agree that she should be included in anymore...'events'.

"Maybe she should be more aware of people around her too, eh Rias?" a familiar voice asked with a joking tone.

Sona's eyes snapped towards the ceiling, shocked despite her calm exterior, whereas Rias practically jumped from her seat in surprise.

"Naruto!" the red-head exclaimed, before her shock turned into annoyance. "Why do you _always_ insist on making fancy entrances? Is knocking on the door like a civilized person _that_ difficult?"

The shinobi smirked, hanging upside down on the ceiling and looking down on the two females. "Nah, it's much more fun this way."

Naruto released the chakra that was holding him up on the ceiling, landing in the middle of the room without making a sound.

"Sorry for barging in, I just needed to talk to the two of you, so this is perfect for me." the blond said, the self-confident smirk on his face remaining.

The two high-class devils glanced at one another, this would be good...

"...What do you need, Naruto-san?" Sona asked warily, fully aware that the process of 'planning ahead' when this boy was involved was pretty much impossible.

Better to just find out what he wanted now and respond from there by this point.

Naruto raised his eyebrow silently when he noticed that she has begun to use his first name, but quickly moved on. "I need another extended leave of absence from school."

The Sitri heiress' eyes widened at the blond's audacity. "Are you serious...? You've been away for practically a week by this point, yet you want to leave _again_?"

Rias sighed, Naruto seems to have gotten it into his head to go on another hare-brained scheme.

Naruto ignored the kaichou's protest, turning to the red-headed devil instead. "...And _you're_ going to help me."

Said devil blinked at that. "I am?"

The blond only nodded in return. "You are."

Rias gave him an amused look, crossing her arms across her chest in challenge. "Now why exactly would I help you with this new scheme of yours? This has nothing to with the goals that I pledged to support, right? This is personal it seems. I can't just go out of my way to help you in absolutely everything, you know?"

Naruto grinned. "Of course, I'd expect nothing less. Which is why I am cashing in my favor now!"

The Gremory heiress went silent.

...She forgot about that.

Sona, now annoyed that she has been bypassed, interjected. "Naruto-san...Rias will most certainly _not_ be helping you skip school. I allowed it without comment last time because I figured that it would be healthy for her to unwind, but this is just a personal vacation! You have to concentrate on your education!"

Scratching the back of his head, the blond turned to face the one individual who was still opposed to his second attempt at skipping school. "Look, I don't expect you to like this, but Rias is right, this is something personal that I have to do. I'm not going to leave immediately, but I _am_ going."

Before Sona could interject a second time, Rias spoke up. "Sona, I owe him this. Sorry, but he's correct. On the honor of the Gremory clan, I will fulfill my end of the bargain."

The Sitri heiress turned to face her childhood friend again, facing her again like before Naruto had came by. "Now...Naruto may have your support, but he doesn't have mine. This is for his own good, he's _staying_ so that he could become a productive member of society. That's final."

With that statement made, Sona immediately turned around and left the club room, not allowing anyone to stop her.

"...Damn, she seems dead set on this." Naruto mumbled, staring after where she left.

"Don't worry, I'll get to her eventually." Rias responded, before turning to the blond.

"By the way, thanks for dragging me into this, with all of this work that I need to catch up on, I _really_ needed more work. Just in case I got bored." the red-head drawled sarcastically, a dry look on her face.

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish look.

Rias sighed. "Whatever, like I said, I will get to her. Now is there anything else, or do you want to make other momentous proclamations?"

Naruto looked offended. "Hey, that speech was heartfelt, it was an _epic_ proclamation, momentous is way too pompous."

The Gremory heiress rolled her eyes in amusement, trying not to let the grin on her face show.

The shinobi's face then turned serious.

"...What can you tell me about yokai?"

* * *

 **AN: Hey there everyone! A new chapter! Yaaaay!**

 **Alright, so first off, the repercussions of Naruto's speech last chapter won't become fully realized right away, it will take time for word to spread, *that's* when dominoes will begin to fall.**

 **Also, the former Phenex Arc is officially over, things are quickly moving forward to the next Arc, a mini-Arc that will connect straight into the Excalibur Crisis Arc without any relaxing chapters. It will be back-to-back.**

 **So some nice light chapters are incoming until Naruto goes on to...well...I'm sure most can guess to what he will be doing.**

 **Alright, think that's it, cya next chapter!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	26. Chapter 26

Dull purple eyes were staring at the sun in the sky, a single emotion prevalent in the individual's very soul.

Complete and utter _boredom_.

For the next few hours, Maria would be forced to wait for her family members to finish having fun at school, while she stayed home. Doing mostly nothing.

Oh...she could clean, do the dishes, get the groceries, watch television...

Except she did that already. So what was left, really?

The succubus let her head fall onto the counter she was leaning with a ***thud*** , brainstorming of a way to kill some time.

If only she could get join Naruto-sama and Mio-sama in Kuoh Academy...

Hell, she _would_ have, if not for the fact that the brother-sister duo have stated in no uncertain terms; they would do everything in their power to stop her if she tried to.

It was incredibly rude! As if she would go over there and cause nothing but trouble!

More than that, Naruto-sama had no right to criticize her, he was no different.

Maria sighed, she was just a pitiable creature...her circumstances were just deplorable. So much so as a matter of fact...

That she was going to go and prove them right.

With a new-found grin on her face, she hopped off her seat and went to get some 'supplies'.

Time to have some fun.

* * *

Mio stared at the scene before her, not too sure what to make of it.

"...Stop looking at me like that."

The red-head didn't heed the request, continuing to stare at a certain infamous pervert on the street that was comforting a certain nun.

It was hard not to be judgmental at times.

Issei was currently trying to comfort a teary Asia; who was looking somewhat embarrassed for tearing up on the street.

"...So, care to tell me why you made Asia-san cry, Issei-san?" Mio deadpanned, pinning the reincarnated devil with a stare.

The brown-haired boy raised his hands up in defense, standing up in the process. "No wait! That isn't the case! It's just a misunderstanding, I swear!"

Mio said nothing for a moment, remembering all the stories that she heard about the infamous 'Perverted Trio' and their penchant for shifting the blame. So when the perverted boy in front of her claimed innocence, it was more than a little difficult to take seriously.

Seeing her disbelieving attitude, Issei took a step forward in order to defend himself.

But the red-head took a step backward, wariness in her eyes.

"Hey. You're a good guy, sure. But you're still an irredeemable pervert here." the half-devil pointed out, keeping her boundaries a priority.

Issei's jaw dropped, he completely forgot about his shitty reputation at Kuoh Academy...

"Now wait a minute, I might have a track record of... _admiring_ some girls, sure. But this time I'm telling the truth! You gotta believe me!" the _pawn_ cried out, seeking understanding from a fellow devil.

The half-devil sighed, shaking her head lightly at Issei's plea. "Who else could or would have done this? Look at her! Asia-san is practically a blond puppy."

"It was an accident!"

"So...you _did_ do it then, huh?"

Issei flinched. "Uh...I may have played a relatively small part in it... _maybe_."

Mio didn't look impressed, a visible grimace on her face.

"Hey, Naruto was the one that tricked me into it." the brown-haired boy countered.

Now that got the half-devil's attention, perking up slightly.

"So Naruto's partially responsible?" Mio muttered, eyes sliding away from the perverted boy to the nun.

Issei shifted uncomfortably, he was kind of right in a way, if Naruto hadn't insulted his perverted culture, then he wouldn't have said anything.

Now all he had to do was get away before the red-head got any more upset.

Naruto would be fine anyways, Mio was obviously a bro-con, he would get off easy.

Said half-devil glared at him for some reason, her eyes sharpening in the process.

"I suddenly wish to do immense damage to your person." she threatened, a dark glint in her eye.

The brown-haired boy blanched, could she read his thoughts or something!?

After glaring at him for a moment, Mio turned to Asia while trying to get rid of the dark look in her eye.

"What do you think of the situation, Asia-san?" Mio asked gently, a comforting smile in place.

Realizing that she was getting called for her input, she straightened. "I think that Issei-san has some inner desires that he has to deal with, but that it still doesn't make him a bad person. Just...expressive."

The nun tilted her head downwards, a frown marring her face. "To be honest, it was actually really embarrassing."

Before anyone could comment however, she snapped her head up, emerald-green eyes shining. "But, it's also very inspiring!"

Issei perked up and Mio looked flabbergasted by the assertion.

Nevertheless, the female blond continued, eyes shining and reverent. "Despite his excesses, he accepts that it is a part of him! He truly loves himself enough to look past his flaws!"

The brown-haired boy suddenly felt like a weight was put on his shoulder, pushing him to the ground.

"F-Flaws..." Issei parroted, eyes twitching.

"Despite the fact that his inherent flaws earns him nothing but everyone's scorn, he still stands strong!"

Another weight was put on his shoulder, grinding him further into the ground with an increasingly depressed air.

"Scorn..."

Mio watched in morbid fascination as Issei was subtly getting battered by Asia's words, was she doing it on purpose...?

Asia then clasped her hands together, as if she was about to-

"Oh kami-sama...thank you for allowing me to meet Issei-san. By looking at his inadequacies, he can grow to become a good and just person! May you watch over him! Amen!"

The red-head stared as the mighty wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ lost his strength and fell face-first into the cement, groaning in pain due to the splitting headache he got.

She couldn't blame him, even she got a minor headache from the prayer, even though she was a half-devil and it wasn't even directed at her.

When Mio turned around to look at the perpetrator, Asia just met her gaze with a confused look.

"What's wrong with Issei-san? Is he sick?" the female human asked with concern, tilting her head to the side.

The picture of innocence.

Mio felt a sweat-drop form, could it be that...Asia could actually be kind of dangerous in her own way?

"...Nothing, but I think that I'm going to leave now. Uh...please take care of Issei-san, ok?"

Asia gave her a large smile, completely unaware of the brown-haired boy's distress. "Of course!"

Issei lifted his head up from the ground, looking entirely exhausted and disgruntled.

This was _not_ a good way to start his day.

* * *

Akeno was walking in a casual pace towards the ORC building, with two packages in hand.

She knew that Rias had to arrive at the old school building to catch up on the work she had to do, she probably had a lot on her plate at the moment. So hopefully she was still there.

The _queen_ of the Gremory group chuckled, she remembered how insistent her _king_ was to get the package under her left arm; citing how impossible it was to contact a certain blond without it. But she also got the impression that she was flat-out happy to help him out for a change.

The _other_ package was...well.

She would definitely be the bearer of good news, without a doubt.

As she continued her trek to Gremory group's base of operations, she saw someone approaching her _from_ the building.

"Ah! Kaichou, good morning." Akeno called out genially, a happy expression in place.

Sona slowed down, nodding in greeting. Tight-lipped.

It was only then that the black-haired devil noticed how irritated the student council president looked.

"Is there something wrong, kaichou? Did you and Buchou have another argument...again?" Akeno eventually asked, a mother's tone that made it sound like she was referring to two children.

If Sona noticed it, she didn't comment. "No, not Rias, though she didn't help. My mood has more to do with an insufferable, irritating, dense, and _foolish_ blond that-"

"That sounds like a certain kouhai of mine." Akeno mused, a dry look in her eye.

The heiress of the Sitri clan snorted. "Was it that obvious? He's truly just such a...difficult person to deal with."

Akeno covered her mouth with a dainty hand in mock-indignity. "Oh my! I've never heard the esteemed kaichou use such _harsh_ words on a student before! He must really get under your skin, hmm?"

Sona sent an annoyed look at the teenaged girl, before huffing and continuing past the amused sadist. "Believe what you will, I have more important things to deal with. Tell Rias to inform me when Naruto-san stops being foolish."

Akeno watched with amusement and veiled interest as the student council president walked away, despite her teasing words, it _was_ actually quite rare to see Sona show so much frustration. Or really...emotion in general.

She has always been very controlled.

After taking a moment to think about it, the black-haired girl shrugged and continued what she was originally doing; delivering her _king's_ packages.

About a minute later, she finally made it inside the old school building and knocked on the door of the club room itself.

"Come in!" Rias' muffled voice came from behind the door, allowing Akeno to open the door inside.

Once doing so, she quickly studied the atmosphere of the room, intent on damage control if either of her friends were in a sour mood.

Looking at the faces of the two occupants, she had nothing to worry about.

Rias had a strange look of reluctant amusement, regarding the blond across from her that was seemingly deep-in-thought on one of the couches.

The blond in question; the infamous foxy-kun, was currently glaring at the floor, either thinking very deeply or insulted that the carpet did something to him.

Either made sense frankly.

"Akeno, good morning. Did you happen to see Sona on the way out?" the red-head asked curiously, sliding her gaze from the blond to her _queen_.

"Yes, she seemed quite...put out, did something happen?" Akeno inquired, fishing for the events that created Sona's bad mood.

At that moment, the whiskered blond in the room raised his hand, as if he was a child that was admitting to some wrongdoing. "That may have been my fault, but despite what she feels, I still gotta go."

Seeing that Naruto wasn't explaining the situation at all, Rias interjected. "Naruto wants to take another leave of absence from school."

The _queen_ _'s_ eyes snapped to the suspiciously recalcitrant blond. That definitely explained Sona's mood, she always was a stickler for such things.

It was only after the red-head's explanation that Naruto's introspective air disappeared, he jumped off of the couch and reacted as if he had made a grand discovery.

"I know! All I gotta do is out-stubborn her! As long as I prove that I won't be cowed, she will _have_ to accept the fact that I'm going!" Naruto crowed, a shit-eating smile on his face.

"That won't work." the heiress of the Gremory clan interjected tiredly. "While I admit that you're incredibly stubborn, she also has a ridiculous stubborn streak as well. It will practically take an entire month for her to capitulate, can you even wait that long?"

Just as quickly as he came bursting out; joyous and full of energy, he deflated. Falling back onto the chair with a annoyed frown.

"...Damn, back to the drawing board." Naruto mumbled petulantly.

Rias' eyes panned back to Akeno, seeking understanding. "See? See what I deal with?"

Akeno just smiled in return. "It actually looks quite fun, Buchou. Never a dull moment."

"For _you_ maybe." the red-head shot back, before sighing. "Anyways, I hope that you have some good news for me, I might need it right now."

With that, the _queen_ smirked and raised the packages that she was carrying under her arms to everyone's line of sight. "As a matter of fact, I do. Both of your packages have arrived."

Naruto looked up from his borderline-brooding, a question at the tip of his tongue, curious about-

Without warning, Rias sped past the blond, reaching for one of the packages that Akeno held, an excited grin growing on her face-

"Catch, foxy-kun!" Akeno chirped, lobbing the package over her _king_ and onto the surprised blond.

Naruto did as suggested and caught the package, immediately feeling that the package wasn't exactly...normal. A fact that definitely piqued his interest.

"Wh-What are you doing!?" the Gremory heiress cried, turning around to face him and looking entirely flustered. "Th-That isn't yours! Give it back!"

But what interested the shinobi most of all, was not the fact that her face was slowly turning as red as her hair, it was the fact that she was so desperate to get the package back.

Honestly, he had half a mind to take the box and make a break for it, it would be good for laughs. But her tepid expression somewhat dampened his good humor of such an action.

...That and he was having a little fun in her expense already, just seeing her extraordinarily cautious look as she wondered what exactly he was going to do was awesome.

"See how much of a good friend I can be?" the blond teased lightly, handing the box back to the red-head.

Rias immediately grabbed the box, securing it by pushing it close to her chest and breathing a sigh of relief, she _really_ didn't need Naruto to know about her embarrassing hobby...

"Aww...too bad." Akeno muttered behind her, sounding very much disappointed.

The _king_ gave her _queen_ a megawatt glare from the side of her eye, she would remember that.

Before Rias could get any kind of revenge, Akeno piped up. "Remember Buchou, you have another present to open here!"

Blue-green eyes narrowed warily, as delicate hands grabbed the second package from the black-haired girl's arms. Was she expecting anything-

Rias' eyes widened, could it be?

It _was_.

"Naruto." the red-head called out. "Catch."

For the second time that day, the blond raised his arms and caught the package that was thrown at him. Annoyance laced across his features.

"...Are you making fun of me?"

"As much as I'd like to say 'yes', no. The contents inside are actually for you." the Gremory heiress claimed, a smug smirk on her face.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, what exactly did she get him?

Not wanting to beat around the bush, the blond quickly opened the box and took out-

...

"What is this?" the shinobi muttered in confusion, tilting the rectangular-device on his hand to get a better understanding of it.

"Wait, are you serious? You _don't_ know what that is?" Rias muttered in disbelief, eyes widening.

"...No?" Naruto returned, entirely unsure.

Rias didn't say anything, but the fact that she tilted her head towards the ceiling and pinched the bridge of her nose said enough.

"Oh dear...what an innocent kouhai we have, hmm Buchou? Especially if he doesn't even know what an iPhone looks like." Akeno teased, her hand covering her smile.

Naruto blinked, then he squinted his eyes, trying to remember where he heard that name before-

"Oh! Now I remember!" the shinobi cried out. "That's the cool cellphone some people carry around! So _this_ is it, huh?"

The Gremory heiress released the air she was holding in. "Thank _goodness._ I was not looking forward to having to explain to you about what an iPhone was..."

"I thought it would have been quite the amusing discussion though."

"Once more, for _you_ Akeno, you're not the one explaining it to him."

The _queen_ of the Gremory group shrugged easily enough, Rias was probably right.

Meanwhile, Naruto was fiddling with the device on his hands, trying to find out how to work the damn thing.

 ***Crack***

Ah.

"...Was it supposed to do that?" Naruto asked hesitantly, raising the cellphone up to everyone's line of vision and pointing out how his finger was literally _through_ the black screen.

Neither of the devil girls said anything, at least until Akeno gave her _king_ an impressed look.

"Looks like you were right, I take back what I said."

Rias simply puffed her chest out. "Of course I'm right, Naruto _would_ do this sort of thing."

The shinobi glanced at the duo, confused.

Seeing his confusion, Akeno explained. "Fortunately for you, Buchou figured that you'd break the phone very easily and took steps to prepare for it. That being said, I doubt that even she predicted how quickly you would have broke it."

Naruto glanced away, unwilling to concede the point or give the red-head the pleasure of seeing his contrite expression.

"Naruto, just look inside the package again." Rias spoke up, good humor twinkling in her eye.

The blond, thankful for her good grace, took her advice and checked the package again to see what she was talking about.

What he saw made him deadpan at the grinning red-head.

"...I'm not _that_ bad."

Rias snorted. "You really are."

There were literally _several_ iPhones inside the box he was carrying, likely mass-produced. It really spoke volumes of how ridiculously wealthy she was to splurge so easily.

More than that, she had so little faith in his ability to keep things from getting broken! How rude!

"I give him a week." Akeno muttered to her _king_.

"I agree."

Damn the both of them.

The shinobi fished for another iPhone, being immensely more careful with it and finding the power button.

Once he turned it on, both 'Great Ladies' went on to explain all about the touch-screen device, making him feel like a child in the process, but it was necessary nonetheless.

After the crash course, Rias quickly added the phone numbers of all of the Gremory group into his phone, saving his number to her's as well.

"Also, don't worry about expenses, I have that covered. Just...try not to destroy too many of these, would you?" the red-head said wryly.

Naruto nodded, absentmindedly staring at his phone.

Then he paused.

"Hey, can you give me Sona-kaichou's phone number?" the blond questioned innocently, feigning curiosity.

"No." Rias denied immediately. "You'll definitely just prank call her until she capitulates, I can feel it."

The shinobi clicked his tongue, damn it, how did she know?

"You said you were going to _help_ me here."

"Yes, in convincing her. Not in hardening her resolve."

Naruto's grin turned feral. "Yeah, it would harden her resolve; in the short term. But trust me, she's never had to face a concerted effort from me before, I can break her."

The shinobi's dark cackle unnerved the red-head, she wasn't sure if she'd like to see what he could do in such a situation. Or be collateral damage for that matter.

"Ara ara, I think that foxy-kun is serious. Perhaps you could give him an...incentive to stop his excesses?" Akeno hinted, giving her _king_ a meaningful look.

Rias' eyes widened in comprehension, of course!

"Naruto, I'll make a deal with you." Rias stated with resolve, turning to face the blond. "If you manage to keep yourself from pranking anyone for three days or so, then I will give you Sona's phone number, will cover your expenses for your 'trip', _and_ will build a training center in Kuoh Academy so that you could practice your abilities."

The blond's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "...All that just to keep me quiet for a few days?"

"I desperately need a few days to relax and get my bearings, considering what has happened recently. Besides, I think you underestimate just how easy it is for me to fulfill such a promise, Naruto." the red-head noted, crossing her arms with a challenging smirk.

The blond's lips thinned, eyes narrowed, could he make such a deal? It wasn't extraordinarily important for him to get Sona-kaichou's number, he could do without it. Same with the offer of paid expenses.

Add in the fact that he has internally decided to pressure the student council president -with pranks- to acquiesce to his request for a formal leave of absence.

But that training center though...it was admittedly tempting. But enough to cancel out his plans for three whole days? He wanted to get moving _soon_.

Honestly, he was partially tempted to just leave outright, with or without the student council president's approval, but he didn't want to go so far.

More than anything, he didn't want to completely alienate the Sitri heiress over something so trivial. Even if he managed to get her approval through some arm-twisting, it would be much better than making her feel like her opinion didn't matter.

At least, that's what he assumed that most females cared about...he hoped that he wasn't being stupid.

Then Naruto's eyes lit up, he had an idea.

"That's a deal, but you better keep your end of the deal!" Naruto exclaimed, but before he said anything else, he checked the clock on the wall to see how much time he-

Ah...shit.

"I'm late...ugh, the teacher is definitely gonna make me stand outside again...maybe I should just skip the class...? No, damn it. Yuki is in that class." the shinobi grumbled, turning around to leave the old school building.

Both 'Great Ladies' watched in amusement as the blond troublemaker sped out of the room, grumbling to himself all the while. Only waving his hand in goodbye as a farewell.

Akeno spoke up after turning to one of her closest friends. "Well, like a storm, our kouhai has left the premises. I suppose that now that he has left, you want to open your other package in peace, right?"

Rias was already working on it, eyes sparkling as she opened up the utterly priceless piece of history that she held.

After opening the box, she carefully picked up one of the many interesting, no... _beautiful_ weapons of the past.

It was a four-pronged metal star, an icon of one of the most famous professions in Japan; the shuriken.

She had no idea why, but she has recently become utterly fascinated with them, even more so for a japanophile such as herself. It probably had something to do with the rise of public interest in ninjas as a whole. She just couldn't get enough of it.

"This cost me a small fortune to get...but they say that this very shuriken was used by the shinobi of old; it's truly fascinating to think that humans could utilize such tools. Especially considering all of the powers that the ninjas of old were stated to have! It's incredible!" Rias gushed, eyes shining in utter enjoyment over her obsessive hobby.

Then she froze, intensely aware that she lost composure in front of a sadist, one that would love to see her incredibly embarrassed.

"...Whatever you do, _never_ mention this to Naruto. I don't care what else you do." the red-head eventually stated seriously.

She could already see the crooked smile of his unbelievably smug face, about to poke fun of her love of Japanese culture. He very simply would never let her live this down.

Akeno responded with a beatific smile. "Of course, Buchou. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Though right after she gave her response, the black-haired girl gave her _king_ an interested look. "So Buchou...what was with that promise you gave to our kouhai?"

Rias carefully placed the antique down on her desk, making sure that it didn't receive any scratches. "Why, I have no idea what you're talking about. Did I say something weird?"

Akeno looked as if she carefully considered the question, placing a finger on her lips and regarding the ceiling. "It's just that...I could have sworn that you made an order for a 'training center' after foxy-kun's training. As a matter of fact, I could swear that there was a _new_ set of stairs in this building, one that I didn't see when we left. A little odd, no?"

The _king_ said nothing for a moment, slowly turning around to regard her close friend, who was currently giving her a look of mock-consideration.

"...Fine, I admit it. I've already ordered some public servants to come by while we were away to make a pure training area, specifically built, not makeshift." Rias admitted, somewhat annoyed that her bluff was called.

Ever since Rias was defeat by Naru-no, by Naruto's _clone_ , she has been putting more stock into the idea of a permanent area for everyone to prepare for any trials or dangers ahead. That idea only gained traction after the whole incident with the intruder and the 'phoenix' incident.

The world suddenly seemed much less stable and safe as before, was it always this way...?

Nevertheless, it was built before they came back, so Rias was eager to check out the full facilities once classes were over.

The _queen_ then tilted her head slightly, genuinely curious this time. "So then...why claim it as a prize for his good behavior?"

Blue-green eyes simply danced with amusement, as the Gremory heiress sat back down on her chair. "Nothing too heinous in helping the prize look more appealing with some false advertisement is it, Akeno? Also, once your classes are over, make sure to contact everyone in the Peerage, we will be training after-school."

* * *

Droning.

That's all Naruto heard, a somewhat faint droning.

He made it to class on time, faced the skeptic questioning of his teacher, braved the curious looks from his peers, and finally got some obviously well-deserved rest by taking a part in class.

...

Nope, that was a total lie. He was actually laying his head down and trying to ignore everything the professor was saying, he forgot how unbelievably dull this was...

Then he felt something poke the sensitive juncture in-between his ribs and hips.

The blond groaned mournfully, not this shit again...

"Naruto, pay attention. We missed quite a bit while we were away." the hero by his side whispered, jotting down notes quickly.

Bleary blue eyes gave Yuki a dry look, amused in spite himself that she was so dedicated to her classwork. "Model student as always, huh?"

Yuki looked up from her work, returning his look with a small smirk. "Is that admiration? You can do it too, you know?"

Naruto waved her words away, he knew she was trying to help, but spending time studying when he could be training or having fun was not a good idea in his eyes.

"No thanks, I happen to like taking naps in class, besides I'm sure that you're going to drag me into another tutoring session anyways." the blond returned, shivering at his own words.

Bleh, _tutoring_.

The hero looked amused. "You _almost_ sound like you're looking forward to it."

"Now I wouldn't say that." Naruto drawled, laying his head back onto his desk. "More like I understand that it's gonna happen, no matter how much I don't want it."

The bluenette's smirk faltered, suddenly becoming more somber.

"...Do you find me irritable when I ask you to study with me? Am I simply being too pushy with you?" the hero asked uneasily, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

The shinobi's eyes snapped to the hero, his own blue eyes locking with her yellow ones.

He then closed his eyes and faced the front of the classroom. Unresponsive.

This sounded eerily similar to her entreaties for forgiveness when she spoke on behalf of her father, back at the Gremory summer home. She was worried that the event would break their friendship...was this the same?

Yuki, taking his silence as his answer, turned away. Biting her lip and ignoring the sting of her insecurities. She shouldn't have-

"Yuki."

The young female didn't react, staring firmly straight without a word.

"...I definitely wouldn't let someone that I found 'irritable' take me to tutoring sessions. Actually...I would only let people that I like do that."

Yuki snapped her head to the blond, but Naruto had already laid his head down onto his desk, trying to get some rest before class was over.

The hero stared at the unmoving blond locks and turned forward, trying to focus on the class discussion and trying _really_ hard to stop the growing smile that was spreading across her face.

* * *

The second that class was over, Naruto booked it, ignoring the indignant huff from the teacher while he was at it.

He had more important things to worry about.

Naruto quickly moved through the hallways of the high school, trying to get ahead of the crowd that began to filter in, clogging up the corridor.

After a few moments of constant weaving through crowds of students, he descended a flight of stairs and began paying more attention to his surroundings, looking for someone...

There!

"Koneko-san! What's up?" Naruto exclaimed gleefully, waving his arm to grab her attention.

The only problem being that she wasn't the only one that he attracted, as several first-year students stopped what they were doing to stare at their senior.

Koneko stopped moving and turned around, eyes surprised as she momentarily ceased her attempts at getting to her next class. "Naruto-sempai?"

As the two teenagers finally faced each other, many other curious first-year students watched, some partaking in blatant gossip.

"Hey...that's Uzumaki Naruto; the delinquent, right? He doesn't look like that bad of a guy..."

"Yeah, I heard he's just got a problem with authority. Outside of that, I've heard he's a pretty chill guy."

"Do you think that he would appreciate it if one of us talked to him...?"

"Hey, isn't he Naruse Mio's older brother? So she is a closet bro-con for him then?"

A cheshire smile spread across his lips, he would ignore most of those comments, but that last one...? The teasing material for that one was too much to just ignore.

Naruto walked up to the somewhat confused and wary Koneko. "Fancy seeing you here, huh Koneko-san?"

The young devil didn't respond immediately, she simply stared at the older boy in front of her with a suspicious look. "...What are you doing here, Naruto-sempai?"

The blond opened his mouth to respond, but Koneko quickly interrupted. "If you're trying to trick me into helping you with a prank...you can forget it."

Naruto's eyes widened at the accusation. "Huh? Of course not. Forcing people to partake in a prank of mine when they don't want to is against my code of conduct."

The _rook_ said nothing for a moment, tilting her head slightly to the side at the blond's words. "...You have a code of conduct...for pranking?"

A foxy grin spread across the blond's face as he puffed his chest out in pride. "Of course! All professionals need a code of conduct! So that means that I need one for pranking, it's just that simple."

Koneko said nothing, her suspicion still palpable. His tricking her into a prank could very well _be_ the prank.

The grin on Naruto's face faltered slightly. "Oh come on Koneko-san, I wouldn't be that maniacal. I promise that I'm not trying to trick you, ok?"

Finally, the young devil relaxed a little, while the boy in front of her was a prankster, he also took his promises seriously.

"Then why are you here? I'd think that you would be trying to leave school altogether by now."

Naruto's expression finally went serious, regarding the younger girl silently for a moment.

Truth be told, he planned on seeing her after the debacle yesterday anyways, regardless of his guilty feelings of re-opening some wounds of the past.

First and foremost, she was a comrade, even if this had nothing to do with him, he would have still tried to see if she was alright.

He very simply had more of an incentive to help her now.

"...Are you ok? After the...well... _everything_ that happened yesterday? I heard you had a pretty rough time." the shinobi eventually said, eyes understanding.

Koneko straightened slightly, on edge due to how close the question hit close to home. How much the he know exactly...?

"...I'm fine."

Naruto stared at the thoroughly recalcitrant _rook_ , eyes exhibiting her unwillingness to divulge her...personal problems.

"...I don't know much, but I do know that you were hurt by someone close, right?" the shinobi said levelly, eyes studying the younger girl's facial features for a reaction.

He got one.

Koneko's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed, obviously somewhat upset at the unwelcome intrusion.

By this point the hallway has mostly emptied, most students have left to their classes to make sure they didn't get chewed out by their teacher. So the _rook_ quickly took this chance to turn away from the blond in front of her and walk to the window, staring out the window with a blank face.

Naruto watched Koneko move to the window, silently watching her for a moment before joining her, waiting for her to respond.

After a few more seconds of silence, Koneko finally spoke again. "Naruto-sempai...thank you for your concern, honestly. But this...'problem' isn't something that I feel comfortable talking about. Can we just drop it?"

The shinobi glanced at the younger girl beside him, taking in her somber profile.

He then blew out some air from his mouth, scratching the back of his head. "Alright, if you insist then I can't really say much more on this, can I?"

Koneko's shoulders, which were somewhat tense throughout the conversation, finally relaxed a bit.

"...That being said." Naruto continued, eyeing Koneko's profile again and noting that her shoulders became stiff once more. "You do realize that you could come talk to me about it...right? Even if it's just for the sake of needing to have someone listen."

The young devil just shook her head slowly. "Naruto-sempai, stop. My issues are in the past, not the present. You have more than enough on your plate as it is...my problems shouldn't have to burden you."

Blue eyes snapped to the _rook_ , zeroing in on her with intensity. "Koneko-san...you're my friend, whether you acknowledge it or not. Helping those you care about isn't a _burden_."

Koneko didn't respond, only staring out the window with a frown on her face.

Naruto continued to stare at the younger girl for a little longer, before sighing and turning his attention away from her. There was nothing more he could do at the moment.

All he could really do was lend a hand if she felt inclined to talk, so until things changed, he couldn't really intervene. Not until he had the full story.

Blue eyes narrowed, unless he told her about his ability to use senjutsu... Maybe they could form a concord between one another and possibly help her overcome her fears...

But the blond quickly shook his head, she associated senjutsu as something 'bad', it's more likely that she would grow to fear him rather than talk to him. Even if he was completely sane. She would simply see him as a ticking time bomb that would eventually lose control.

Koneko was just going to have to approach Naruto rather than vice-versa.

A stray thought drifted across his mind, wait...maybe there really was a way to help Koneko? What if he-?

"Naruto-sempai?"

Naruto jumped slightly, just _slightly_ though. No way he'd get that caught off guard, right?

The shinobi tilted his head to regard the quiet devil besides him, raising an eyebrow when he realized that she was concentrating on something outside...

"Isn't that your friend out there?" Koneko asked tentatively, unsure.

Blue eyes trailed after the _rook's_ line of sight, frowning as he considered who it could possibly-

His jaw dropped.

"M-Maria!?" Naruto cried out, eyes bulging in shock.

Koneko slowly turned to the whiskered teen, uncertainty dancing in her eyes. "...Is she supposed to be here?"

Naruto didn't respond immediately, he first opened the window and jumped on top of the window sill, crouched and poised to jump off. Only then did he regard his kouhai through the side of his eye. "...Before I go and make sure that Maria's up to no good, I want you to know that I've seen your eyes before."

The young devil raised her chin up, uncertain, yet still too curious to not risk asking. "...Where?"

The shinobi turned back outside, a small grin on his face that didn't reach his eyes.

"In a mirror of course."

Koneko stared at the older boy's back as he jumped off, no doubt about to catch his friend and chew her out. Mind racing.

He's _seen_ her eyes before...? What did that mean? What was he talking about?

She bit her lip, shaking her head slowly. Was this some sort of stupid joke? What did he know? Surely he couldn't...

It was only after she stood still at the empty hallway for about a minute or so, pondering the mysterious blond's words, that she belatedly realized something.

"...I'm late for class." Koneko deadpanned.

...Was she _absolutely_ sure that he didn't come to prank her...?

* * *

Gleeful purple eyes was taking in the scenery of Kuoh Academy, it seemed to be so much bigger when compared to the last time she was here!

She was currently skipping around the high school grounds, looking for a safe place to begin having her fun. A nice temporarily secluded spot so that she could-

"Going somewhere?"

Maria yelped and jumped a foot in the air, feeling two arms grab her from behind and keep her in the air.

"N-Naruto-sama!? I thought that you'd be in class!" the succubus exclaimed, wiggling around and trying to break out of the blond's hold.

"I never go to class! You should've known better than to make such a silly assumption dattebayo!" Naruto declared. "Now, you mind telling me why you're here, Maria?"

The silverette stopped wiggling around, glancing up at the whiskered teen with innocence. "...Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Hey! I can be an innocent bystander too!"

"Ok then, what _are_ you doing here? Try giving me an actual reason this time, would you?" the shinobi asked cheerfully, closing his eyes and giving the succubus a smile.

Maria idly noticed that his features, especially with those scar lines on his cheeks, made him look like a fox.

"Um...well..." Maria fumbled for an excuse, eyes glancing around for a distraction to escape the blond's grip.

Then her eyes lit up, there was one way!

"Naruto-sama!" the succubus shouted with a shit-eating grin on her face. "I came here to invite you to join me on a pranking spree!"

The shinobi's smile vanished, replaced with abject shock. Was she serious?

Seeing a chance to plead her case, the silverette continued. "Yes, I have proof! If you check behind that bush right behind you, you'll see that I even brought supplies! Enough for two as a matter of fact!"

Naruto glanced behind him, seeing the bush that the succubus claimed. In response, he began to walk backwards towards it, dragging the hapless girl that he had in a hold with him.

After getting close enough and digging his free hand into it, he indeed found quite a bit of...'materials'.

Ok then, she might be telling the truth, a big 'might', but maybe he could use this to his advantage? If he pranked the student council soon after Sona-kaichou rejected his demands...then that would show that he meant business...

A dark smile spread across his lips, yes...this would work.

As Naruto began to chuckle to himself, plotting his first metaphorical 'shots' against Sona in his 'war', while Maria just sweat-dropped at his strange behavior.

"...Can you let me down now, Naruto-sama...?"

Ah, sorry.

* * *

"Kaichou, are you paying attention?"

Sona blinked, refocusing on her present surroundings, was she drifting off more than usual...? That's troubling.

"Apologies, please continue, Tsubaki." Sona apologized, nodding for her _queen_ to continue.

Tsubaki stared at the student council president for a moment, then continued as if nothing had happened. "As I was saying, we have to prepare for the Ball Tournament soon. Prepare some space, a schedule, notify the student body ahead of time, and secure the funds for it. Should we make that the student council's agenda for the next week or so?"

The Sitri heiress contemplated the issue, truth be told they really did have to prepare all of that soon, they didn't have much time left for the Tournament and they procrastinated enough as it is. But unfortunately, there was something else on her mind.

A certain blond troublemaker to be specific.

After refusing the blond's request for leave, she half-expected him to either leave anyways, or to retaliate in some way.

She felt that if she tried to concentrate on something like the Ball Tournament preparations, she would be leaving her back unguarded for any of Naruto-san's shenanigans.

All around, she felt on edge. Waiting for something to happen.

It was extraordinarily infuriating to say the least.

"Kaichou, are you worried about Uzumaki?" Saji asked, walking up to his _king_ with a frown. "I guess he's attending school again, huh? Is he causing trouble for you?"

Sona felt her eyebrow twitch slightly, was she truly that transparent?

"...No, he's not causing trouble. Although, I can't help but wonder how long that will last." the _king_ said, remembering how many among her Peerage didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with the blond.

Especially Saji, who was made to take a bucket to the head once through Naruto's machinations.

The male _pawn_ huffed, annoyed that the troublemaker was causing the student council president to worry. If only-

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a harsh clanking sound reverberated across the room, shocking all the occupants present and forcing their attention to the air vents.

All Sona saw was a hand throw _something_ into the middle of the room, quickly hitting the floor before any of them could react.

The room was suddenly filled with smoke, clouding everyone's vision and casting confusion, much to the Sitri heiress' growing consternation.

Then she felt something impact her in the chest.

Hard.

Sona quickly touched the area where she was hit, checking to make sure that the damage wasn't-

...

...Paint?

The high-class devil flinched as several stings impacted her body, leaving paint in their wake and coloring her up, very much against her will.

Hearing the grunts of annoyance and the faint crash of someone falling over some furniture, she could assume that she wasn't the only victim here.

After one more barrage where she was pushed back enough to trip over her chair and fall flat on her rear-end, the smoke had cleared up enough that the perpetrator immediately stopped and retreated back to the depths of the air vent.

Sona got up from her position on the floor, quiet and calm, wiping away the orange paint that was all over her glasses.

She then coolly regarded the student council room, seeing that the entire room was painted over with orange paint, as well as her personal effects.

Including her two Peerage members, who were struggling to get back onto their feet, much to their embarrassment and consternation.

Sona slowly regarded them, expression blank.

"...Get that son of a bitch."

* * *

"Shit, shit, _shit_!" Naruto wailed, shaking his head back and forth in horror over his actions.

"What's wrong Naruto-sama? You seem to be a bit upset, although you completed your prank. What's up with that?" Maria asked, confused.

Both individuals were currently sitting crouched in a little shadowed area, between two large buildings and hiding out for a few seconds.

"I just remembered something, that's what." the shinobi grumpily retorted, facepalming himself due to his own stupidity.

He forgot about the deal he made with Rias.

He had an idea, a loop hole to get out of that basic requirement! But he got caught up in Maria's mood to care! Damn his natural instincts!

Blue eyes sharpened, he had to make sure that he wasn't seen, if they had no evidence then it would be an assumption. There was no way that the Sitri heiress would accuse him of being involved without proof, she was factual like that.

The shinobi turned to the silverette by his side, watching her giggle madly and cradle the paint gun on her hands.

A paint gun, it was fucking _ingenious_. Why didn't he ever think of that?

"Hey Maria, I need a...favor." Naruto said, gritting his teeth while doing so.

The succubus stopped giggling immediately and turned to the blond, eyes wide. "...Really? Like... _really_ really?"

The shinobi nodded solemnly, he knew what was coming next, but he better lay down what was needed first. "Yeah, I need you to take the fall for this thing, I will be suspected for the prank and I don't need the suspicion at the moment."

Maria gave him an incredulous look in response. "...Then why did you join me for this if you weren't supposed to?"

"Because I'm an idiot that doesn't always think things through, that's why." Naruto retorted with a scowl, before sighing. "Just name your price already."

Purple eyes lit up in glee, a sly grin forming on her lips. "Naruto-sama...I want you to tell me how much better I am than you."

The shinobi groaned. "You've _gotta_ be kidding me..."

Maria beamed. "Come on Naruto-sama, you know you want to! No need to be shy! Also, just as a request, can you tell me how cute I am too?"

"No."

"...Fine, just give me my accolades then."

Naruto nodded slowly, taking a deep breath in order to curb his annoyance, this had to be done.

"...When I prank you, I only do it because I'm jealous of your happy demeanor, I wish I could be as friendly as you." Naruto said lightly, a happy smile plastered on his face.

Maria clapped her hands happily. "Yes! Please, go on! This is beautiful! Tell me about my superior pranks!"

The blond's smile almost cracked, but he kept going. "Yes~ Your pranks are sooooo~ much better than mine. I try to emulate you as best as I can..."

The succubus was jumping up and down with delight, before calming herself and forcing herself to be serious. "Ok, one last thing and you're in the clear, alright?"

It couldn't end faster for the shinobi, but he just nodded with his fake smile.

Maria leaned in, a shit-eating grin on her face and gave her last request. "...Call me sempai."

Naruto's 'perfect' facade cracked, just for a split-second, forcing him to wipe his mouth with his hand to prevent himself from telling the succubus to 'fuck off'.

So he tried.

He _tried_.

"... **S** e _M_ pAI."

Maria completely ignored the bared canines that the blond had out as he acquiesced to her terms.

"Ok!" the succubus declared, giving the blond a thumbs up. "You're clear! I will take the fall, you have nothing to worry about."

Naruto didn't respond, he only fell on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. That took everything he had...

The half-devil was skipping out of the area that they were hiding out in, humming a pleasant tune, before stopping for a moment and glancing over her shoulder.

"...You know, if you want...you _could_ call me 'onee-sama'-"

Naruto didn't hesitate.

" _Kage bunshin no jut-_ "

Maria cackled as she scrambled out of the darkened area, gleeful at her victory.

The shinobi glared at the area where the succubus once stood, fuming, before standing up and leaving the premises.

...The day was sucking pretty badly.

* * *

Pink eyes locked with purple eyes, filled with dry humor. She had a pretty good idea about what this was about.

"Ok, what did Naruto do now?" Mio inquired, inviting the other girl to say what she wanted to say.

Sona narrowed her eyes, studying the younger girl very closely. "...Have you seen him? I believe that he may have been responsible for a prank at the student council room."

Mio sighed dramatically, that _did_ sound like something he would do...

The half-devil was in the hallway, her last class was over and she was just about to leave the school, but it looked like she had one more obstacle to go.

Meanwhile, the high-class devil regarded the younger girl silently, she assumed that Naruto would have informed Mio about his activities, but it seemed to be a faulty assumption.

She didn't really have proof that the blond was responsible for the 'attack', but he had the motive. All she needed was to find him and ask him herself...

"Ah! There you are!"

Mio and Sona turned around, frowns on their faces as someone rudely interrupted their conversation.

The red-head's frown was far more pronounced however, she knew that voice...

Maria was waving her arms frantically, ignoring the incredulous looks that she was getting from the surrounding students. "Hey! You are the student council president, right!? It's nice...to..."

The succubus trailed off after seeing the unamused look that she was getting from her charge...shit.

"...Have we met? I feel like I've seen you before..." Sona wondered aloud, eyes zoning in on the seemingly 'little girl'.

"You have kaichou, she accompanied me when I was scouting out the school for transfer." Mio mentioned while crossing her arms, tapping her foot in irritation all the while.

What exactly was she doing here?

Sharp eyes narrowed, yes...she remembered now. Why was she here, exactly?

Maria was sweating slightly, if she took the blame of the prank in front of her charge, she may get punished when they got home...

She cursed, it was almost like the world was out to get her!

"Well...you see...I was bored today, right? So I got it into my head to do some harmless pranks in Mio-sama's school and...it _may_ or may not have gotten out of hand..." the succubus explained lamely, shrugging her shoulders uselessly all the while.

The two teenaged devils didn't respond to the confession, they simply stayed silent for a long moment.

Until Mio turned to her senior and bowed deferentially. "I apologize for Maria's behavior, she must have caused you a lot of trouble. I will take responsibility for it."

Sona couldn't help but notice the dark glint in Mio's eye, perhaps...?

The Sitri heiress smiled. "Understood then, I will allow you to deal with this. I'm counting on you."

The red-head nodded solemnly, she knew what had to be done.

"...Wait, what? No, don't leave me with Mio-sama...can't you just...I don't know, ban me from the school for a while? Please don't leave me with her..." Maria begged, eyes pleading for lenience.

Sona walked towards her, casually shrugging her shoulders. "No need, I'll let bygones be bygones."

The silverette did _not_ look happy to hear that.

Waterfall tears was flowing down the succubus' face, as the Sitri heiress leaned near her ear and whispered something to her.

Maria's eyes widened, turning around to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue as the high-class devil walked past her-

"Going somewhere?"

Strange...that was two-for-two.

Maria yelped as her charge grabbed her hair and pulled her close, a dark smile indicating just how much trouble she was in.

"W-Wait! Mio-sama! Please, hear me out! It wasn't really my fault!"

Mio didn't respond, she only dragged the thrashing loli out the school, ignoring the strange looks she was getting by her fellow classmates.

It was just a day in the life for the half-devil.

* * *

Naruto grumpily regarded all of the students that were leaving school, moping on top of a light pole that was overlooking the entrance to Kuoh Academy.

Ugh...he missed all of his classes... _again_.

He could already expect to hear from a certain someone about that...

"Ah, there you are, Naruto."

Speak of the devil.

Naruto leaned back and allowed his legs to hook themselves on the top of the light pole, keeping him from falling as his upper body slid off. Leaving him hanging upside-down.

Yellow eyes curiously stared up at the upside-down blond.

"Hey there Yuki, what's up?" the shinobi greeted, waving a free hand at her.

The hero didn't bother questioning the male blond about why he was hanging like a monkey, he did what he wanted to do anyways.

"You skipped your class again." Yuki noted, raising an eyebrow in question.

Naruto sighed, he knew this was coming.

"Yeah...I know. Lots of things happened. So...are you gonna drag me to some... _tutoring_ sessions?" the shinobi groaned, hating the sound of the word.

It was a curse word, one of the worst to have ever existed.

Yuki tilted her head in contemplation, silently looking up at her friend without comment.

"Not today. I'll let you have a free day."

Naruto gaped, _what?_

So shocked was he, that the blond didn't pay attention to how his lack of attention was affecting his hold on the light pole. His legs simply slipped off.

Naruto scrambled to right himself, but he slipped right off of the light pole and plummeted to the ground.

The shinobi's eyes sharpened, his instincts kicking in to right himself and land on his feet like an agile cat, he wouldn't die in such an embarrassing way dattebayo!

He managed _very_ well, since he made it to the ground safely.

Just not in the way he'd like.

"...Hi." Naruto greeted Yuki, looking up at her from his rather...strange position.

The hero was, quite simply, holding him.

More precisely, she _caught_ him.

Even more specifically, she caught him in the _bridal_ style.

"...I don't think this is how this is supposed to work." Yuki noted, strong enough to carry him, but seriously wondering if there was something wrong with this picture.

It felt kind of...nice though. Even if it was 'off'.

Of course, given Naruto's luck, someone else _just_ decided to see him in this position.

"...Naruto? Yuki? What the hell is this?"

Both teens looked to see that Mio and her captive prisoner was staring at them both, eyes incredulous to what they were seeing.

The two groups were silent for a moment, both afraid to point out how strange the other's actions looked.

Predictably however, Naruto broke the silence.

"...So how's _your_ day been, Mio?"

* * *

"Do you always like it when a girl gives you a bridal carry?" Mio asked quietly, walking towards her home.

"Oh come on...that was a misunderstanding!" Naruto groaned, ignoring the slight pink hue of his cheeks. "It was a misunderstanding, right Yuki?"

Yuki, who was walking besides the blond, considered the question. "...It felt strangely nice."

" _Not_ helping Yuki!" the shinobi cried, grabbing his hair in frustration.

Mio just huffed, turning resolutely away from her brother and the young hero by his side. She didn't care at all anyways.

Not even a little.

Meanwhile, Maria was just getting dragged by her collar by this point, her eyes were dull as the red-head kept trudging forward. She wondered when her charge would let her go...?

Purple eyes drifted to the blond with the metaphorical rain cloud over his head.

Meh, may as well tell him.

She waved her arms frantically, trying to grab his attention and drag him from his gloominess.

After a few seconds, Naruto eventually noticed and gave her a confused look, what the hell was she doing?

Maria simply waved for him to get closer, despite the fact that she was forcibly being moved by the clearly irate half-devil.

Naruto moved up faster, putting his ear to Maria's mouth so that she could whisper something in his ear, all to Yuki's mild amusement.

Though she _did_ notice his eyes widen.

Naruto quickly backed up and moved in-step with Yuki, clearly thinking about something else now.

"...What is it? Did something happen?" the hero eventually asked, glancing between the dragged succubus and the suddenly quiet blond.

The shinobi turned and grinned, a challenging glint in his eye. "I've been challenged."

Yuki raised an eyebrow, challenged?

Naruto turned away, grinning. Sona knew...she _knew_ that he was involved.

Maria told him that the student council president noticed a masculine hand throw the smoke bomb, which ruled out Maria as the one who instigated the 'attack'. Add in her affiliations to the shinobi, and you suddenly have a likely culprit.

But she didn't have proof, so she didn't try to get him. But now he was under suspicion, without a doubt.

This was a challenge now, there was no way he would back down from it!

But first...he needed some way to continuously prank the student council for an extended period without getting implicated.

His smirk was massive as he walked alongside his friends, he knew just how to accomplish that. She wouldn't know what hit her.

* * *

 **AN: Hey there! New chapter time!**

 **Alright, so this took a longass time to make, delays, family issues, loss of huge chunks of the story, and finally; re-writing it. THREE TIMES!**

 **It's been stressful. But it's finally done.**

 **Anyways, this is a light chapter, the next chapter will still be light (and more than a little insane now that I think about it...), but it will finally reveal a little bit of the after-effects of Naruto's proclamation against devil culture.**

 **I think that's it for now, cya next time everyone!**


	27. Chapter 27

**...This is what happens when you let your drunk self make a story idea. I can only shrug helplessly. I don't know whether to do it again, or to apologize repeatedly.**

 **Ah well, enjoy the chapter. :3**

* * *

Blue eyes sparkled as they regarded the many possible choices, there were so many to choose...oh, but there had to be a _right_ one.

He only needed one 'other' persona.

Naruto was in a dingy little shop, hidden deep inside an alleyway, almost as if it wasn't meant to be seen by individuals who weren't worthy of it. Only those with the fortitude could find it, if they needed it.

Yes, that's exactly what it was.

The store was filled with wondrous things; spray cans, face masks, body paint, costumes, whoopee cushions...!

Truly, this was his kind of place.

The shinobi was looking for something more specific for his arsenal, something to hide his features while still being well known. Something unique.

He supposed he could just use a classic _henge_ to get the job done, but this is _professional_ pranking hour, he needed a standard here.

That and he was pretty sure that he wanted to focus all of his attention on his 'activities' rather than focusing on keeping the _henge_ on. After all, they needed to be sufficient enough to to push Sona-kaichou into letting him go without any complaints.

It needed to be grand. It needed to be overwhelming. Nothing less than a complete and total defeat for the student council president!

But first...his disguise.

Naruto turned to face a heavily wrinkled old man, obviously the owner of the store. "Excuse me, but I need to-"

"Get lost kid." the old man interrupted, shooing the blond.

The shinobi stared at the elderly man for a second, surprised, before turning around in a huff.

"Asshole..." Naruto muttered under his breath, deciding to find what he was looking for himself. He didn't need the attitude.

The blond searched around the shop, taking note of everything that he could possibly use for his war against the student council, something unique and memorable...

Then his eyes locked on to _it_.

A few seconds later, he slammed the item that he wanted to buy on top of the counter, eyes sparkling. "Ojii-san! I want this!"

The old man carefully regarded the item on his counter. "...Is this a joke or something? You can't be serious? No one has bothered to buy this thing in years...almost as old as I am."

"That only makes me want it even more!" Naruto retorted excitedly.

The shop owner shook his head. "Trust me kid, don't buy this thing. Your reputation will never be salvaged once you put it on."

"...Would you just let me buy this thing already, jii-chan?" Naruto grouched, annoyed that this was taking so long.

Now the owner looked annoyed. "...What happened to the 'ojii-san' earlier? Run out of politeness, you immature brat?"

The shinobi lifted his chin in defiance. "First off; I've been calling you 'jii-chan' the entire time. Second; I don't have much politeness for rusted old windbags like you."

...

"...Get the fuck out of my store you deluded psychopath."

"Just let me buy my shit you stupid old crone!"

A day in the life.

* * *

"Maria, I thought we went over this yesterday during your punishment. You're _not_ coming to school with me." Mio said, firmly looking ahead towards the road.

"I know, I know! The bump on my head can attest to _that_..." Maria retorted sulkily, before becoming chipper again. "But I'm not going inside the school! I'm only escorting you on the way there, you know...in case something interesting happens."

The red-head sighed mournfully as the succubus followed her with a cheery smile.

"...You're just hoping that Naruto will do something crazy, aren't you?" the half-devil asked eventually, eyeing her guardian.

Maria shrugged. "Maybe, but honestly, anything would do."

Though she was counting on the blond to do something, especially since he left early this morning for something heinous.

...Again.

...It was probably heinous, right?

Hopefully?

The succubus pondered her questionable motives as the duo continued their trek to Kuoh Academy, neither of them particularly taking note of their surroundings.

Until Maria did that is.

Mio kept walking, her head in the clouds, until she finally noticed that the silverette has stopped following her.

Turning around, she saw Maria staring at something with frightening intensity, eyes wide as saucers.

"Maria? What's up? Are you ok? You like you've seen a ghost or something..." Mio asked, slightly worried.

The succubus didn't respond, she simply kept staring at what she was looking at without fail.

Frowning, the red-head followed her gaze and tried to what exactly she as looking at-

She froze.

"Wh-? Huh!? What the hell _is_ that!?" Mio cried, doing a double-take as she looked at the completely bizarre _thing_.

Both girls were staring at a green beast with a large chubby stomach, black beady eyes, webbed hands and feet, ovalish face, and...

...Was that blush on it's cheeks?

But it was Maria who connected the dots and realized what the creature was.

"...That's a frog." Maria noted in morbid fascination.

It was a frog as big as a normal human, sitting on it's hind legs, in the middle of the street.

...Well, the succubus _was_ looking for something crazy, so maybe she should be more careful with what she wished for...

Then, horror of horrors, the frog turned it's massive head to face them. Beady eyes staring, unblinking.

Mio and Maria watched the frog warily, unsure of what it would do, unsure of what _they_ would do.

They were about to find out, as the frog immediately jumped into the air with incredible speed and landed right in front of them without warning,

Both half-devils backpedaled quickly, acutely aware that they did _not_ want to be anywhere near this thing.

The frog then, strangely, began using it's hind legs to stand up, like a human.

Finally, it opened it's mouth.

"Yo."

...

...

""NAAARRRUUUUTTTTOOOO!?""

The frog winced as the dual screams emerged from the two females. "Owww...why did you two scream for...?"

Mio completely ignored the complaint and pointed an offending finger at the giant frog. "Naruto! Why the _hell_ are you wearing a frog costume!?"

Before he answered, Naruto opened the frog costume's mouth and revealed his face from within the suit's 'mouth'. "...First off; this is a toad costume, not a frog."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's a frog..." the succubus mentioned slowly.

"Secondly!" the blond cut off. "This is my new alter ego; Gama-tan."

...

...

Both girls silently stared at the blond before them, so completely and utterly incredulous that they were literally struck dumbfounded.

Naruto just nodded with pride. He obviously dazzled them with his incredible style and naming skills. They were speechless!

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and enact my war against the student council. See ya!" the shinobi chirped, closing the mouth of the frog costume and jumping away with incredible speed.

Neither of the half-devils stopped him, frozen as they were due to the fact that their brains were trying to catch up to recent events.

Then they caught up.

"...Damn it Maria..." Mio cursed, glaring at the succubus that jinxed their day.

Maria shrugged at the red-head with a sheepish expression.

Be careful what you wish for, huh?

* * *

Meanwhile, a ways ahead and much closer to Kuoh Academy, Issei and Asia were making their way to school as well.

At least they were. Now they're staring at an...odd sight.

Odd, but not completely insane to be fair. Just somewhat flamboyant.

In front of them was a fruit stand, selling a large amount of delicious apples for low prices.

...Only apples.

But that wasn't what was odd about it.

The odd part that made them stare; was the vendor.

The vendor was an extremely muscular man, wearing what amounted to an apron around his torso without an undershirt, along with a pair of shorts.

More importantly though, was the fact that he was wearing a giant apple on his head.

Issei had to blink a few more times to get that thought to wrap around his head, the man had an...apple... _apple_ on his head.

Why did he feel like his life had gotten a hell of a lot weirder recently? It wasn't just him, right?

The 'apple' wasn't just any apple though, it had a adorable happy face on it along with rosy red cheeks, all of which contrasted sharply with the bulging muscles...

It was just _wrong_ on so many levels.

"Issei-san...is this normal?" Asia asked hesitantly, tilting her head sideways.

"No, this definitely isn't 'normal'." Issei returned slowly, before shaking his head.

Ignore it, maybe it would go away if they ignored it.

"C'mon Asia, let's just go, we're going to be late." the brown-haired boy said, tugging her hand as he tried to shepherd them away from the strange sight.

The second he turned around however, he was face-to-face with a large green face with-

"Wait. What the fuck!?" the _pawn_ exclaimed, backpedaling rapidly at the way-too close green visage.

A frog? A frog as big as him!? What the hell!?

"Issei-san...is _that_ normal?" the nun asked in slight awe, she didn't know there were large bi-pedal frogs in the world!

"No! No way in hell is _that_ normal!" the perverted boy returned, trying to stop his racing heart.

The frog just stood there, staring at them. Unmoving.

Unbeknownst to the two teens, a certain blond had a large grin on his face as he decided to start acting out his new 'persona'.

The frog then raised it's arms to the sky, much to Issei's and Asia's curiosity, then exclaimed in a loud and childish voice-

"Gama-tan!"

...

...

"Can we keep it Issei-san!? It's so cute!" Asia squealed in delight, eyes shining as only a young girl could.

The brown-haired boy sweat-dropped, how should he respond to this exactly?

He didn't trust that frog, for obvious reasons.

The green amphibian piped up again. "Gama-tan!"

Issei glared at the bi-pedal frog. "What are you, a damn pokemon?"

"Gama-tan!" Asia parroted cutely, a happy smile on her face.

"Gama-tan!" the frog shouted again.

The _pawn_ was groaning now, shaking his head due to his headache, why him?

His eyes then sharpened, determined to stop this frog's shenanigans.

"Alright, you had your fun now, now do you mind telling us who's in that costume?" Issei asked, a suspicious frown in place, all while moving to try and take the frog head off.

The frog didn't respond until the teen got close.

"Gama..." the frog muttered quietly.

Issei's hand was about to grab the amphibian's head-

"TAN!"

The frog raised it's arms and shoved the perverted boy back, enough to knock him off his feet and on his ass.

Ok, _now_ Issei was incensed!

"Oh!? You wanna go you damn pot-belly bastard!?" the user if the _Boosted Gear_ roared, pointing an offending finger in challenge.

"Gama-tan!" the frog shouted in challenge, raising it's webbed hand in a 'come here' motion.

The reincarnated devil got up and put up his fists, ready to duke it out with the stupid bastard in the frog suit.

"Ah...Issei-san! Gama-tan! Please don't fight!" Asia begged, glancing rapidly between the devil and the frog.

"Asia! There's definitely a pervert in that suit! He isn't a real frog!" Issei returned quickly, taking his eyes off the frog and to the female blond.

Bad move on his part.

"Gama-!"

That was all Issei heard as he was once more, bodily pushed back by the frog and to the concrete again.

The devil growled and got onto his hands to try and get up, but saw that the frog was incoming again for another bodily push.

This time he was ready though!

"-Tan!" the frog shouted, hands stretched forward to push again.

Inside the suit, Naruto was practically _giggling_ in excessive amusement, not at all worried that the brown-haired boy could win, so not paying attention due to his assumption.

He should have remembered what were the problem with assumptions, and the fact that he _did_ actually train Issei a little bit.

With sharp eyes, Issei stayed low on the ground, but brought his legs out and about to sweep under the frog's legs.

Naruto was suddenly flying, his momentum sending him over the pervert's head due to his quick thinking, about to crash into the floor.

At least the blond would have.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice the small fruit stand until he was sent crashing into it.

Issei winced as the frog fell face-first into the stand, scattering the apples that were meticulously placed for sale, and breaking apart the wooden construct upon impact.

...Although he didn't mean for _that_ to happen, Issei still had a large smirk on his face. "That's what you get you pot-belly jerk! I'll have you know that someone put me through _hell_ to let me do shit like that, so you don't have to be ashamed that you lost to me."

The frog was motionless, the occupant was currently very much happy that he was anonymous right now, this information must never leak out.

It was only after a large shadow eclipsed the sun's rays to his form, that Naruto realized that he had another problem entirely to deal with.

"Hey...why did you destroy my apple stand for?" the 'apple man' asked gruffly.

The frog stayed silent for a moment, contemplating his dilemma.

He didn't want to hurt the guy, so using physical strength was out of the question.

He could explain and apologize, but then Issei would realize that he just tripped up Naruto...

...Fuck that noise, he knew what he was doing.

"...Gama-tan..." the frog said apologetically.

The apple man said nothing for a moment, staring down at the frog by his feet.

"You're apologizing?" the apple man eventually asked.

"Gama-tan."

"So you understand your wrong-doing then?"

"Gama-tan."

"I see, I'm happy to see that you're owning up to your mistakes." the apple man concluded happily, nodding to himself.

Asia clapped her hands in her joy. "Amazing! That man actually understands Gama-tan! This is incredible!"

"...Is he a pokemon master...? Issei asked seriously, analyzing the situation.

Then the muscular man raised his fists. "Very well then, as you suggested, we shall face each other with our fists and determine who shall pay for the damages!"

Everyone was silent after this announcement, unsure if he was serious or not.

"...Did Gama-tan really make that suggestion, Issei-san?" Asia questioned, frowning visibly at the prospect of another fight breaking out.

Before the _pawn_ could answer, the frog began shaking it's head wildly, crossing his arms into an 'x' to indicate it's disapproval.

"So you're placing your guard up already? Good! Let us begin then!" the apple man roared in approval, before crouching and preparing himself to fight.

Issei's eyes were dry as he regarded the amphibian that was still shaking it's head wildly. "...I don't think that 'Gama-tan' made that suggestion."

Then his eyes widened in alarm.

"Asia! _Move_!" the devil shouted, pushing the nun to the ground as something was sent sailing over their heads.

Both teens winced as the frog was once more sent flying, crashing into a building window amid the screams of the owners of the apartment.

"What the fuck!? Are you insane!?" the _pawn_ shouted towards the apple man, incredulous that he would actually take this 'fight' seriously.

Also, he could have seriously hurt the guy in the frog suit!

Before the apple-wearing man could respond, a webbed foot was smashed into his face, sending him crashing into the ground.

" _Gama-tan!_ " the frog uttered, obviously unhappy with it's treatment.

Now the muscular man was sent crashing to the ground, cracking the concrete slightly under the impact.

Issei's jaw dropped to the ground, the pot-belly bastard may actually be pretty tough...

"Issei-san! Asia-san!" a feminine voice cried out suddenly.

Both teens turned around to see Mio and Maria running towards them in a hurry, both of their eyes were panicked.

"Have you seen Nar-!?" Mio tried to ask, before catching sight of the two two mascot-like individuals fighting.

She literally couldn't say anything about it, this was just so unbelievably bizarre!

The two combatants then began clashing fiercely, smashing their fists against one another with incredible strength and speed. The shockwaves of their attacks were strong enough to push back everyone who was watching the fight unfold.

More importantly however, the fight was attracting unwanted attention.

Several humans, who were just getting ready to go to work, were now watching in abject awe as a frog and an apple were going at one another.

Mio tried to open her mouth to give out a warning, but she was more than a little late to stop what happened next.

Once more, both combatants smashed their fists against each other, knocking every normal human to the ground, much to their overwhelming awe. This was an elaborate show for them!

Before that awe could turn into fear, Gama-tan managed to trick apple man into making an error. That error being that the frog would engage him in another clash of fists, in a show of pure power.

He had no idea who he was fucking with.

The fist went sailing towards the amphibian's big face, but it quickly ducked under the attack and jumped _past_ the muscular man. Hopping away in a hurry.

"Hoooo? Are you taking the fight to a better location!? Very well!" the apple man roared, giving chase to the fleeing frog.

All of the Kuoh Academy students watched as the frog and the apple ran away from the area, most of them realizing where they were headed to their rising horror.

Kuoh Academy.

"...Shit." was all Mio could say.

* * *

It was a normal day at Kuoh Academy.

Students were entering the premises of the prestigious and safe institution of learning, all prepared to have a relatively stress-free day.

Saji was currently standing at the entrance of Kuoh Academy, welcoming students as they entered the school.

He _really_ didn't want to be here though...standing around and flashing everyone the same generic 'good morning' just gets old after a while.

So he expected a rather slow start to his day.

What he did _not_ expect was for screams to ring out somewhere a fair distance away.

The _pawn_ of the Sitri group turned around and frowned, kaichou would want him to end any kind of scuffle that involves the student population.

But of course...it wasn't gonna be that easy, was it?

He had an inkling that that was the case when the second he turned, all he saw was a green blur heading straight for him.

Funny how things work...

Almost as if a car glanced him by the side, a green blur went right past him and hit him at _just_ the right angle, that it sent him spinning on the spot.

But, as if he was hit by a _literal_ car, another blur smashed into him as he was spinning, sending him soaring into the sky.

Ah...sorry kaichou...it seems that he wasn't quite good enough for the job he was given~

Maybe next time, he could just go back to that paperwork~

So mused Saji, victim of circumstance.

Rest in peace.

* * *

The young man in the frog -no- 'toad' suit, felt as if he accidentally hit someone during his escape. But quickly shrugged off the feeling, he didn't hear any nearby shouts, so it was probably his imagination.

Or maybe just the numerous other screams drowning out that particular scream.

He also never noticed the student that was sent airborne either.

So instead, he focused on more important things.

How to get rid of the insane apple-guy? That was a pretty important question, right?

Apparently, running away wasn't working, he also inadvertently ran away straight to Kuoh Academy without thinking...he was just way too used to going to school by this point. It was instinctual.

Meh, maybe he could use this?

His thoughts on the subject were cut short when he was forced to turn around and catch the flying fist that was aimed at his back, right in front of the school building.

After blocking his attack, the frog held firm for a moment, before swinging it's other hand under the apple man's caught arm. Using that chance to raise the muscular man's arm to swing his body up into the air.

Finally, the frog turned it's body around and flung the apple towards the high school building, making sure to throw him to a mostly uninhabited part of the building...

The ceiling.

 ***CRASH***

...

...He aimed too low...all he did was smash him into the hallway...

Damn it.

* * *

"So all of the funds have been secured for the Ball Tournament? We are set?"

"Yes kaichou, the next step should be to inform the numerous clubs about the impending event. Should we hand out fliers or simply tell the teachers to inform their students?"

"...Both perhaps, doesn't hurt to be extra careful."

Sona and her _queen_ ; Tsubaki were speaking about the student council's preparation for the Ball Tournament, an event that requires a lot of time and effort to plan, despite it's simplicity.

They were _supposed_ to really get started yesterday, but Uzumaki Naruto happened.

At least that's what Sona firmly believed, even if she didn't really have proof.

Before anyone could say another word though, the entire room shook, as if something impacted nearby with incredible force, slightly alarming everyone there.

"...What was that?" Sona asked warily, glancing about the room as the room calmed down after the initial shaking.

Before Tsubaki could answer, a young girl with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair slammed the door opened. "Kaichou! Did you feel that!? What was it!?"

The _king_ didn't respond immediately, staying quiet to listen for anything.

She heard it faintly now...the sounds of fighting. Definitely not between ordinary humans, was it an attack or...?

A stray thought entered her mind as she turned to the girl that just arrived in a panic. "Tomoe, have you seen Saji? He was supposed to be overseeing the arrival of the students this morning."

Maybe he had some answers after all, but then again, she would have heard from him if he did, right?

The girl known as Tomoe opened her mouth to respond, but someone behind her cut her off.

"Kind of hard to do that when unconscious, don't you think kaichou?"

Everyone turned to look behind Tomoe, a young girl with long white hair was moving towards the student council room while dragging a teenaged boy over her shoulder.

"Saji..." the Sitri heiress muttered, noting his roughed up and unconscious form. "What happened to him, Momo?"

"Not sure, Gen-chan crashed through the window as I was making my way here kaichou." Momo remarked, looking entirely bemused.

Tsubaki turned to Sona, a frown on her face. "He seems fine, but it doesn't change the fact that someone knocked him out. Should we search to find the perpetrators?"

Sona bit her lip lightly, this would have to be handled delicately. "The student population has yet to arrive in force yet, you can go but make it quiet. But before you do so, maybe Saji could tell us a bit of what exactly we're dealing with?"

Her Peerage members frowned, how exactly could he answer any questions?

The _king_ leaned close to her _pawn_ boring into his face.

"If you don't wake up Saji, I will administer several hundred spankings in recompense."

Saji's eyes snapped open in horror, somehow instinctively knowing that he _had_ to get up. Otherwise he would regret it.

"...That worked?" Momo questioned, blinking rapidly in her confusion.

No one could answer her, but it was obvious that Sona was satisfied with the outcome of her threat.

"Saji, can you tell us about who attacked you?" Sona asked quickly, unrelenting as ever.

The _pawn_ blinked a few times, trying to gather his bearings, there was really only one thing on his mind...

"...Frogs and apples." the young male muttered, shaking slightly.

...

"...Kaichou, I think that he needs some time to rest. We will find the perpetrators." Tsubaki said firmly.

Sona nodded. "Very well, find out what's happening and inform me, while I go and tell Rias."

The room shook again, whoever that was, they were obviously not treating the building with the proper amount of respect.

* * *

After the frog knocked the apple into an empty hallway, it followed him to hopefully knock him out before things got worse. Entering a classroom since that's where the apple ultimately ended up in.

...

...

...

Then the amphibian ran out of the classroom, several projectile desks following it on it's way out. Forcing it to jump out of the window, breaking a window in the process.

No time to jump out of a window several stories above the ground civilly, unfortunately.

The second the green animal made it to the ground, it began dancing around the falling desks that was being used as makeshift weapons.

No respect for public property damn it!

Though...to be perfectly fair, the young man under the suit was actually having a lot of fun, just a fight without the risk of losing something was pretty badass.

He was having so much fun that he even made sure to only use his fists like the apple man suggested.

...It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to keep his identity a secret. Honest.

After a few more desks were thrown his way, the blond in the suit took the opportunity to jump back into the hallway once the muscular man used up his batch of desks. Breaking another window on re-entry.

...Ok, so maybe he wasn't exactly too responsible either. Meh.

Before the apple could respond, the frog quickly closed the distance between them and shoved it's webbed foot into the apple's face. Sending the man further down the hallway.

Using this chance, the frog sped after the apple, only stopping itself after it has completely moved past the apple. Only bringing a foot up high in the air in preparation after gaining enough distance.

Then the apple finally caught up.

The frog brought the foot down just as the muscular man reached it's location, smashing the man _through_ the floor and down to the next level.

Blue eyes from under the 'toad' suit peered through the hole, Naruto hoped that the apple-guy was ok...

He never even thought about the destroyed infrastructure, so absorbed was he in the fight.

The shinobi then made the quick-second decision to go down and check if his opponent was ok, this was a fun fight, not a serious one. No need for life-and-death struggles.

Though it seemed that the apple man was smarter than the blond gave him credit for. The rubble that covered the apple man immediately exploded outward when he got close, with the fearsome apple latching on to the frog with a firm grip.

Blue eyes widened under the frog suit, that wasn't-

As the muscular man began to run down the hallway, smashing the frog onto the floor and dragging it _through_ the floor as he kept running, the frog couldn't help but reflect.

The happy apple head on the muscular man suddenly seemed strangely horrifying after the man lunged at him all of a sudden...there was just something about a happy apple attacking him with such vigor which seemed...terrifying.

The frog was consciously ignoring the pain as the rubble kept smacking it in the head, getting dragged through a floor could do that to you.

But it seemed that the apple wasn't done quite yet, as he finally stopped dragging the amphibian through the floor and ran out of a window, smashing the glass in the process.

While in mid-air, the apple immediately flung the frog towards the ground, where a building happened to be.

Blue eyes couldn't help but stare with morbid fascination as the roof of the building got closer and closer to him...

* * *

Mio, Maria, Issei, and Asia finally made it to Kuoh Academy after rushing to get there.

Although they had to slow down for a little bit for Asia's sake, she was still human after all. She also never really a 'physical' type anyways.

Now that they reached school however, they could now appreciate the damage that has been done.

To put it bluntly, it was a mess.

Just looking at the external damage, she could see that several windows were shattered, as if hoodlums had vandalized the school.

With her supernatural sight, she could plainly see how utterly ravaged the hallways on _two_ separate floors were.

...Was a large portion of the ceiling in the bottom floor _caved in_!?

Just what were those two idiots thinking!?

To make matters worse, it seemed that they weren't the only ones who noticed the damage, as several student council members were standing in front of school gate. Trying to make sure that not all of the students entered. Although they were severely understaffed to stop the flood of students from coming in.

In short, some students got past them and entered the building, despite the damage.

The teens tried to squeeze through the crowd that amassed outside the gate, students who just wanted to get to their classes or were juts curious to see what was going on.

Then the red-head saw a familiar face.

"Kiba-san!" Mio cried waving her arms in the crowd, trying to grab his attention.

The blond did indeed notice her, tilting his head curiously as he moved away from the young teenaged girls that were admiring his features.

"Hello there Mio-san, good morning." the _knight_ said genially, giving her his trademark smile.

Mio idly noted how this was par for the course for the male in front of her, but refocused to more important matters. "Kiba-san! What happened? Why aren't the students being allowed entrance? Have you seen who did the damage to the school?"

Yuuto raised his hands in slight surprise at the rapid fire questions. "All I know is that the student council won't let us in, it probably has something to do with damage done to the school building. I'm actually a little surprised that the school was vandalized at all...it wasn't like that when I left..."

Behind Mio's back, Yuuto saw Issei quickly shake his head, eyes wide.

Ah right, secret until Naruto kept his end of the bargain, right.

If Mio caught his slip, she didn't comment on it, instead focusing on the school building, scanning it for movement.

Did _another_ window shattering count as 'movement'?

Someone smashed through a window, in plain sight to everyone there, holding on to what looked like a ragdoll behind him.

She recognized that ragdoll.

The man, while still airborne, flung her brother straight down into the building below them. She simply watched in growing trepidation as the blond's body crashed into the building.

The crash brought up a large amount of dust from the debris, making sure that if anyone didn't see it before, they sure as hell saw it now.

Which is why many of the students began to gawk at the scene, she supposed that they couldn't really be blamed for that though. When was the last time someone saw an apple throw a frog into...

Into...

"...Don't tell me that's what I think it is." Mio grumbled, her eyebrow twitching at the 'coincidence'.

"I think that building is one of the girl's locker rooms." Yuuto remarked, scratching his chin in interest like one would study a volatile chemical.

"...Lucky bastard." Issei cursed under his breath.

Mio turned slowly, giving the brown-haired boy the stink-eye.

He shifted his expression from jealousy to a disapproving frown in an instant. "I-I mean...how shameless."

Before the red-head could comment, Maria sped past her while the student council was busy dealing with the hysterical crowd. "Well this looks like a train wreck waiting to happen! So we should at least get front row seats for it!"

No one could truly deny her assessment of the situation.

* * *

Blue eyes scanned the stunned ladies in front of him.

Hmm...what to do...what to do...?

He supposed that he came in at precisely the _wrong_ time, all he saw was exposed flesh of young girls that were coming into their own as women.

The inner pervert in him that ero-sennin cultivated wanted to spread some compliments, but that might break the spell of shock over them.

In short, he _really_ wanted to comment on the situation, but Gama-tan really shouldn't be connected to Naruto by this point.

At all, shit, his reputation would be trashed.

Everything was silent at the moment, the girls were entirely shell-shocked to find a giant frog crash through the ceiling. Their brains would catch up eventually.

Not quick enough however.

The frog quickly jumped out of the way of his initial crash spot, as the apple landed right where it's body once rested.

Several sets of eyes bulged as an extremely muscular man with a happy apple on his head crash landed inside the _girl's locker room_.

The apple man said nothing for a moment, surveying his surroundings, then inclining his head slightly.

"Apologies ladies, this will just be a minute."

All he got was a couple of unsure nods.

Secure in the knowledge that he had the girl's approval, the apple turned to face the frog. "Gama-tan, you have been an exceptional opponent. I don't think I have ever faced someone who could face me with pure physical strength and technique alone. Not only that, but you barely seem hurt at all, despite my efforts. So in acknowledgement of your skills, I will begin to utilize my _true_ strength!"

Apple man clenched his fists, eyes furrowing as he concentrated within himself to-

" _Gama-tan!_ "

The apple stopped his concentration to listen. "What's that?"

"Gama-tan!"

"You _don't_ want me to use my full power? Why not? I thought you were enjoying the fight."

"Gaaaaama-tan!"

"I see...it's for the school then. You're right, using more power could level the entire building..."

"Gama-tan."

"Very well, we shall continue to use our repressed strength then." the apple agreed finally.

The girls around them were entirely dumbfounded, how the hell did this weirdo get all of that from 'Gama-tan'!?

Both combatants got into position again, preparing to clash again.

But the frog turned to face the group of girls, staring at them.

Then giving them a thumbs up. "Gama-tan!"

...Somehow they knew _exactly_ what the frog wanted to say.

Almost immediately after, the frog turned back to it's quarry and charged at him.

The apple quickly brought up his guard, but while he was quick enough to get his guard up, it still wasn't good enough.

The amphibian closed the distance and brought it's hand towards the floor right in front of the muscular man, going on a handstand, then viciously smashing it's feet under the apple's guard. Sending him high into the air.

All of the girls present stayed silent as the green creature hopped after the man wearing the happy apple.

Complete and total silence.

That silence was finally broken by the complete incredulity of what just occurred.

"...Did that just happen?"

* * *

Blue-green eyes were shining in delight, staring at the gems of history in her hand.

Rias was admiring the shuriken in her box, completely content with her life at the moment. They were simply so interesting!

"Ara ara Buchou...you just can't put your new toys down, can you?" Akeno stated, a wry smile on her lips.

The red-head didn't bother to turn to look at her _queen_. "Geez...just let me have my fun, would you? I've been busy, this is my relaxation time. No one is going to rob me of that."

Both 'Great Ladies' were resting at the OCR club room, taking their time to start the day since they both had free periods in the morning.

It was during this free time, that someone slammed the door open and ran towards them in the main room.

Rias raised her head up in annoyance, only Naruto would be so unbelievably rude to slam the door open with such force. She really needed to teach him some mann-

"Rias, Akeno, we have a problem." Sona stated briskly, as she stormed her way inside.

Both members of the Gremory group stared owlishly at the student council president. Did she really just come in in that manner?

"Well...this already sounds like fun." the red-head retorted blithely, placing her box onto her desk. "Now care to tell me what's going on?"

Sona didn't respond immediately, frowning. "Where's the rest of your Peerage, I was hoping to get more manpower."

Akeno sighed lightly. "Koneko-chan is going to be a little late, a client needed her help with something. As for Kiba-kun, he should have been here already. Same for Issei-kun."

The Sitri heiress clicked her tongue, so much for the extra support. "Looks like it's just you two for now then, I'm surprised you haven't noticed, but the school seems to have become a playground between a...frog and an apple."

Neither of the 'Great Ladies' said anything for a moment, simply staring down the student council president with intense eyes. Studying her facial features.

"...You're serious?" Rias asked in growing incredulity.

Sona nodded. "Unfortunately, it seems that whoever is fighting is also harmless however, Saji was just caught in the crossfire. But the problem is that they're scaring the students and destroying infrastructure in the process."

"Wait, wait, _wait_...can we please take a moment to appreciate the fact that an _apple_ and a _frog_ is doing all of this? How do you know this exactly?" Akeno asked skeptically.

"My Peerage members have informed me, Saji told me first, then Tsubaki confirmed his words when they spotted them crashing into one of the girl's locker rooms."

"Issei would love that..." Rias muttered under her breathe, unable to take the situation seriously.

A glare from the girl addressing her dissuaded her from making anymore comments however.

"This is _serious_ Rias!" Sona snapped. "I've already made the order to begin erasing the memory of every human that saw what happened! We might legitimately have to shut down school for repairs for at least a few days!"

...

"That doesn't sound so bad actually..."

" _Rias!_ "

Rias sighed dramatically. "Fine...we were going to help anyways, so where is this...uh...'apple' and 'frog'?"

Sona opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when she noticed the red-head suddenly straighten her back and narrow her eyes.

Akeno noticed the change as well. "Buchou? What is it?"

The high-class devil didn't respond, narrowed eyes glancing upwards, feeling... _something._

This feeling...it felt familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Then her eyes grew wide.

"Oh...you've... _gotta be kiddin-_!"

The ceiling exploded, with rubble crashing to the over the red-head's desk, caving in a large portion of the room.

Everyone was staring with wide eyes at the form that was laying on top of the rubble, motionless at first.

Then, like a zombie from some kind of horror flick, the body began to move, trying to force itself to stand up again.

Then it turned it's ugly head towards them.

It's unbelievably happy face towards them.

"...So there really _is_ an apple running around." Akeno mused lightly.

Sona simply gaped, it was one thing to hear about it, another thing to actually _see_ someone wearing an apple on top of their head!

Rias for her part, shakily stared at the apple-wearing maniac that crashed into her headquarters. Why the hell was _he_ here!?

The apple, regarded the group arrayed in front of him, saying nothing for a moment before staring straight at the red-head.

"Hey there Rias! Fancy meeting you here!" the apple called out genially, seemingly pleased.

The Gremory heiress said nothing, the constant tapping of her feet was the only sign of her disapproval.

"...Sairaorg." Rias responded levelly.

Sona and Akeno's eyes widened, at that.

"Ah...you figured it out. As expected of my cousin." Sairaorg said in an easy-going manner, grinning under the apple mask.

"S-Sairaorg!? What are you _doing_ wearing that ridiculous costume!?" Sona demanded, a burning anger simmering due to the man's actions.

He should know better!

"Ah...well I was advertising the sale of apples for my clan, which would hopefully pave the way for the creation of a new branch in Kuoh Town." Sairaorg claimed, looking somewhat sheepish under the apple.

The Sitri heiress looked entirely unconvinced by his words, turning to Rias for confirmation of his words.

"Unfortunately, the Bael clan does indeed have a thriving apple industry. Though the merits of trying to advertise apples with _that_ costume is...'off' to put it lightly." Rias stated dryly, clearly unimpressed with the Bael heir's efforts.

The muscular man just laughed. "Ah! Critical as always Rias! I'd like to think that spreading the word one way or another could increase sales, especially when playing my role as the 'Bapple'!"

Akeno looked on in curiosity. "Bapple? What's a bapple?"

Sairaorg turned to Akeno, grinning despite the fact that she couldn't see his grin. "If you put Bael and apple together...you get...?"

No one responded, nothing needed to be said about the name that wasn't already obvious.

The apple was about to say something else, but instead he turned around and glanced towards the sky.

"Apologies, but my duel with Gama-tan is still underway. He's truly a worthy opponent! I haven't felt this alive in a _long_ time! We will see each other again, Rias!" Sairaorg bellowed, as he bent his knees to jump into the air with his incredible strength.

Sona, alarmed, stretched her arm towards him. "No, wait! Your fight is _destroying_ the-!"

The apple jumped out of the ORC club room, ascending to the sky in order to clash with the frog again.

The three girls raced towards the hole in the ceiling, watching as the apple smashed against another figure that was heading towards them. Changing their course in mid-air and sending them crashing into the nearby forest.

"...Was that a frog?" the Sitri heiress asked calmly, regarding the two figures falling to the earth before they completely fell out of her line of sight.

"I think so." the _queen_ of the Gremory group maintained, looking slightly amused if anything.

Up until she personally gets affected by these events, she would be able to breeze past them with relative ease. She was simply that kind of person.

Both black-haired girls stopped watching the sky after they both saw Rias collapse in their peripheral vision however.

"Rias? Are you ok?" Sona asked urgently, leaning close to make sure that her physical well-being was alright.

The red-head didn't say anything for a moment, only staring blankly at the floor under her.

"...My shuriken..." she whispered brokenly.

Ah...right...those things were on top of her desk, weren't they?

"...Why? It was so beautiful...how could something so terrible happen to priceless artifacts? Is it my fault? Is the world taking out it's frustration against me by destroying old weapons of the past? It happened so fast..." Rias muttered out loud, eyes clouded in grief.

Sona felt a sweat-drop forming, she was taking this rather hard...

"Ara ara...she seems to have formed a bond with the shuriken, hm?" Akeno stated with interest, watching her _king_ fall into depression with a literal storm cloud forming over her head.

How cute.

Right at that moment, the front door slammed open with several teens pouring inside.

"We came as fast as we could! Is everyone alright?" Issei said as he entered the club room, alarmed at the damage done to the building.

"Mostly, we aren't physically harmed, but Rias is somewhat...upset at the loss of her favorite toys." Sona explained, a deadpanned expression prevalent on her face.

As the _pawn_ entered the room, Mio quickly rushed past him and knelt to Rias' eye-level. "She seems shell-shocked..."

"I think that's an apt description." Akeno agreed, chuckling slightly.

"More importantly!" Maria shouted as she entered the room as well. "Where's the...uh...'toad' and the apple? We were just in the forest, so we couldn't really see where they ran off to."

Sona blinked. "I'm pretty sure that's a frog..."

"Yeah, I thought so too. But it calls itself; 'Gama-tan'." Issei remembered, scratching his chin lightly.

Mio glanced at the others warily, were they really unaware that 'Gama-tan' was actually Naruto? Was everyone really that stupid? It was pretty obvious, even if the blond didn't tell anyone...

Ah well, maybe it was best to leave that information out for now.

"By the way, that 'apple' you keep referring to is actually Sairaorg of the Bael clan." Sona explained quickly, glancing back up to the hole in the ceiling.

Issei frowned, turning to look at the silverette behind him.

She just shrugged.

He then glanced back to the student council president. "...Who's that?"

The Sitri heiress' eyebrow just twitched in annoyance, did Rias _not_ explain this already?

"Ah...we made it." stated Yuuto as he carried Asia on his back, finally catching up with the rest of the group.

"Is Gama-tan here? I was hoping to see him, maybe I can talk him down?" Asia wondered while on the _knight's_ back, glancing around the club room.

Before anyone could answer, Mio finally stood back up and glared at everyone present. " _Hello_!?"

Everyone except the still shell-shocked Gremory turned to the half-devil in confusion.

"I'm sure everyone wants to relay what's happened to them recently, but don't we still have a frog and an apple to deal with!? Can we _please_ focus?" Mio cried out, annoyed.

Sona coughed, a pink tint to her cheeks. "Of course...yes. Let's all go and forcefully break the two up. I suppose we should-"

"SAIRAORG!"

Everyone jumped slightly, eyes growing wide as they regarded the suddenly energetic Rias stand up and bellow the Bael heir's name.

"I can take a bit of extra work...I can take the vandalism of my school...I can _take_ the ravaging of my club room...! But you do NOT screw with my _hobby_!" Rias shouted, teeth grinding and eyes flaring with red-black miasma as it eventually enveloped her body.

"Oh dear...it seems that Rias is taking this seriously..." Akeno mused, getting so much amusement out of this that she forgot to refer to her friend with proper terms.

Rias glared towards the sky. "Both Sairaorg and Gama-tan won't get away with this! They will feel the pain that they caused me when they killed my shuriken!"

"...She's treating her shuriken like her children..." Issei noted with a deadpanned expression.

"That's our Buchou!" Yuuto said with a cheerful smile.

Then the red-head spread her devil wings, soaring into the sky to mete our her vengeance.

"Ah! Wait, Rias-sempai!" Mio cried out, alarmed.

She was way too late however, much to her chagrin.

"Well...she may be a bit overzealous about this, but she has the right idea. We should back her up and end this quickly." the Sitri heiress stated, flaring her own wings to give chase.

No one objected to _that_.

* * *

The small forest that separated Kuoh Academy and the old school building was usually very serene. A place of introspection and beauty.

At least it _was_.

Now many of the trees were getting knocked down as if there was a bulldozer trying to make space for a new mall.

Instead of a vehicle however, it was a muscular man with a happy apple on his head.

The apple was currently chasing after the run-away frog, sometimes knocking trees down since the frog kept using their branches to evade it's opponent.

As the muscular man continued to try to force the amphibian to the ground, the green creature had already formed a plan to keep it's adversary down.

When the frog landed on the tree branches of another tree, the apple responded immediately by ramming said tree, weakening it's foundations to the point that it was going to tumble.

But as that was happening, the frog jumped away from the tree branch it was on to another tree, then quickly jumping _back_ to the first tree using the gained momentum from it's jump. Smashing itself onto the first tree to control where it wanted the large plant to fall.

In this case, on the apple.

The apple wasn't immediately aware of what the frog was up to, but quickly figured it out when the shadow of the tree enveloped his form.

The tree impacted harshly against the ground, smashing the apple into the ground without mercy.

As the frog jumped away from the falling tree, it rebounded into another tree, angling itself in a way to push another tree to fall on top of the still-downed apple.

Then it did it again.

And again.

And _again_.

After the fifth tree being forced to fall onto the victim, the frog fell back to the ground, surveying the damage it has wrought.

...Did it go too far?

...

Nah, the bastard was tough, he can handle it. He was a devil after all.

Yep, ever since the man punched it square into that apartment building, a quick use of it's senses helped it deduce that he was a devil. A familiar one at that, but it couldn't place it's finger on who...

Nevertheless, it seems that the frog was the victor of this battle!

As the amphibian began to congratulate itself for a job well done, it quickly tilted it's head to the side, hearing movement nearby.

Someone was coming.

The person in question jumped out of the bushes, sharp yellow eyes assessing the situation and a katana in hand.

Those yellow eyes immediately fell onto the frog, shock quickly replacing focus in those orbs.

"...Naruto?" Yuki asked hesitantly, staring dead-center at the amphibian.

Naruto's eyes inside the suit widened, how did she...?

Blue eyes scanned around, trying to figure out where the hell the female came from, at the forest of all places!

Then he noticed, they were close to the back entrance of Kuoh Academy...

"Back entrance, the student council was preventing students from entering, so I came in this way." the hero answered, noticing her friend's wandering head. "More importantly though, why are you wearing that costume?"

Shit, damage control.

"Gama-tan!" the frog cried out cutely.

The hero continued to stare, blinking every now and again. "No...you're _definitely_ Naruto."

The blond stayed silent, trying to stay firm with his cover, hoping that the female would give up her assertions.

But she stayed firm, narrowing her eyes at the silly costume that was standing on two feet.

...

...

...

"Fine! You win, yes...it's me." Naruto grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air.

Yuki merely gave him a small grin. "Of course I'm right. You don't need to tell me that."

The shinobi didn't reply, petulantly turning away. Way to ruin his fun.

"How'd you figure it out?"

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Your stance. Your fighting stance hasn't changed since we've first met, so seeing someone wearing a frog costume gives me the impression that my friend is in said suit. That and no one fights with such...extravagance."

Naruto blinked at that, shit, that actually sounded pretty smart. It was sometimes hard to reconcile the socially awkward girl in front of him with the warrior.

Then again, was he really _that_ different?

Behind the blond, the trees which held down his adversary began to shake violently, as if someone was trying to shake off their weight.

The shinobi clicked his tongue. "Shit...looks I got to beat him up again...the guy is stubborn alright."

As Naruto turned around to face his opponent, he felt the hero place her hand on his shoulder, fist slowly clamping down harder.

Uh...

"Naruto...? The student council wouldn't let people in because _someone_ was vandalizing the school...it wouldn't have something to do you, would it...?" Yuki asked quietly, eyes sharp and unrelenting.

The blond huffed. "Of course not, when I fought with the apple-guy, we only broke a couple of windows, desks, a ceiling, and a few trees. That ain't too bad, right? More than that, can't Sona-kaichou and Rias just erase the memory of everyone who saw us? No harm, no foul I say!"

Yuki tilted her head, lips thinning slightly. Did he really not notice how many people saw this entire charade? Possibly...he could be kind of dense at times. But surely he wasn't unaware of the damage that was done to the school itself?

"So let me get this straight then, you fought with this...man, then you damaged school property throughout your fight, possibly scared a lot of students...but you think it's alright?" the hero asked slowly.

Naruto began to sweat slightly at the methodical breakdown of his actions. "Well...when you put it like that..."

He didn't do _that_ much damage, right? He obliterated windows, ceilings, and trees all of the time!

"Not only that, but didn't you literally _just_ admit that you did damage to the school? Isn't that the vandalism that the student council was talking about?"

"...No."

"You're lying."

"...No."

The hero sighed, ok, so he obviously was the perpetrator of this incident. His track record was quite solid anyways.

"Look, I'm about to win this fight, I haven't fought a worthy opponent for fun in a _while_ , so let me have this. I'm trustworthy about stuff like this, honest!" Naruto claimed.

With that statement, the blond turned around to face the muscular man, ready for one last clash to end this fight.

Yuki sighed once more, looks like she would have to use her secret weapon...

"...I understand that you want to keep fighting Naruto, but you can't. We have a tutoring session soon." the hero stated calmly.

The effect was immediate, as the shinobi froze in his tracks and whipped his head around to look at the female. "What!? But we still have classes!"

The hero inclined her head in a nod. "Yes, normally we would. But your actions today might have to force the school to close down for repairs, which means that your time is freed up for our tutoring session, right?"

Naruto gaped, horrified by the concept.

"Not only that..." Yuki continued. "But since we have extra time, I was hoping to get more into advanced calculus..."

The blond was just frothing at the mouth by this point, hearing only of the horrible torture that he might have to endure.

Then his eyes lit up. There was an a way out of this!

Soon after, the apple smashed through the trees which trapped him, looking to restart his fight with the frog.

"Time out!"

The apple stopped cold, shocked that the frog actually spoke properly.

"Time out? Why? I thought that you were having fun?" the muscular man asked, frowning.

"Yeah, I was. But there's something far more important than having fun sometimes." Naruto said seriously, eyes sharpening.

"I have learned that our fight has caused unwarranted destruction throughout Kuoh Academy, unnecessarily causing damage to this school! I can't, in good conscience, continue this fight with the school caught in the crossfire!" the blond continued, eyes lighting up in passion.

Purple eyes were wide as they regarded the frog in front of him, this was...

"So know this now...I ask for you to work with me. Let's stop our fighting, maybe settle the score between us at a different time and place, so that others could go to school without our meddling. It's the right thing to do!" the shinobi finished, clenching his fist in his belief.

Yuki watched the entire speech in bemusement, this all came about from not wanting to be tutored? Just how desperate was he?

More than that, maybe Naruto was a little _too_ good at those speeches of his...

"...I understand!" the apple declared. "Truly, you are an interesting man! Very well, we will settle this fight later, but when we next meet, I expect you to face me seriously!"

The blond gave him a thumbs up. "Of course! You can count on that!"

Nodding firmly at the confirmation, the devil summoned a magic circle, preparing to take his leave now that his reason for being in the human world was a bust.

"...See you later...Uzumaki Naruto." Sairaorg whispered, as the magic circle enveloped his form.

The shinobi blinked as the devil was overtaken, how did the guy know his name? So have they really met before?

"Alright, hopefully the school will just let me take my classes and my naps..." Naruto muttered, completely unrepentant in trying to use school classes for sleeping.

Yuki rolled her eyes, of course he would react this way...

Then her eyes caught something in the sky, getting closer and closer...

"...It's Rias-san." the hero noted, staring up into the sky.

Naruto quickly followed her line of sight, before jumping away from view in a hurry. "Shit, shit, _shit_ _!_ "

Yuki watched in curiosity as the blond began struggling with the suit, trying to take it off as the red-head got closer to their position, with a lot of other people in tow.

Rias landed a few seconds later, glancing around with hard eyes. "Yuki-san, where's Sairaorg and Gama-tan? They need to be punished..."

Well, that wasn't ominous.

"...I don't know who either of these people are." the hero responded lightly, watching as several other devils landed after the high-class devil has arrived.

"Have we missed them? Shoot...I was hoping to end this quickly." Sona cursed as she looked around for the vandals.

"Where do you think they ran off to now...?" Mio mumbled out loud, hoping to look for clues to where her foolish brother ran off to.

Yuki consciously looked at the group arrayed in front of her, while stopping herself from glancing towards where the blond was trying to get rid of the costume. He can never claim that she wasn't a good friend.

As the group looked around, searching for clues, a certain succubus walked towards her and looked up to her. "I have a question...why are you even here? Kind of coincidental, right? To be here right when the frog and apple escaped."

The young hero twitched slightly, the loli just _had_ to ask her that question, didn't she?

Several eyes locked themselves onto her, newly-found suspicion in their pupils.

Damn...she wasn't good at the whole 'social' thing, so finding excuses on the spot was...

Fortunately, she didn't have to.

Naruto, after finally getting the costume off, managed to walk towards the group through the forested area with nary a sound, only gaining their attention by intentionally coughing.

"Morning everyone! What's going on here?" Naruto inquired out loud, grinning at the assembled group.

All eyes shifted away from the hero to the blond, eyes widening at the his sudden appearance.

"Naruto!" Rias said, her voice rising slightly in surprise. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been around." the blond replied, shrugging his shoulders. "So what's with the looks you've guys got on your faces? You all seem to be on edge."

The shinobi paused, considering.

"Except you, Akeno." he eventually amended.

The _queen_ smirked. "As always."

Both Maria and Mio glanced at one another with deadpanned expressions, even with all of the trouble he caused today, he's _still_ as loud as usual.

"Naruto-san..." Sona stated matter-of-factly. "Where have _you_ been this entire time?"

Naruto kept his grin, a teasing glint in his eye. "I'll answer you if you answer me, I asked first after all."

The student council president grit her teeth in annoyance, did he have to be so him right now?

"...We've had a bit of a problem with two vandals harming school property...do you know about any of that?" Sona asked with thinly veiled suspicion.

The shinobi blinked slowly, carefully regarding the black-haired girl. "Really? That's actually..."

"Inexcusable?" Sona provided.

"Awesome!" Naruto finished grandly, stars in his eyes.

Rias gave out a long-suffering sigh, shaking her head. Figures.

"Everyone, wait here. I'm going to go ask all of the students what happened, maybe someone got it on video!" the blond exclaimed with excitement, turning around to do just that.

"Wait... _what!?_ No!" the Sitri heiress denied. "We have to erase everyone's memories of what happened! Too many questions will begin to surround the school if we don't!"

Naruto stopped after the devil finished her statement, features hidden since he was facing away from her.

"...I know right? Isn't it grand~?"

Sona shivered slightly, what was that...?

The shinobi turned around slightly, a positively _evil_ grin spread across his lips. "What should you do~? If you let me continue, then some video evidence of the day's events may accidentally end up on the internet~. Ohhh...what a dilemma, hmm?"

"W-What...? Why would you...?"

"Unless!" Naruto interjected, eyes narrowed to the point of slits as his cheshire grin had formed. "You get rid of me for a little bit...then that won't happen, now will it?"

Sona's jaw dropped. She was being...she was being...!

"...You're actually blackmailing her..." Rias muttered in disbelief.

"Ara ara, our foxy-kun truly is a one of a kind." Akeno drawled by her side.

"Evil..." Mio hissed.

"...Not bad." Maria nodded, approving of the tactic.

Up until her charge slapped her upside the head for it.

The blond spread his arms out, inviting. "Blackmailing is a bit harsh, let's just agree to do what's best, huh?"

The Sitri heiress stayed frozen for a moment longer, before gathering her wits about her. "You...you're bluffing."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Wanna take that chance?"

Both teens kept their eyes locked with one another, neither giving up ground as they regarded one another. Playful blue and rigid purple.

Yuki just watched the farce play out, knowing full-well that he was bluffing, he hated tutoring _that_ much. He was trying to have his cake and eat it too.

But Sona-kaichou didn't know that, did she?

After a few more seconds of stressful silence, Sona finally made her decision regarding the annoying blond.

It had to be done, no other choice.

"...I'll stop you." the young high-class devil declared, demonic energy flowing through her in preparation.

"Uhh...I don't think that's-" Mio tried to cut in.

"Hoh?" Naruto wondered, eyes lighting up in amusement. "You think you can take me on? You sure about that?"

"It doesn't matter." Sona stated levelly, eyes narrowing. "You've been getting too cocky recently, and I _still_ think that you were involved with what happened yesterday. For all I know, you may have been involved in today's 'incident'. Nevertheless, it's about time that someone-!"

"You'll destroy public property even more, Sona." Rias deadpanned.

Sona froze, eyebrow twitching maniacally as she realized the flaw in her plan, all to the annoying blond's amusement no doubt.

"...That's what I was trying to say..." Mio mumbled, annoyed that she was cut off.

"I was goinna mention it too." the shinobi drawled. "But now that _that's_ out of the way, whatcha gonna do now, Sona-kaichou?"

The Sitri heiress' eyebrows kept twitching, frustration lacing her features, this _intractable...insufferable...smug...!_

"Fine!" Sona bit out. "You _win_ , you can take a leave of absence as you wish. But...make no mistake...this isn't over."

Naruto, gave her a shit-eating grin. "Of course! How can I ever make _that_ mistake, hmm?"

The high-class devil huffed, turning away and storming back to the high school, too angry to think about the vandals that escaped. She was simply too preoccupied with mumbling out foul things under her breath.

Naruto turned away from the retreating back of the student council president to the everyone else that remained. "...That was fun."

"It indeed was!" Akeno chirped in agreement, clapping lightly.

The shinobi merely bowed, he was humbled by the support.

"Don't encourage him...it's bad enough that I have to take even _more_ time out of my day to calm her down." Rias ground out. "Even worse, it looks like Sairaorg got away with murder...not to mention the frog."

"Murder she says..." Mio said, shaking her head.

As the red-head continued to shake her head at her inconsolable sempai, three forms emerged from the general forestry to reach them.

"Ah...seems we missed the fun, huh Issei-kun?" Yuuto asked rhetorically, an easy smile still plastered on his face after all of this time.

Issei, who was struggling to keep up after he began carrying Asia, only panted slightly in response, trying to catch his breath.

Asia herself looked on worriedly. "Issei-san, it's ok to put me down if it's too much trouble..."

The brown-haired boy nodded mutely, good idea, brilliant idea.

The shinobi snorted at the _pawn's_ fatigue, before regarding everyone else. "Alright, I'm gonna head to class now, see you guys later."

Naruto didn't even complete his first step when someone grabbed his arm from behind.

"...I think it's obvious to everyone that classes are going to be cancelled today. Nice try." Yuki stated quietly, grip firm and unyielding.

The blond began to sweat slightly, shit...

"...Can we talk about this?"

"No."

"...Please?"

The hero ignored his increasingly desperate protests, dragging the blond away so that they could go and study at the library.

"No! Wait, please! Come _on_! _Have mercy!_ " Naruto cried out, flailing around like a child with teary eyes.

Everyone just watched as Yuki dragged Naruto away, more than a few feeling that the whiskered teen had it coming. All the while ignoring the pitiful protests coming from the young man's mouth.

Someone in particular was taking great joy in this scenario.

Maria was actually giggling from it. "This was an incredible day! I didn't think that the day would bring in so much adventure! We should do this again some time! Maybe make this a scheduled event?"

All except the sadistic _queen_ , the _knight_ , and the innocent nun answered immediately. With one voice.

"""NO!"""

The succubus pouted, they were no fun...

* * *

Sairaorg returned to the Underworld small grin on his face, wanting to speak to his father about possible avenues for business expansion. It may not seem like much, but in accordance to the inherent greed of devils...every little bit counts.

But first, he had to make a stop first, as always if he had the chance to do so.

It was this fact that sobered his good mood quite a bit, serious time, hmm...?

The moment that the heir of the Bael clan re-entered the Underworld, he made sure to transport himself to the countryside of Bael territory.

A small home was his destination.

The young devil quickly entered it, taking off the 'bapple' costume on his head so that he may properly gaze upon his loved one.

As Sairaorg reached it's confines, going inside a bedroom where a woman lay in sleep, but in actuality; comatose.

It was his mother; Misla Bael.

The high-class devil quietly took the seat that was next to her, occupying it in order to gaze upon her form without disturbing her. She seemed so peaceful...

"Okaa-sama, I came by to check up on you, are you well?" Sairaorg asked gently, combing her hair out of her face.

The young devil paused for a moment, simply gazing on her still form. Motionless.

"...I want you to know that...like you advised, I've grown strong in different ways. Even now, I seek out challenges to test my power, to become the strongest."

Purple eyes continued to gently regard the woman that they were so transfixed upon, focused on nothing else.

"Also...that my desire to seek out new challenges has been rewarded recently. You see...I've met a man, he's incredibly strong, especially if the rumors are to be believed. Some say that he defeated a legendary phoenix at the ball that Lucifer-sama has hosted! If that's true, then I wish that I didn't leave the party early, maybe we could have fought then and there? It would have been quite the sight to see..." Sairaorg rambled, eyes fixated upon the woman that he owed everything to.

"...I think that you'd like him, he has good eyes...you always were good at judging people through their eyes..." the young devil trailed off, a content smile on his face.

Then his smile fizzled out, suddenly more gaunt and grim-faced.

"...I didn't expect you to be here." Sairaorg stated with little emotion, tilting his head to the side to regard the man who just entered the room.

An elder-looking man that bared striking resemblance to Sairaorg stood at the entrance of the room, looking grave.

"Sairaorg...I was informed that you returned. I wish to speak with you." the man demanded, no quarter given whatsoever.

The younger devil slowly got up from his chair, turning to face his father.

"Of course, what is it, otou-sama?"

Lord Bael, the head of the Bael clan, stared at his son for a moment before continuing. "Sairaorg, you have attended ball that Sirzechs-sama has hosted, correct?"

The younger devil nodded.

"Then I assume you know of the rumors regarding one of his...'special' guests?"

"You mean Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" Sairaorg guessed, it wasn't hard.

Lord Bael nodded firmly. "Yes, I've received reports from contacts who are working in the media, they are going to begin speculating on it on live television soon. But I've already received the myriad details of it already. My only question for you is this...does he really want to reform devil culture?"

The Bael heir blinked, confused. "...If he had, then I wasn't there when he did it. I apologize otou-sama."

Lord Bael said nothing, only grunting in annoyance. "I see...then a question to amend the last one. Is he strong? In mind and body?"

With that, Sairaorg straightened his back. "I can say definitively that he _is_ strong in both aspects."

The older devil's frown became more prominent. "...I see...very well, thank you for your time."

Lord Bael turned around and left the room, barely acknowledging his own wife in a comatose state.

Sairaorg gave his mother a slightly bitter smile, filled with self-effacing humor.

"...Seems we still have a long way to go, huh...? Okaa-sama..."

* * *

Lord Bael was storming out of the small countryside home, anger palpable as he seriously began to consider Sairaorg's words.

A young man who wanted to change devil culture...

That was _dangerous_.

Rumors come from some basis of fact, usually blown out of proportions to help bring out the sensationalism of the news.

But these are _first-hand_ sources, the information hasn't shifted through enough hands to be overblown, which meant that...

More than likely, this boy's achievement of defeating a _phoenix_ was fact.

Such power...yet this was the first time that this boy was seen or heard about? That should be impossible...

The head of the Bael clan hated a lack of knowledge, he needed to know _everything_ about his possible enemies. He had the most to lose after all.

He _was_ the head of the Bael clan, the most highly respected devil clan in the Underworld.

The Great King.

Truth be told...they held more influence than even the Yondai Maou, the Bael clan greatly benefited from the current system. Pure and simple.

They were like powerful feudal lords, with the Maou as the king. The feudal lords held the _real_ power...an aristocracy more than a absolute monarchy.

Yet someone, from out of nowhere, with the power to destroy a phoenix, was challenging the culture that allowed for his clan's superiority. For their power.

No, not just his clan, the 72 pillars as well.

This was an affront that had to be answered.

But for now, he would keep his ears to the ground, sound out public opinion, not only of the common people, but of the other heads.

This threat needed to be answered, one way or another. The changing of the status-quo is an unacceptable proposition that must be crushed before it could gain traction.

Somewhat paranoid? Perhaps. But he didn't stay as influential as he had by being dismissive of possible threats to his power.

* * *

...

There was something poetic about the scene that the young man was surveying.

Rubble everywhere from the obliterated buildings, smoke pouring from every artificially made aperture due to the small fires which were still raging.

Yes...poetic is the right word for it.

The destruction of this place was necessary, even if it was a little bit more difficult than he imagined...with this, his old allies would be weakened enough to stay out of his way.

It helped that he got some new recruits as well...

Coal-black eyes continued to regard the smoldering ruins, his old home...when he called these people 'heroes'.

What a foolish idealist he was back then.

Their idealistic world view allowed for the world to be divvied up between the many supernatural factions across the planet, all because they were too afraid to move past their obsolete tendencies...

He would change that, their time in the sun was over. He would show them what a _true_ hero was.

"Cao Cao, the preparations are almost done. You alright?"

The young man slowly turned to regard his comrade, another young man with handsome features and silver-white hair. "Good, we are leaving immediately, have you gathered all of the artifacts, information, and Sacred Gears in this branch?"

The other hero nodded. "Of course. Though...I must question why we are prematurely going to Japan, is this about that potential recruit that you heard about?"

Cao Cao's eyes shifted downward, remembering the information he has received from the leader of the Old Maou Faction...

Uzumaki Naruto...huh?

"Partially." the young leader admitted readily. "But that information was simply the straw that broke the camel's back. There have been troubling reports about what's been going on in Japan...and we have special interests there. It's imperative that we complete our objectives in Japan before we lose our opportunity. Especially since the Japanese branch is more well-developed than their Chinese counterpart..."

The young man leaned back, laying his back on the warm rubble that he was occupying to stare at the sky. "Especially since Toujou Jin is at the Japanese branch..."

He could hear rather than see the other man's astonishment. "...He's alive? _Really_? I thought he was just a legend..."

A somewhat self-depreciating grin grew on Cao Cao's face. "No...he's alive alright, he was my mentor while I was in the Hero Tribe."

Now the hero leader could practically _feel_ the other man's shock. "...I didn't know about any of this. You were never very willing to divulge information about your time as one of... _them_."

Black eyes shone with slight amusement at the thought. "Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I'm sitting on the smoldering ruins of my first home, the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe was where I was initially posted. Before I was transferred to the Japanese branch to be personally tutored by the 'Great Hero'...it was an honor back then. I was a prodigy, growing through the ranks quickly, even getting my own apprentices at age thirteen."

"Apprentices?" Siegfried parroted, too engrossed in his boss' past to shift the topic away into more something more practical. "At age thirteen? You must have been quite the powerful hero, huh Cao Cao? I rarely hear of such talent...though that wouldn't really surprise me to be honest. What ever happened to them after you...left?"

Cao Cao closed his eyes, a serene smile on his face. "I had two of them, a boy and a girl. I...did what I had to do with the boy, he was simply too dangerous. As for the girl, she survived, but I doubt that she will amount to much after what happened. A shame too, if things were different..."

The hero leader shrugged. "Oh well, it happened. I think I've bored you enough with story time, is the plane ready for take off?"

The silver-haired man nodded. "Yes sir, so then we're going to Kyoto? To capture the kyuubi?"

Cao Cao nodded, standing up from the rubble he was sitting on. "That's right. First we will make sure that we can utilize the leylines in Kyoto to our advantage, control of such a resource could be invaluable. No one will be the wiser due to the yokai's penchant of neutrality. After we've established control over Kyoto...we go after Uzumaki."

Siegfried saluted and turned, about to give his comrades the go-ahead to start the plane's engines.

The hero leader watched him go, before turning around to regard his first ever home.

He cut ties with the Hero Tribe long ago, but while he destroyed his ties to this branch...he had more loose ends to cut.

The Japanese branch, Toujou Jin.

...And if necessary, his old apprentice too.

"I wonder if you've become a _real_ hero after all of this time..." Cao Cao wondered, before turning to join his comrades.

* * *

 **AN: Damn, longest chapter I've ever written so far I think. Just a quick note, 'bapple' is a thing in Highschool DxD. Look up Sairaorg's bio and it's in his trivia. :P**

 **Anyways! The relaxing chapters are now over! Back to plot, full steam ahead! There will be a little time skip so that we can move ahead quickly, what happens during that time skip will be dispersed in mini-flashbacks.**

 **Also remember what I said; this is a _mini-arc_ , not an arc in of itself. It won't be like...idk, longer than five chapters really. It also directly connects with the Excalibur Crisis Arc.**

 **Also, in canon, the main cast visits Kyoto when the capture of Yasaka was already complete. Naruto is going to Kyoto *before*. Important difference.**

 **Lastly, the full effect of Naruto's actions before is going onto Underworld television, everyone will know now. So fun happening all-around.**

 **That's it for now, cya all later!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	28. Chapter 28

**A little tidbit at the end of the chapter about romance, some people had questions about it, I provided some of my thoughts on it. If you're curious, check it out. :D**

* * *

"Did you bring your wallet?"

"Yep."

"Enough clothing?"

"Uh-huh."

"Toothbrush? Overall cleaning supplies?"

" _Yes_ , thank you for the reminders dattebayo." Naruto snarked, sending an annoyed look at his sister.

Mio huffed, turning her head to the side. "I'm just trying to help, maybe you forgot something and didn't think about it? I'm not going to be there to help you out after all."

"Help me out she says..." the shinobi returned disbelievingly. "If my memory serves me right, I've always helped everyone else, rarely have any of you freeloaders helped me out."

The red-head paused, considering.

"...I'll help out eventually." Mio shot back, confident in this.

"Key term; eventually." Naruto drawled with a teasing smirk.

Both teens were making their way from their home to Kuoh Academy, one decked out with it's uniform, and one without it.

Naruto was wearing a plain orange t-shirt with a gray vest over it, dark blue jeans, and orange-black sneakers to finish his ensemble.

Why was he wearing such clothing on a school day?

Why...because he wasn't going to class of course. As a matter of fact, he was gonna grab a taxi to grab a train to Kyoto.

All he had to do left, was see everyone off.

...That and make sure that the advice he gave them wasn't going to be wasted.

It's been a good three days since the 'incident' with 'Bapple' and Gama-tan, he had a couple of things that he had to do before he left Kuoh Town.

Speaking of which...

"Mio, you remember what I told you, right?" the blond asked rhetorically, seeing the gate of the Academy as they continued walking.

"Not at all." the red-head admitted readily, but before her brother could complain, she continued. "I didn't have to, you wrote it down on a list after all."

Naruto smirked, he did do that, didn't he? Man...he was so smart.

"...Careful there, don't want to congratulate yourself _too_ much now. Like I said, I won't be there to bring your ego back down to earth." Mio said pointedly, a wry grin on her face nonetheless.

The shinobi chuckled. "Right, got it _imouto_."

The half-devil twitched, but didn't deign to reply. Instead focusing on the approaching figures of their friends as they reached the gate.

"Ah, there he is! Buchou! Naruto's here!" Issei called out, turning around to address the group behind him.

As expected, mostly everyone was there, waiting to give a farewell.

Honestly though...they were acting as if he was leaving for a month, this wouldn't take him longer than four days, max.

This was a 'get-in, get-out' situation, simple and quick. Unless some bad shit decided to happen...but his luck wasn't _that_ bad, right?

"Glad you could join us, Naruto." Rias called out in greeting as the two siblings moved closer to the group. "Hope you had a pleasant break from school...while you left me to deal with Sona."

Ah, she was still sore about that, huh?

Yep, it was best that Gama-tan remained anonymous.

"Hey, I _did_ cash in my favor, didn't I? Besides, because of me, you two got to spend more quality time with one another. That's always good, right?" Naruto stated, patting his back for a job well done.

"Oh yes..." the high-class devil grumbled. "It was a _joy_ to deal with Sona after you blackmailed her."

"Buchou is a little sore about what happened, if you haven't noticed." Akeno said, her classic smile on her face. "It probably has something to do with how irritable the kaichou was."

Naruto gave her a tight smile in return. "Ah...she's... _still_ upset about that, huh?"

"What do you think?" Rias grumbled again, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Asia, who was standing nearby the red-head, moved closer to her fellow blond and whispered in his ear. "Sona-san thinks that you are somehow connected to Gama-tan and Sairaorg-san. She seems convinced."

Naruto sweat-dropped, she genuinely was a lot closer to the truth than everyone thought, and he could feel his sister's stare bore into the back of his skull for it...

"How bad is it?" the shinobi eventually asked, looking entirely incredulous.

"On a scale from one to ten? I'd say eight, congratulations for getting so thoroughly under her skin. I didn't think that anyone except her sister could do that." Rias eventually responded with a sardonic smirk.

Sona, to put it bluntly, didn't want to talk, look, think, or even be in the general vicinity of Naruto. For obvious reasons.

So it was up to Rias to make sure that she didn't try to hit the blond with some sort of retribution.

Fun days all around.

"So...she's going to be alright, right? I don't have to worry about student council members trying to catch me with a giant net?" Naruto inquired steadily, remembering how close those evil bastards came to catching him like a butterfly last time.

"I'd be kind of surprised if she let it go so easily actually." Akeno noted.

"Yeah...I think the kaichou was a little embarrassed, you got her pretty good. Especially since she was shown up by the bapple and Gama-tan." Issei noted, with a grin. "I'm happy to say that I managed to score a shot on Gama-tan that day."

The blond unintentionally began to glare at the brown-haired boy, did he _have_ to remind him?

"...What?"

"Nothing." Naruto dismissed gruffly, before looking around. "Where's Yuki by the way? I thought that she'd be here-"

"Present."

The blond nearly jumped out of his skin, turning around quickly to discover the young hero behind him.

"In the name of-! Give me a warning next time!" Naruto complained loudly, trying to calm his beating heart.

Damn it...he was distracted by the conversation...he needed to give her a bell or something.

Mostly because he was genuinely somewhat terrified of her, those _torture_ sessions of hers will forever scar his psyche...

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "You asked, I answered. You ready to go by the way? I want to leave as soon as possible."

Naruto sighed. "Right, right...let me just give some last second words of advice to everyone before I-"

He paused, realizing something was off with that sentence.

"...'We'?" the blond echoed, uncertain.

The young hero only nodded in return. "Yes, 'we'. 'We' are going to Kyoto. Are you ready to go?"

Naruto said nothing, staring at her owlishly, before turning around to look at everyone else to check if he heard that right.

"...Is she serious?"

Rias glanced from her _queen_ to Mio, as confused as everyone else was.

Before anyone could answer properly, Issei moved up to the blond and wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Hey Naruto...this is a good chance, eh?"

Naruto gave the brown-haired boy a confused look. "...A good chance? For what exactly?"

The _pawn_ simply responded by nudging him with his elbow, a perverted grin on his face. "Come on. You and Yuki-san are going to Kyoto by yourselves...you have a chance here, eh?"

The shinobi said nothing, eyes blinking repeatedly in his abject confusion.

The hero in question tilted her head slightly, not understanding as well. "...I'm coming so that he doesn't get himself into trouble. He's practically a trouble magnet, if you haven't noticed."

Yuki then dropped her bag, grabbing something inside it when she unzipped it and showed it to her friend.

Naruto instantly paled.

"...You also didn't finish doing your time while we were tutoring." she finished.

The blond backpedaled and hid behind the brown-haired boy next to him, using him as a human shield against his torturer.

"Ara ara...it seems that our kohai is traumatized." Akeno chirped, giving her _king_ a grin.

Rias didn't reply, she simply took in the scene with satisfaction, this boy gave her excess work for the simple fact that he was bored or she was simply caught in the cross-fire of his pranks.

Felt good.

* * *

After lots of verbal complaints, Naruto finally accepted the fact that Yuki was tagging along, there was no harm in it he supposed.

The car that was transporting them had recently arrived and the duo was putting their luggage inside, with Naruto filling the hero in on his plans for Kyoto.

"So you want to speak with the yokai faction leader, hm? Makes sense that we take human transportation then...don't want to make them believe that you're siding with devils." Yuki said, thinking about what complications could possibly arise from such a meeting.

"Yeah, Rias noticed that too. Although...apparently she was more worried about that fact that I wouldn't get my 'full Kyoto experience'...or something like that. No idea why that matters though." the shinobi responded, giving the red-head behind him a look.

Rias, who was reminiscing about said experiences, gave the blond a haughty smile. "You say that now, but you have never experienced the splendor of Kyoto. I assure you, you will thank me for this."

The _queen_ behind her sighed, her _king_ and her japanophile tendencies...

Naruto finally turned to fully regard the high-class devil. "Hey...you remember what I told you to do while I'm gone, right?"

Rias raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't you mean 'what you suggested'?"

The blond shrugged, acquiescing the point. "Suggested then."

"Yeah, _we_ remember."

Naruto nodded seriously, good.

They were talking about the suggestions that the blond made to his allies when regarding their training. Many of which revolved around self-improvement.

It wasn't much, but he felt that they needed to hear it from him, as someone who has the experience to back up his statements.

...Sometimes.

"Ah...by the way, apologies about the whole training center thing." Rias apologized, a rare sheepish grin on her face.

The shinobi glowered, how could he forget?

Damn her.

But at the same time, he got Gama-tan out of it, so maybe it was kind of worth it?

"...Whatever." Naruto grouched, turning away with a petulant pout on his face.

The 'Great Ladies' could only grin at each other with his attitude.

Meanwhile, Yuki, who was focusing on putting away the last of her luggage, felt someone place their hand on her arm.

A flash of long red hair caught the hero's attention through the side of her eye.

"Mio? Is there something wrong?" Yuki asked quietly, noticing the girl's disquiet.

Mio was giving her a steady stare, trying to formulate the words that she needed to say.

"...I want to come too." the half-devil admitted, gazing at the human girl with grim determination.

Yuki squinted her eyes slightly. "...Why?"

Mio squirmed slightly, uncomfortable with her own request due to it's short notice, but was silently hopeful. Since the hero managed to get a spot...she was hoping that she could too.

"I want to keep my family safe." was all she could say in the end.

The hero stared at the red-head for a few seconds, studying her face without comment.

Before closing her eyes.

"If you really want to keep your family safe...then you should stay behind."

Mio leaned forward, opening her mouth in protest...

" _Mio_." Yuki cut her off, giving the younger girl a hard stare. "I need you to remember something here..."

The hero leaned in this time, narrowed yellow eyes locking with wary pink.

"Naruto is a trouble magnet, but that doesn't just affect him. It affects everyone around him." Yuki started, stern in her demeanor. "When people target Naruto, many will notice his strength, taking note of his power and some of his enemies will still try to destroy him regardless. One of those many ways...lies in targeting those he cares about."

Mio's eyes widened, that was-

"...Naruto informed me of his suggestions for everyone else in regards to training, I think you should stay behind in order to follow his suggestions. For Naruto's sake, as well as your own." Yuki finished, eyes softening to the half-devil's issue.

The red-head in question bit her lip in frustration. The hero was right...but she hated the fact that she was right.

More than that, the thought of the two traveling together alone was...unpleasant.

Then the tension in her shoulders dissipated, remembering something important.

Of course, how could she forget...maybe this was fine after all?

"Alright...fine. You're right." Mio admitted, calming herself down to speak rationally. "But please...until I get stronger...help keep my family safe."

Yuki's eyes shifted from the worried half-devil to the subject of their conversation. He was currently complaining to Issei and Asia about how they hid the training center that Rias built. Much to both of their consternation.

The young human then turned back to give her friend's sister a confident nod. "Even if you didn't ask me, I still would have done so anyways."

Mio grinned at that. "Glad to hear it."

Yuki reciprocated with a small grin of her own, at ease that the conflict was resolved.

But before the red-head could say anything more, she remembered something, causing her to frown imperceptibly. Maybe she should...

Yeah, she should.

"One last thing. You should...ah...not be too surprised later should... _something_ happen." Mio said with a large grin.

The hero's grin faded to something more wary, that grin on her face was kind of familiar...

Before she could comment on it, Naruto walked up to the two of them. "Hey Yuki, let's head out. You ready to go?"

Yuki nodded, eyes flicking to Mio for a moment, before focusing on the blond. "Right, I'm ready."

With that, the young girl opened the car door and slipped inside, telling the driver of their destination.

Naruto's eyes turned to his sister's, locking for a moment simply to stare.

Then the staring contest ended when the blond's lips upturned slightly.

"See ya later, Mio?"

It only took a split-second for Mio to smile in return, assured that he would be alright.

"See you later, Naruto."

Both siblings threw their arms around each other, enveloping each other whole as a goodbye, only letting go once the shinobi pat his sister's back.

Naruto quickly waved goodbye to everyone else, before sliding inside the car himself so that they get get moving.

The shinobi turned back to look at everyone as they waved goodbye, smiles and grins all around.

It was only while he was gazing at all of his friends, that he noticed that someone else that wasn't a part of the group was also paying attention to his departure.

Behind the group was a tree, behind that large plant was a figure hidden in it's shadow, watching him.

Koneko was staring steadily at him, unwavering as she did so. Her pupils; unreadable.

Naruto frowned as the car revved up, preparing to depart. Why didn't she say goodbye...? Was she that upset or...?

The blond shook his head; it didn't matter. The fact was that she was here...that was all that mattered.

So he waved in her direction, blue eyes cheerful as he did so.

The young _rook_ _'s_ eyes widened slightly at this, before hesitantly waving back, obviously not expecting that reaction.

Then, as the car began to move, he moved his mouth, mouthing out some silent words to her.

Koneko didn't say anything as the car drove away, taking the mysterious teen that changed so much in such a short time. Eyes staring at nothing as her mind raced.

The words that weren't spoken...but were conveyed.

 _Be strong_.

The white-haired girl did nothing but stare, barely acknowledging anything else. Ignoring the other students that were arriving to face the new day, unaware of the stormy emotions underneath the young girl.

"...Be strong...huh?" she couldn't help but mutter.

The lightest upturn of her lips appeared on her face, troublemaker as always...

* * *

Mio continued to watch as the taxi took her brother to his newest 'adventure'. He never did sit still, did he...?

"...He's gone." Issei said quietly. "It's gonna be a little quieter than normal for a while, huh?"

"Yeah. It's going to be a little strange, not expecting _something_ to happen anymore." Rias agreed, blue-green eyes also focusing on where the taxi left. "But I doubt that he'd want us to focus on that."

The other teens nodded absentmindedly, feeling somewhat awkward of the idea of a Naruto-free Kuoh.

"Buchou." Akeno reminded, nudging her. "We should start the day, we don't want the other students to question why so many of us are out here standing around."

The red-head straightened her back. "Right, come on everyone...let's go."

Mio turned slightly to watch as everyone began to leave, heading back to Kuoh Academy so that their day could begin.

But someone stayed behind.

Someone that the young half-devil didn't really notice until now.

"...Kiba-san?" Mio wondered, watching the blond teen stare into space.

The _knight_ jerked at someone calling his name, eyes snapping to the red-head in slight surprise. "Hm? Oh...I'm sorry. I was distracted, did Naruto-san leave already?"

Pink eyes squinted slightly, slightly annoyed that he forgot to say goodbye. "...Yes. He left already."

"I see...that's too bad." Yuuto said with genuine remorse. "I was hoping to ask him something...but I suppose it doesn't matter now."

The reincarnated devil then gave the younger girl a small bow, a forced smile on his face as he did so.

"Apologies, I have been...distracted lately, I'll see you later."

With that, the blond left, moving to join the rest of the Gremory group as they headed to Kuoh Academy.

Mio said nothing, she merely moved her eyes back to the road where her brother had left. Already ill at ease now that he wasn't there to make sure everything was alright.

Nevertheless, she grit her teeth and turned away. Determined to not simply fold to whatever life threw her way, refusing to continuously be a burden for him.

Whatever happened, she would find a way.

* * *

Naruto and Yuki quickly reached their train, giving their driver the money that Rias gave them and taking their luggage with them.

The shinobi frowned for a moment...was his bag always this heavy?

"Naruto, we're going to miss the train. Hurry." Yuki urged, moving quickly to catch the train that would take them to Kyoto.

The blond quickly followed, joining her as they went through the process of admitting their tickets. Afterwards, they quickly moved to grab their seats before the inevitable flood of people came.

It was only after they got their seats and secured their baggage, that they allowed themselves to relax.

Naruto leaned his head back onto his seat, taking the time to appreciate the calm after all of the hectic movements they had to make. It was quite limiting to him with the enclosed spaces and large groups of people.

It didn't take long for the train to begin moving, starting their relatively sleep-inducing voyage to Kyoto. It shouldn't take _that_ long, but they should get comfortable nonetheless.

"Naruto, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Yuki asked quietly, leaning back to get comfortable as well.

The blond closed his eyes, allowing the steady movement of the metallic contraption to soothe his senses. "Not at all, shoot."

The young female said nothing for a moment, searching for the right words.

"...I heard from Mio during our tutoring sessions about your...reckless vow."

A wry grin appeared on the shinobi's face. "You're gonna have to be more specific than that."

He could practically feel the hero roll her eyes.

"I'm talking about your wish to change devil culture." Yuki responded, eyes focusing for any reactions on her friend's face.

His facial features, accordingly, scrunched up slightly. "Ah...that."

Naruto opened his eyes and regarded his friend seriously, leaning in so that he could talk to her without anyone listening in.

"I've...definitely given that issue some thought, I think I might actually have a way to achieve that lofty goal one day. But I can't change anything as I am now. I need to make a name for myself in the Underworld somehow first." the shinobi whispered conspiratorially.

Yuki raised an eyebrow, she supposed that was a pretty reasonable way to influence culture, but the bigger question still remained.

"How exactly would you even gain such influence? If you haven't noticed, devils that are in the upper echelons of society are quite...inclusive." the hero pointed out, yellow eyes inquisitive.

Naruto puffed up his chest, grinning. "This is where my brainstorming becomes awesome...you see, I think that if I manage to do well enough as a...uh...'broker' for peace, that I can get my name spread out fairly quickly through association alone!"

The hero nodded, that made sense and crossed with his former goals as it was. So she waited to see how he could expand on that.

...

...

"...And?" Yuki prodded, waiting for him to continue.

Naruto just scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well...that's all I got so far."

Well...that was a little disappointing.

Then again, the young female probably should have expected something like this already, it's not like the blond always made fool-proof plans.

"Yeah, a bit lackluster, I know. At least I got something to build on though." the shinobi admitted freely, leaning back again and raising his feet into the air playfully.

Yuki didn't look convinced, but for now decided to let it go as her friend continued to keep his feet in the air and looked at the window.

Naruto was silently watching the blurred scenery, marveling at it. He supposed it looked like this when he was running as well, but he was always focused on something else during those moments. Now he could just...watch.

It was nice.

The blond finally dropped his feet, allowing it to fall on the bag that he brought with him.

" _Ouch!_ "

Naruto froze, turning slowly to look at the bag that was now under his feet.

Yuki stared too, since when did a bag say 'ouch'?

The shinobi leaned towards it, slowly zipping it open so that he could cautiously-

"Surprise!"

A certain succubus popped out of the bag with a large grin and an even larger bump on her head, courtesy of the blond's foot.

Neither of the other teens said anything, they just watched as the silverette tripped over herself and fell face-flat onto the floor.

"...Yuki?" Naruto asked, the tone more than enough to discern what he wanted.

"...No idea." the hero answered honestly, thinking back to see if she ever-

 _'You should...ah...not be too surprised later should...something happen.'_

Oh.

Ohhhhh...

"...Naruto, I think you've influenced your 'sister' too much." Yuki grumbled, facepalming all the while.

* * *

Naruto was crossing his arms over his chest, giving the succubus a not-so-amused look.

Maria was just smiling and taking in the sights of the train, thoroughly content with the state of affairs.

Meanwhile, Yuki was just alternating between watching the two of them. Unsure what her blond friend would do.

As expected, Naruto eventually opened his mouth to ask the inevitable question...

Too bad Maria opened her mouth first.

"Mio-sama sent me to help out!" Maria claimed, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "So she forced me into your bag last night with some food so that I can sneak in! I didn't think Yuki-san would be coming too though."

The shinobi wasn't sure whether he should feel amused or annoyed, seriously Mio...?

The worst part was that the red-head told him that Maria was out getting groceries, more specifically; ramen. Mostly to give him some on his return.

He knew it was too good to be true...

Naruto then shook his head, the fact was that they were too far away to go back and drop off the silverette...so she was stuck with them, whether they liked it or not.

...Damn it, that sucks.

"So! How much longer until we get to Kyoto? I've never been there before! This is gonna be so cool!" Maria gushed, completely unrepentant.

The hero just placed her hand on the blond's shoulders as he stewed in his frustration. "Sorry, but it seems that we must endure her presence for now."

"Hey!" the succubus protested. "I'll have you know...that I'm _very_ good company! Besides, you don't really have a right to talk!"

Yuki raised her chin in defiance. "I asked."

Naruto gave the young human a look. "Not really..."

"Informed." she quickly amended.

Maria nodded, giving them all understanding looks. "I know, we don't like it when our plans don't go our way. But sometimes...those plans get ruined by unforeseeable circumstances! So then I ask you...won't you let this slide? Just this once?"

The blond's facial features changed not a whit. "I did. For Yuki. You'd be the second."

The succubus blinked slowly.

"...Just this...twice?" she asked awkwardly.

Naruto sighed, he began rubbing his forehead in irritation. Why the hell did he have to deal with this again?

Seeing that her plea wasn't working, she tried a different tact. "Naruto-sama...come on! You can do this for me can't you? Look past your previous plan and make room for a new one! After all...the Naruto-sama I know would never allow a mere 'unforeseeable circumstance' to slow him down, right!?"

The shinobi's eyes widened. "...You're...you're actually right! I never did allow stupid shit to get in my way! Why the hell would I start now?"

After that, he quickly grabbed the succubus by the shoulders, giving her a grateful look. "Thank you for reminding me of that Maria..."

Maria could only giggle lightly. "No worries Nar-"

Suddenly the blond's grip on her tightened, his grateful look shifted to an oppressive one.

"Thank you for reminding me...that I really should just get rid of those 'unforeseeable circumstances'!" the human male declared loudly, before opening the window besides him and pulling the loli towards it-

" _Nooooo!_ You jerk! Meanie! WHY!?" Maria wailed, flailing as the blond manhandled her.

"Hey...what can I say!? _You_ gave me the inspiration!" Naruto retorted hotly, pushing her slowly to the open window.

Yuki could only cover her face as several passengers around them gave them the stink eye, they were causing such a ruckus...

As the two struggled for dominance, the hero's ear twitched as she heard a new sound, causing her own eyes to narrow. What was that...?

She looked up, noticing an air vent, frowning as she stared at it. This sound was...

 ***hisssss***

Realization reached those wary yellow pupils.

" _Naruto! Maria!_ "

Both stopped moving, surprised due to the hero's vehement tone.

"Cover your noses with your clothes! Hurry!" Yuki ordered, bringing her shirt up to her nose to lessen the amount of air she took in.

Neither Naruto or Maria argued, quickly hiding their noses under their clothes as well.

All of them were silent as they waited, the blond and silverette only just hearing that strange sound from the air vent...

Then Naruto saw it.

Several passengers began to yawn, many more began to look entirely exhausted all of a sudden...

Finally, almost as if on signal, several passengers began to fall asleep on their seats. Completely and without warning.

"Sleeping gas." Yuki muttered starkly. "I think we have a problem."

The shinobi moved closer to her, eyes sharpening as he surveyed the train car. "Can you tell if it's lethal? I want to wait this out to see what's going on but..."

"No." the hero interjected. "It isn't lethal. But too much of it and it can-"

Yuki trailed off, the ***hiss*** sound coming from the vents began to dissipate.

The trio sent each other relieved nods, so they weren't put on a time limit, good. Nevertheless, they kept their noses covered, but at least that was one less thing to worry about.

Immediately after, the train under them jerked, slowing down and eventually stopping entirely.

"...Beautiful. Looks like we're stuck here." Naruto complained, looking outside to see where they were stuck at.

The hero shushed him, trying to listen to anything that may indicate where their enemies could possibly be.

A few seconds passed in total silence, ears straining to hear for any sign of what was going on without giving away the fact that they were still awake.

Then they heard it, leading their eyes to travel to the ceiling.

The banging of footsteps, on top of the train car...

Then the entire car was rocked with a distant explosion, rocking it around ,much to their rising concern.

"Alright...no more waiting around." Naruto growled, getting up from his seat and slamming his fist into his palm. "I'm going to find out what the hell is going on. No way in hell will I let some no-name punks ruin my vacation!"

"...This was a vacation to you?" Yuki asked with dull eyes.

Naruto completely ignored the question, focused far more in grabbing something last-second in his bag, then turning to give his two travel-buddies a look.

"You two coming or what?" the shinobi pressed, putting the pouch filled with kunai and shuriken on him.

Both girls glanced at one another, before sighing and standing up to join him.

"Lead the way." Yuki allowed, tilting her head in acknowledgement of leadership.

The shinobi grinned at that after putting his bag inside a seal for safe keeping, just in case.

"You got it."

* * *

The trio were currently closing in on the explosion from earlier, all of them quickly noticing the sounds of fighting a few cars down.

Maria looked past the two teens, trying to get a better view. "I _hear_ something, but I don't see anything. If we keep approaching them from this angle, we are more likely to get dragged into a fight that we don't want. Anyone got any suggestions?"

The shinobi grinned at that.

"Did you really need to ask?"

With that statement made, the blond smashed a window near them and jumped out. Quickly grabbing onto the top of the train so that he could check ahead from above.

"Hopefully the guys from above cleared out, if not then I'll clean them up myself. You two get in a little closer, maybe we can pincer the bad guys before they try anything too crazy." Naruto suggested quickly, climbing on top of the roof.

"Makes sense." Yuki admitted slowly. "We can do that. Though considering you broke _another_ window...they may be privy to our presence already."

The shinobi didn't answer her, he merely completed his climb and began moving to the car where the sounds of conflict were coming from.

Yuki sighed as she began moving as well, making her way to the next car. She sometimes couldn't tell if he did things because he was a genius...or because he had an insane streak.

Maria followed closely after, keeping up with the taller girl as they moved from car to car, taking note that she was beginning to hear voices emanating from the next one ahead...

"-found her. It was as easy as you said it would be, none of her bodyguards knew we were coming. We're ready to come back, her mother will no doubt send yokai to check on the train when it's not on schedule..."

Both females glanced at one another, it seems that whatever fight broke out was finished, there was a clear winner now.

Now all they had to do was wait...

"Question."

The hero turned to look at the succubus, annoyed at her timing. "...What?"

Maria tilted her head to the side, giving the other female a slightly shaky smile.

"...How do we know that Naruto-sama has given us the signal?"

Yuki blinked. That was actually a good question...

"Well, I'm sure that he will give us a suitably outrageous signal. Let's just wait for that."

* * *

Naruto was initially planning to creep his way on top of the cars, inching towards where the fighting was going on.

The second he got on top of it however, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

There were two cloaked individuals facing away from the blond, standing on the roof of the last car on the train. Seemingly waiting for something.

The shinobi knew that he had to act quickly.

Naruto sped towards them with incredible speed, making sure to keep his footsteps light so that he wouldn't alert anyone inside.

Neither of the two cloaked bastards knew what hit them as two arms wrapped around their necks and clenched tight.

The shinobi held firm as the two immediately began to flail their limbs, trying desperately to take in oxygen to their suddenly deprived lungs.

Hard blue eyes watched as the two slowly began to struggle less, their limbs losing strength as darkness began to overtake them.

After a few more seconds, they finally stopped moving.

Naruto slowly placed them down at his feet, making absolutely no noise in the process.

They were unconscious, the last thing he needed was to kill people that may be connected to some random faction...he didn't come here to fight.

Nevertheless, they proved themselves to be ridiculously aggressive, considering their actions.

Naruto regarded the unconscious duo, eyes narrowing a fraction as he realized something now that he spread his senses out.

Human. These two were _human_...

Was this a normal human attack? Or was this connected with the supernatural?

Before he could ponder the question further, he heard a door slam open and a few cloaked people slowly walk out of the train. With one of them holding a relatively decent-sized bundle over their arm.

This was the perfect time for an ambush.

* * *

"Ugh...waiting around for a signal is making me antsy...we should have made a better plan." Maria complained, her body was beginning to get sore here...

"Patience." Yuki recommended. "We will know when Naruto's ready...he has a better vantage point then we do."

The succubus turned to give the hero an annoyed glance. "How exactly are we going to know that Naruto-sama is giving us the signal?"

The hero didn't respond, choosing instead to pay attention for anything that could possibly signal for them to move. If this was Naruto that they were talking about...it could be anything.

Then she heard the faint sound of someone rapping a metallic surface.

She turned her eyes to the ceiling, hearing the constant sound clearly.

A signal.

"...That's it? I'm actually kinda disappointed." Maria said, pouting.

Again, the young human didn't respond. She merely materialized her katana; _Sakuya_ , and prepared to charge out with the silverette besides her.

Before she could, a faint scraping sound began emanating from the ceiling.

Yellow eyes hesitantly looked up again as she saw a kunai with wind enhancing it make a hole through the roof, before retreating.

Then an annoyed blue eye used it as a peephole and glared at the female duo below.

"...Hurry up." Naruto stated gruffly, before the eye retreated again.

...

"That's better." the succubus stated with approval, standing up and stretching her body.

She was up for a fight!

The hero just stared at the ceiling, expression shifting from reluctant amusement to exasperation.

Did he _really_ have to do that?

Nevertheless, Yuki stood up to join Maria, prepared to utilize the element of surprise to their advantage.

She held up her hand in front of Maria's face, with all of her fingers out and accounted for.

Then she began counting down.

Four.

Three.

Two.

 _One_.

Both females quickly charged out, smashing through the door and running straight to the back of the car.

* * *

Naruto watched as the humans snapped their heads back to the train car that they just left, suddenly wary at the sound of someone slamming the door open.

Perfect.

The shinobi quickly jumped high in the sky, soaring over the unsuspecting group under him, and landed behind all of them. All while they had their attention focused on the train.

Naruto then moved up to the first human he could find, a man as far as he could tell, who was holding the bundle over his arm.

He quickly smashed his elbow into the back of them man's neck, a vicious blow that knocked him out the second it connected, causing him to smash into the ground in front of him.

The blond caught the bundle that fell from the man's grip, frowning once he did so.

A person?

His quick attack garnered the attention of the man's comrades, eyes widening in outrage.

"Damn it...!" a feminine voice cursed, as the cloaked woman charged at him with reckless abandon, bringing out an axe from under her robes to attack.

The remaining three broke from their stupor and made to follow, but unfortunately for them, they completely forgot about the ruckus from the train.

"Excuse me!" Maria chirped, as she struck a female human in the back with her foot, sending her sliding on the ground in an unconscious heap.

Another met a similar fate.

"Apologies..." Yuki muttered, as she brought the butt of her katana to the forehead of another human man, the blow making a sick ***crack*** and causing the human to crumple.

Naruto on the other hand, was watching the woman charge at him with fascination, only bothering to move the bundle from his hands to his right hand in preparation.

The woman brought her axe down upon the blond, a snarl emerging from her lips as she sent her weapon straight towards her enemy's skull.

The shinobi merely side-stepped the attack, far faster than the female could have reacted to, and brought his foot out.

He hooked it around the woman's feet...and _pulled_.

Suddenly, the female warrior's feet was pulled out from under her, causing her to slip and fall to the ground in a panic.

Naruto quickly grabbed her from the shirt however, pulling her back up to him, his expression not changing a whit.

The second that the force of the pull brought the woman up to him, he kept his fist clenched and motionless, watching the woman's face literally smash _into_ his fist. Knocking her out with little difficulty.

All while still holding the bundle on his right hand.

As the female fell to the ground in a heap, the shinobi grabbed onto her leg and pulled her from the ground again, turning his eyes to the last remaining enemy combatant left.

The cloaked man looked like a deer caught in headlights, eyes snapping from the two females and Naruto himself.

"Hey...buddy."

The man's frightened eyes snapped back to the blond as he brought the woman up for him to see.

"...Lost something." Naruto said with a grin, flinging the unconscious body to the hapless human.

The body smashed into the man, sending him flying back to the train car and making a decently sized dent onto the metallic object, his now-unconscious body sliding to the ground.

Naruto, Maria, and Yuki walked up to one another and glanced around to assess the damage. Admiring their work.

"Well...that went well." Yuki noted, looking around and nodding at a job well done.

"Yeah, I suppose there's gotta be a first time for everything, right? Things don't usually end up going so perfectly." Maria agreed readily, a large cheerful smile on her face.

"...What are you two talking about?"

The two females turned to look at Naruto, his eyes serious as he surveyed his dirty work.

Then his eyes landed on his two friends, shifting from serious to positively _gleeful_.

"I'm here aren't I!? This all worked out because of my genius plan, so of course this went off without a hitch! Man...I impress even myself sometimes." the shinobi gloated haughtily, puffing his chest out in pride.

Maria just gave him a dull stare in response. "...Don't act so smart. You definitely didn't plan for this to happen, you just improvised every step of the way."

Naruto gaped at the accusation. "Eh? How can you doubt my sincerity!?"

"Is that a trick question!?" the succubus exclaimed, incredulous that he even had to ask. "Besides, even if you lucked out here, you should already know full well that your luck won't last."

The shinobi withered up slightly, suddenly despondent.

"...You don't have to remind me dattebayo..."

A sharp clap interrupted the two of them, knocking the blond out of his psuedo-depression simultaneously.

"While I'm sure this conversation is _very_ important...we still have a bit of a dilemma here." Yuki explained, giving both of her comrades steady looks.

Naruto and Maria stared at the hero for a moment, before turning back to one another, and finally turning back to her.

""What's that?""

The hero could have sighed.

"...Like what to do with several unconscious bodies? Also...what's with the bag on your hand, Naruto?" Yuki inquired, eyes zeroing in on the bundle.

Naruto suddenly jerked, eyes widening as he immediately made to drop the bag onto the floor. "Aw...crap. I totally forgot! I think there's a person in here as well...hey, can the two of you grab these guys and put them in the train? Just in case someone comes by...I don't think I want to explain this situation."

Both girls nodded, and proceeded to do just that, as the blond himself made to open the bag which the human baddies from before tried to steal...or kidnap. Whichever.

The whiskered teen struggled to open the bag, the knot was done really well...so he decided to just open it his way.

He grabbed a kunai from his pouch, and cut the bag open.

Simple.

Naruto peeked inside the bag, not exactly sure what he'd find...

...

"...Huh...well...you don't see that every day." the blond mused, carefully grabbing the individual inside the bag and taking them out of it. Cradling the young girl in his arms.

It was a little girl, one that looked no older than ten years old. She had golden blond hair tied in a ponytail, fair skin, and was even wearing a miko outfit.

All in all, not exactly what you'd expect in a bag, just why the hell would someone want to kidnap this girl for?

As his eyes continued to study the little girl, he noticed several things that clued him in to the fact that the girl wasn't...normal.

For one...she had fox-like ears on her head.

Secondly, he could feel something furry where her read end should be...a tail maybe?

He shifted her around in his arms to check if he was right, maybe he was being too paranoid. It's not like she's-

Oh.

Tails.

Ohhh.

 _Nine_ tails.

 _Ohhhhhhhhh._

"...Shit." Naruto cursed, shifting the girl again so that she wouldn't be too uncomfortable.

Well...this was unfortunate.

He honestly had no idea how to deal with this, whatever he does can backfire spectacularly if done incorrectly.

That being said, he couldn't drag his feet. No doubt people were asking questions about why this train wasn't on schedule.

As the shinobi contemplated on this very jarring issue, his comrades had just finished dragging all of their adversaries inside the train, keeping them safe from view.

However, that wasn't the only thing that was happening while he was preoccupied.

A shadow was flitting across the ground, slowly getting bigger as the owner of said shadow flew closer to the ground and straight towards-

Naruto's danger sense practically _screamed_ for him to move.

Following his instincts, the blond jumped and narrowly avoided a surprise attack from an airborne adversary that was intentionally trying to skewer him.

Blue eyes followed after the flying being, eyes narrowing as he remembered a creature that resembled the creatures' appearance quite well...

But he definitely knew one thing about it.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "You're a yokai right!? Why the hell are you attacking me for!? I just saved your princess!"

The yokai, a bird-like creature with a crow-like face, sneered at the blond's attempt at diplomacy. "Lies! Humans attacked her! You will pay with your life! I've already informed everyone else of your treachery!"

With that declaration, the yokai nosedived towards him again, trying it's hardest to kill the human.

Naruto's eyes quickly flitted back to the train, as two familiar faces were charging back outside to aid him in the fight that he got dragged into.

But he shook his head at them.

Yuki and Maria stopped in their tracks, frowning, but listening.

The shinobi gave them a thankful nod for listening, then refocused back on the yokai, readying himself to just the right moment...

 _There!_

The yokai nearly skewered him alright, but at the last moment, Naruto allowed himself to fall backwards as the sharp beak that was aimed at his throat flew over him.

The shinobi then went on a handstand on the ground and pushed himself off from it, smashing his feet into the bird-like creature.

Almost immediately, the yokai's eyes bulged and the bird fell to the darkness that began to overtake it, falling into unconsciousness easily.

Naruto backed away from fallen form, scrambling to get inside the train cart so that he could talk to his friends on what the hell just happened.

"Ok...ok...what the hell. Can someone explain to me what just happened!?" Naruto complained, rubbing his forehead in annoyance.

This was _supposed_ to be simple, just...where do these things go so wrong?

Neither Yuki or Maria responded, they were both too busy staring at the girl in his arms, as if she was actually a bomb that was about to go off.

"...Naruto...is that a kyuubi yokai?" Yuki inquired quietly, her voice barely a whisper.

The shinobi turned his head away warily. "...Maybe."

The hero could only facepalm, shaking her head all the while.

Maria poked at the unconscious girl's cheek, fascinated. "As much as I hate to say it...it should still be said."

Purple eyes turned to meet blue, a cheeky grin accompanying it.

"I told you so."

Naruto twitched violently, giving the succubus a dark glare for her cheeky attitude.

Yuki, finally breaking free from her immediate frustrations, spoke again. "Well...I think it's obvious what the problem is. That yokai was given the order to destroy the little kyuubi's kidnapper...and that so happens to be you. I doubt they'll believe you if you claim innocence."

The shinobi could have cried at the unfairness of it all.

"...Maybe I could change my appearance, make it seem like I ran away and leave the kid here for them to pick up." the blond began, looking for something... _anything_ he could do.

Maria shook her head sadly, serious again. "Sorry Naruto-sama...yokai have a strong sense of smell...even if you tried to cover yourself with another smell, it would be extraordinarily difficult for them _not_ to figure it out."

Naruto grit his teeth, eyes scanning for another option.

What could he do...?

He was already labeled as the kidnapper, so pointing the finger at the guys they fought would probably just get them executed, while doing nothing for him.

Leaving the girl here for them to take wouldn't convince them of his innocence either.

His eyes landed on Yuki and Maria, about to ask them for help in brainstorming. But then another idea entered his head, just by looking at the two.

Yuki and Maria...

"I got it!" Naruto exclaimed, fist-pumping. "I'm gonna head to Kyoto by foot with the kid, for her protection. But the yokai never saw you, so to them...you're just some random people that are not associated with the kidnapping! You two could find the yokai faction leader and get her to stop!"

The hero blinked, considering the idea. It had merit...although she had no idea if the faction leader; the powerful kyuubi known as Yasaka, would listen to them. It was still their best shot if the blond still needed to talk to her.

"Alright then, I'm going to leave and get a head-start. Good luck you two!" Naruto said, turning to leave the car immediately.

"Wait."

The shinobi stopped in his tracks, turning his head to frown at the female human that stopped him.

"What? Are you not satisfied with the plan?"

Yuki said nothing for a moment, yellow eyes stayed locked with blue, neither wavering.

"...Stay safe out there, no matter what."

Naruto raised both of his eyebrows in curiosity, but still gave her a crooked grin in response. "I can do that...can you do the same for me?"

The hero replied with a small smile. "Of course."

"Good!" the shinobi nodded, before turning to the succubus. "Maria, you may be a pain in the ass most of the time...but I'm hoping that I can depend on you enough to protect yourself and Yuki. As well as accept her help."

Maria's lips grew into a large grin after his comment, splitting her face. "No worries Naruto-sama...me and Yuki-san are going to get along juuuuust fine."

The hero twitched slightly, eyeing the silverette warily...she was beginning to regret this team up already.

With that Naruto firmly nodded, leaving the train car with the little girl clutched close to his chest and heading straight to the forest, undetected by his enemies.

At least he was supposed to be.

" _Human_ _!_ " a distorted voice roared out in challenge.

The blond, holding the girl close to his chest, turned to see how exactly his day could get worse. His legs already primed to move in case another asshole came to dive-bomb him again.

But what he saw only convinced him of the yokai faction's ridiculous diversity more than anything else.

Blue eyes stared as a large creature; consisting of a monkey head, combined with the limbs of a tiger, and a snake for a tail charged at him with reckless abandon.

"I knew that the damn bird shouldn't have gone ahead! I will destroy you in his stead! _"_ the beast shrieked, getting ready to bring it's enormous paws to bear on the seemingly helpless human.

Naruto was having none of that, he instead turned around and jumped straight into the forest, disappearing into it's depths, with the chimera-like creature chasing after him in hot pursuit.

Yuki, who was well hidden to make sure the strange beast didn't see her, watched her friend go, filled with conflicting emotions battling in the pit of her stomach. Intensely uncomfortable with leaving the blond with what amounted to a flare for two factions to hunt for.

But it had to be done, in her own way...she was still doing what Mio asked her to do.

Doing her part to protect him.

Although she would be lying if she said she was just doing this for Mio's sake...

"...Hey. Don't worry, he may be way too cocky...but he's got a reason to be. He can hold out, even with someone to protect." Maria comforted, patting the hero's back.

Yellow eyes locked onto the silverette, accompanied by a slightly wry smile. "What's this? I didn't know that you cared, Maria."

The succubus immediately broke out in laughter, shaking her head all the while. "Oh ho! Yes! I do actually care. I care very much about his well-being as a matter of fact. I just choose to make sure that neither Naruto-sama or Mio-sama sees me worry that much is all."

Yuki raised a single eyebrow, interested. "Why would you do that?"

Maria turned away, a small smile present on her face.

"Why indeed? Anyways, I think we should be worrying more about how to get to Kyoto. Especially since this train won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Ideas?"

The hero stared at Maria, noting the shift in topics, but acquiescing nonetheless. "We walk, we have to disassociate ourselves with this event. Otherwise the human police may detain us since we're the only conscious ones here. After we create enough space between ourselves and the train...we find a faster method of transportation."

Yuki stopped, giving Maria an apologetic look for rambling. "Unless...you have a better solution of course."

Maria just responded with a shaky smile, she had absolutely nothing.

"No...that's good."

* * *

It watched.

It has been watching for quite a while now, witnessing the failure of it's comrades, the loss of the target, and the blond man's retreat into the forested area with a yokai pursuing him.

It wished it could have intervened, but it quickly determined that the young man was too strong, his comrades on the other hand...

The two females that waited for the blond to run, quickly left the train car after the area was clear. Moving to leave the tracks before human authorities arrive.

Excellent.

It stayed still for a few moments, waiting for the small party to leave it's line of sight, then quickly left it's hiding position deep inside the forestry on the other side where the blond disappeared to.

The sun's dying light reflected eerily off of it's armor and red visor, giving it a menacing look that was meant to intimidate it's enemies and inspire fear into it's allies.

For precisely moments like these.

It entered the train car where the unconscious humans were located, then leaned down next to one of the fallen young men.

The young man didn't respond.

The red visor continued to stare at the prone man, before quickly materializing a large broadsword out of nowhere and bringing it forth down on the man's head.

The man's eyes snapped open in horror at the oppressive killing intent, watching in slow motion as the deadly blade headed straight for his throat...

Then it stopped, right above his neck.

"...Wake up."

The man's heart was beating rapidly, eyes focusing on the dark figure in front of him. "Y-You're..."

"Enough talk." the figure claimed, moving the blade away from the human's neck. "The mission is a failure, utilize your Sacred Gear to transport everyone back to Cao Cao before local authorities arrive. You will inform him of your failure personally...Georg."

Georg swallowed, intensely nervous of such a meeting as he tried to fix the glasses that were smashed into pieces. "I-I see...very well then. Ar-Are you coming as well?"

The dominating figure nodded. "Yes...I have some information for him, he definitely wants to hear this."

The young bespectacled man nodded slowly, allowing his Sacred Gear to activate.

" _Dimension Lost_..." he whispered, allowing a fog to envelope himself and his comrades...

* * *

Cao Cao was sitting on his seat, waiting patiently for the group that he has sent after the daughter of the yokai faction leader.

Besides him, were several prominent heroes of his organization; the Hero Faction. The group that considered themselves the 'true' heroes of the world.

The black-haired young man glanced at the familiar faces around him; the beautiful Jeanne, the loyal Siegfried, the fierce Heracles...they were the future.

Cao Cao's eyes sharpened as a fog began to materialize out of nowhere, this was...

"...Seems that they've finally returned. Finally, now all we have to do is lure Yasaka into an unfavorable position for capture..." Siegfried muttered, already thinking of possible plans for her capture.

"Yeah! It was perfect timing on our part, wasn't it? To think that we could catch the head fox's daughter with minimum security...that's gold! Now we can bribe her and force her to dance for us! Like a puppet!" Jeanne chirped loudly, hopping up and down without care.

Heracles huffed, standing up from his seat and cracking his neck. "Damn...too bad. I wanted to have a chance at fighting that monster...it would have been an excellent battle to test my fists on."

Cao Cao said nothing, eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the fog lighten...

"...Looks like you may yet get that chance Heracles." the young leader claimed calmly, getting up from his own seat and walking closer to the recently materialized group.

Several forms were on the ground, completely unconscious, with only two individuals standing upright.

"Ah...so you salvaged the situation, hmm?" Cao Cao mused lightly, regarding the menacing figure.

It didn't say anything, merely bowing in deference.

Black eyes shifted to Georg, who was seemingly looking at the leader like a small animal caught in headlights.

"...Well? Where's the faction leader's daughter? What could have _possibly_ happened to stop your success?"

Georg shrunk a little, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. "W-Well..."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Cao Cao froze, eyes turning back to the still bowing figure.

"...Excuse me?" the young leader questioned.

It raised it's head to face the young man that was his master, red visor visible again. "...The one who stopped them...matched your description of Uzumaki Naruto. He's here. In Kyoto."

The young man straightened his back, face...stony.

"Georg...utilize your Sacred Gear to get us out of this artificial dimension and back to where we left our comrades. Our plans have to change to take in this...surprising development."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Underworld, a new development was taking place, one that would slowly influence a large amount of people. Especially as new and controversial ideas began to circulate between individuals throughout the land.

It was only in the initial stage, but the ideas were spread, and no one would soon forget them.

* * *

Blue eyes stared up at the plain white ceiling, unfocused as they looked past the physical into his mind's eye.

Riser Phenex was coming to terms with what has happened recently, only recently able to think too deeply on his actions.

...And the actions of Uzumaki Naruto.

The young Phenex's face scrunched up in self-disgust. How'd he allow himself to be used so...so easily?

But more importantly, how could he face the next day with any sense of self-respect or pride?

He's been awake for a while...but his loss of self-respect has crippled him to the point that he really didn't want to leave the room and face reality. It was so much easier to just lie here and let the world pass him by...

Riser closed his eyes, yes...maybe he wouldn't place his sister in any more danger like this...

"Onii-sama!"

The blond's eyes snapped open in surprise, eyes traveling to the door where his sister entered.

Before he could ask any questions, the younger female quickly moved past him and grabbed the remote control for the television hanging up on the wall. "You _have_ to see this!"

Riser gave the younger blond a look of disapproval, but nevertheless glanced up at the television, unsure of what to expect.

"... _-ounds incredible! So you've seen this young man in action yourself I assume?"_

 _"Absolutely. Many of us were highly entertained by the spectacle that he performed, honestly...we assumed that this was a staged fight for our amusement. But his declaration after the fact was what took the cake for me."_

The young Phenex stared at the television screen, facial expressions blank as he internalized everything that was being said.

Ravel was watching him closely, gauging for his reaction quietly...

 _"Indeed! For someone to make such a declaration...could he actually have the political muscle to back it up? Or is he just an idiot with a lot of power?"_

 _"Normally I would say he's an idiot...but he **did** speak with the Maou before that. So maybe he isn't bluffing...?"_

 _"Do you think he could actually be a threat to modern devil culture then?"_

 _"...I'd say that it isn't a good idea to ignore him entirely. He just has that...aura around him. I doubt that this will be the last time we ever hear about this guy, I can tell you that."_

Riser continued to watch with morbid fascination, it was him, it was definitely him...

"He's on the news...he's _literally_ the subject of the news." Ravel whispered, looking entirely spooked.

The young man didn't say anything, he only gripped the bed sheets that covered his lower body tighter.

Insanity, he _actually_ did that. That bastard actually...

...

What was he doing here? Moping around while that bastard gets media attention for making retarded statements!?

"Ravel!" Riser roared, swiping at his sheets and jumping off the bed.

The devil girl jumped slightly, surprised to hear such an authoritative tone. "Y-Yeah?"

Sharp blue eyes accompanied the scowl on his face as he looked at his sister. "Get otou-sama and okaa-sama, I need to speak with them. Quickly."

...He needed to speak with Maou-sama.

If a human could become the main topic of Underworld television, then he could move past this damn it!

* * *

 _"The question I want to know is...where did he come from? You'd think that he would be well-known. Hell, is he even a devil for that matter?"_

 _"That's a genuinely good question...a lot of mystery surrounds this man. That's why so many are curious to find out more."_

Grayfia watched the television with interest, this was an interesting development to say the least...

"Well...Naruto-kun definitely got the Underworld's attention. It's only a matter of time now...some powerful people will seek him out soon." Sirzechs muttered as he stared at the large flat-screen.

The maid nodded. "So it seems...I wonder what their thoughts on his declaration are?"

Before the red-head could answer, a green magic circle appeared close to them, lighting up the room.

Grayfia raised an eyebrow at it, that's...

As she figured, Ajuka Beelzebub appeared from the magic circle, looking especially grim.

"Ajuka..." Sirzechs said slowly. "...I suppose you've found something out about those girls I've asked you to look at?"

The young-looking man inclined his head, facial features dour. "Yes...the girls you placed under hibernation still have their evil pieces inside of them, so I was able to discern who the _king_ is. I also erased their memories after I was finished scanning them, if that's alright with you?"

The Maou nodded. "Of course, so...who's the perpetrator?"

Ajuka frowned visibly, turning his eyes to the ground and refusing to make eye contact with his old friend.

"By the way...have you seen my little brother during your party the other day?" the Maou Beelzebub mentioned, seemingly switching topics.

Sirzechs blinked, uncertain, but answered anyways. "I don't believe so...why?"

Ajuka simply responded with a smile that in no way reached his eyes.

"I suggest that you keep it that way."

Blue-green eyes continued to focus on his closest friend, unsure why he would-

His thoughts were interrupted when another magic circle appeared behind Ajuka, this one spewing flames as a group emerged from it.

"I'm sorry for the interruption Maou-sama." Lord Phenex apologized, as he emerged from the magic circle. "But I believe that my son has some important information for you."

Sirzechs said nothing, he only watched as Riser Phenex stepped forward with a determined look on his face.

"Maou-sama...I must speak to you about a man that represents a grave threat to the Underworld."

* * *

 _"What about you? What do you think about the situation? As a high-class devil I mean?"_

 _"I think that this brat doesn't know what he's up against. Our culture has remained mostly unaffected for over a thousand years, some random kid isn't going to change anything. Even if he tried...he would only face the staunch resistance that comes from a species that's resistant to change."_

The older man that was listening to the news couldn't help but wryly note that devils always did like to talk big.

But to be fair, it wasn't like his people didn't either...

Azazel was sitting in his personal quarters, relaxing and drinking some wine to unwind from the long day. Researching was tough work after all~

The fallen angel was about to put the wine in his lips, ready to enjoy the faint buzz that came with drinking...

 _"But you have to admit that Uzumaki Naruto's name is already becoming well known, right? That means he has already made a lasting impression in a sense."_

Azazel froze, his lips touching the tip of the bottle and aware on some subconscious level that he was looking like an idiot.

Oh...but it was worth it. This was _juicy_!

The leader of the fallen angels jumped from his chair, moving quickly through the hallways of the Grigori facility that he was staying at in order to find a certain someone.

Many fallen angels complained audibly when he nearly crashed into them in the narrow hallways, but he was too excited, like a kid racing to get his birthday presents.

After nearly crashing into several more researchers, he reached his destination and opened the training room to-

The second he entered, he was forced to duck as a body came flying straight at him, eventually soaring over him as the hapless fallen crashed into the wall behind him.

That guy looked familiar...

Purple eyes watched in complete fascination as his apprentice wrestled with another familiar fallen angel, pushing her back with superior strength.

Azazel clapped his hands. "Ok you two, that's good enough I think."

Both women stopped, separating from one another as they both gasped for more oxygen in their lungs, though it was obvious that his apprentice didn't have to take in as much.

"Azazel-sama...what is...the problem?" Kalawarner blurted out, desperately taking in huge gulps of air.

The Governor General merely pointed at the other woman. "I need to borrow her."

The young woman blinked at that. "Will this...take long?"

The older man merely grinned in response. "Come on, you'll love this. I promise."

Violet eyes regarded the fallen angel with suspicion, before moving to follow him.

Azazel immediately left the room, nodding silently at the fallen form of Dohnaseek along the way, his sacrifice wouldn't be forgotten.

They didn't walk far, the older man only deciding to take her to a room with a television instead of his room, knowing full well that the young woman would get impatient.

The Governor General immediately turned on the television once he found such a room, changing the channel to the news that he saw earlier.

The black-haired woman tapped her foot impatiently, frowning heavily at all of the secrecy. "Azazel-sama...can this wait? Maybe you could show me this later, I was in the middle of some important-"

 _"-we couldn't get a proper image for this broadcast, but we managed to have someone draw this young man's image, mostly by using the description that devils that attended the party gave us. So here he is; Uzumaki Naruto."_

The young woman stopped speaking immediately, snapping her head to the television screen and staring at the visage. Suddenly entranced.

"...Now are you glad that I grabbed you when I did? You would have been quite upset if I didn't show you immediately. It seems that our blond friend has been quite busy...huh...Raynare?" Azazel muttered, smirking his enigmatic smirk.

Raynare didn't respond, she merely stared at the image that haunted her dreams of late.

 _"Nothing is over...until it's over."_

A slow, almost reluctant, smile spread across her lips.

"...Seems I wasn't the only one busy." the black-haired girl whispered, closing her eyes in satisfaction.

Azazel watched the young woman, gauging her reaction of the young man that she hasn't seen in quite a while. The young man that she credited with the shift in her life.

"Well...this was indeed nice to see." the Governor General admitted, before his expression turned serious. "Unfortunately, I actually have to speak to you about something else now that you're here."

Raynare tilted her head to glance at her new guardian through the side of her eye. "Is it important?"

"It is, but not time sensitive. I was going to tell you tomorrow...but I need you to be aware that Kokabiel has gone missing."

The young woman's eyes widened. " _What?_ How long has this been happening? Should we send scouts to search for him? Why go to me about this?"

Azazel raised his arms in alarm, trying to quell the rapid-fire questions. "Woah there! Relax! This has been going on for a while...but I have reason to believe that he's up to no good. You don't have to worry about the implications, no worries. However...if Kokabiel should do anything stupid...I want to call upon you to seek out the aggrieved parties and disassociate our faction from his actions."

Raynare frowned, looking intensely uncomfortable. "...Is it that bad? Will it be like my mother's...?"

The older fallen looked grim.

"It could be worse."

The black-haired woman turned away, staring at the ground with intensity, unwilling to meet her guardian's eyes.

"...So will you do it?"

Raynare continued to stare at the ground for a few more moments, before her face hardened in determination.

For what he's done...this was the least she could do.

"You can count on me."

* * *

 **AN: Huh, well that escalated quickly. Anyways, I think that I managed the shifting perspectives decently enough. I made sure to utilize the television as the focal point to allow for swift transitions. Hopefully it wasn't too much.**

 **So now information has spread, Naruto's declaration is now common knowledge, for better or for worse. His reputation is growing, practically unintentionally by this point. Meanwhile, Naruto himself has been framed, Yuki and Maria have to clear his name, and now he's the target of two factions.**

 **...He can never have a break, can he? I think I remembered why I let him relax for two and a half chapters...**

 **Ok, so I want to discuss a little bit about the romance issue that recently came up last chapter, many suggestions about what to do as well. I apologize for those who craze it and aren't getting it, but romance is something I wanted to handle delicately. Mind you, this is a three, eventually four, crossover. One that I wanted to mean more than throwing a few characters in. To put it bluntly, it meant that I had to take more time than usual to establish everyone as this story's "canon" so to speak rather than some random OCs.**

 **When most of you think of this story, hopefully most of you think that characters like Mio are as relevant as characters like Issei and Rias.**

 **So basically, I had to, unless I wanted this story to devolve into more or less the same shit that the canon Highschool DxD devolved to.**

 **Romance is coming when it does, the emotions are getting ready for it. It's a slow experience, sure, but hopefully a rewarding one in the long run.**

 **Also, Logged In's review last chapter kind of explained it better than I could hope to do. So there's that. :P (Good job man!)**

 **Anyways, those are my rambling thoughts, hopefully most of you understand, I think I'll write something more detailed if some still don't understand.**

 **But for now...see ya later!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	29. Chapter 29

"Issei-san, where are we going?"

Issei kept trudging forward despite Asia's curiosity, he didn't have too much time to kill. "We're gonna go train, or at least get started. I wanted to try out some stuff in the training center that Buchou made."

Asia's eyes began to sparkle in delight, clapping her hands together. "Oh! Does that mean you're gonna try learning a new technique? Can I join you?"

The brown-haired boy just gave her an indulgent grin. "Of course, I figured that you'd want to train a little yourself, right?"

The young blond beamed as they made their way to the Occult Research Club, seeking to utilize the newest feature to the building.

Issei and Asia quickly made it to the building, proceeding to open the door and check if anyone was present.

"Ah. Well hello there you two. What brings both of you here?" Rias inquired, looking up from her work to look at the teens.

Issei and Asia glanced at one another, before turning back to the red-head. "Buchou...I- I mean _we_ want to use the new training center. We're done with classes and we want to try the suggestions that Naruto left for us."

Blue-green eyes regarded the pervert for a moment, before her expression shifted to look mildly amused. "Well...you too, hm? Seems everyone caught the training bug."

Asia leaned closer, eyes confused. "You mean...we weren't the first ones to be asking you this?"

Rias nodded, slowly getting up from her seat to walk to the duo. "Indeed, I'll take you downstairs. You two aren't even the second or third person to begin using the training center today. Come, I'll show you."

With that, the red-head moved past them and opened the door that was recently made, revealing an elevator that was sitting there, waiting to allow it's passenger to go underground.

She quickly pressed the button to open the elevator doors, walking inside once it opened and beckoned for the other teens to follow.

Issei and Asia quickly followed suit, with the reincarnated devil frowning in slight confusion.

"Uh...Buchou?" Issei questioned hesitantly as they entered the elevator. "Are you coming with us? You don't have to if you're busy, just tell us what to do and we can-"

"Don't worry Issei." Rias interjected, an excited smile on her face as she pressed her finger on the bottom floor. "I've been trying to get some work done, but I wanted to join everyone else down there for a while. If anything...I'm just using you two as an excuse to train too!"

The pervert's gave his _king_ an exasperated look, seriously?

* * *

The elevator ride was relatively quick, the movement was smooth and the _pawn_ barely noticed that they had moved. The sign of a high-quality elevator.

He was reminded of just how wealthy his benefactor was...

The moment that they reached their destination, Issei and Asia ran out to check out the new area, eager to see what they were working with.

They were not disappointed.

"Woah...it's huge!" Issei exclaimed, eyes wide as they surveyed the massive room.

Though it was less a room and more like a...stadium.

Yeah, it was huge. Just how far down underground did they go exactly...?

"Ah! Hey there you three! I was wondering if you guys would come down here."

Brown eyes stopped drinking in the sights to regard the other red-head that decided to call out to them.

"Mio-san!" Asia gasped, surprised despite herself. "You came here before us?"

Mio frowned at the young nun. "...What's that supposed to mean? I mean yeah...I didn't train too often before. But it shouldn't be _that_ surprising, should it?"

"Actually, it kind of is." Rias stated, walking towards the group admiring the show of architecture while responding. "You just don't seem like the kind of person who works hard to be perfectly blunt. I think it's your demeanor."

The younger red-head glared at her sempai, unamused. "Oh? And you're any different?"

"Touché." The Gremory chuckled good-naturedly, before looking around for something. "Hey, by the way...where's...?"

"Here!"

Issei and Asia jumped, snapping their heads around to look at the teenaged girl that sneaked up behind them.

"Ah, I was wondering where you disappeared to, Akeno." Rias responded calmly, ignoring the way-too happy smile on her friend's face. "Although...did you _really_ have to try and sneak up on us?"

"Absolutely." Akeno admitted readily, a beatific smile on her face. "I see that Issei-kun and Asia-chan wants to train too, hm? It seems that almost everyone has the training itch today."

"Almost everyone...?" Issei parroted, eyes wandering for more familiar faces.

"Don't bother, Koneko-chan is in another room by herself. As for Kiba-kun...well...he said that he'd be coming here too. But I haven't seen him." the _queen_ said, purple eyes shifting to the _king_.

"So they're both still acting strange huh...?" Rias muttered, eyes squinted. "Well...unfortunately, we can't do much about it except let them have their space. Until then, we should actually start training while we're here. Are you still helping Mio-chan?"

Mio perked up at her name being used, pink eyes turning to the older red-head. "She was helping me with using my demonic energy, but you came just as I wanted to switch gears by following Naruto's notes for self-improvement."

The pervert leaned in, curious. "So...he left you specific notes? What did it say?"

The half-devil blinked as curious eyes zeroed in on her, she then began to fumble for her skirt pocket to grab the note in question.

"Let's see here..." Mio said quietly, grabbing the flimsy piece of paper and placing it in front of her eyes to read.

Pink eyes began to scan the little piece of paper, eyes narrowing slightly as she continued.

"...So _that's_ what they were for..." Mio noted with a raised eyebrow, before turning her attention to her curious onlookers. "Seems that he didn't just prepare a little training regiment for me, he actually gave one to everyone."

Everyone glanced at one another, not too sure how to take the information, memories of the blond tormenting them in the Gremory estate was still relatively fresh...

Before anyone could ask however, the younger red-head brought out several pieces of paper from her other pocket, showing it to them.

"Here, everyone take one. Naruto prepped this for us, it's for training apparently."

Issei frowned as he stared at the slips of paper that occupied his kohai's hand, that looked familiar...

"...Aren't those Naruto's...uh...seals?" Rias questioned, grabbing one of them and turning it around in wonder.

"Yeah, we are supposed to use these to help train our reaction speed for future battles. The note said that all we have to do to use it is place them on a wall and heat it up with some fire. When it glows...then we have a few seconds before it sends the first...volley." the half-devil explained, eyes scanning the note on her hand.

"...Volley?" Asia parroted, green eyes looking particularly nervous.

"Yeah. It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either." Mio responded dryly, putting the notes away and giving the seal a hard look.

She could already tell that this wouldn't be easy, but she would still go through with it regardless. She couldn't stay like this.

Well...at least Naruto was probably having an easier time than her.

* * *

"Damn it...! Back off already!"

All Naruto got in response was a defiant roar that echoed across the forest floor, one that was continuously following him as he attempted to make his escape.

The shinobi in question was speeding across the forest, running as fast as he could without hurting the girl under his arm, since she was too young to take a higher speed. All while ignoring the enraged creature that was crashing through trees as if they were made out of flimsy paper.

Naruto grit his teeth in rising annoyance, this guy wouldn't let up at all. But the simple fact was that he didn't have too much time to kill...

The sun was setting. He _really_ didn't want to keep the kid outside in the cold.

But as the blond continued to speed past the forest, it became increasingly obvious that the beast behind him wouldn't stop without some intervention.

With that in mind, Naruto secured the young blond under his arm to form a cross with his han-

The shinobi ducked as poison spewed over his head and dissolved the area which it affected.

That snake for a tail could spit _venom_!? How the hell did _that_ work!?

On second thought...he didn't want to know.

The forceful duck at the last second nearly caused him to tumble, but for the sake of his well-being, he simply had to jump over the puddle of venom that spread in front of him.

So Naruto used his tumbling as an excuse to jump over the venom, but due to his already suspect balance...he didn't exactly have a stellar landing.

To say that he had to 'tuck and roll' was putting it mildly, as the blond pushed the smaller blond to his chest and rolled down a steep hill, nearly crashing into a tree.

But he recovered admirably, forcefully pushing off from the ground the second that the floor leveled out enough to do it safely, for the kid's sake.

Still, Naruto was back to square one again, with the ridiculous and persistent yokai chasing after him without any intention of giving up the chase, with it's ally probably joining it soon enough.

So the shinobi finished what it originally intended to do!

 _"Kage Bunshin no Justu!"_

With that, a small explosion of smoke appeared at his location, with the real Naruto jumping through it without stopping.

He wasn't the only one who quickly got out of the smoke.

The yokai that was after the human quickly charged through the smoke, intent on-

"Oh no you don't!" a Naruto clone declared, landing on top of the vicious beast after it fell from the tree branches.

The beast immediately began to try and fling the clone off, it's enraged howls echoing throughout it's rampage.

'Naruto' grit his teeth as he held on tight, what the hell was taking them so long!?

Just as he finished that line of thought, two more clones emerged from the shrubbery at opposite sides of each other, flanking the rampaging yokai, and holding kunai with wire attached to them.

Both new arrivals threw their weapons at the yokai's feet, quickly jumping over the beast and switching places, allowing for the wire to entangle their prey.

"Now! Heave! We have to buy the boss some time!" one of the clones said, gritting his teeth as he held firm.

"Heeeeey! Bastards! You tangled me with the yokai!" the clone on the yokai screamed, as he realized that he was caught in the wire with the beast, struggling to break free.

The other clones turned to one another, shrugging at their brother's misfortune. Shit happened sometimes.

"...Acceptable loss?"

"...Acceptable loss."

The clone that was tied to the yokai just gave them the middle finger in response.

* * *

Naruto knew damn well that his clones have temporarily kept the creature that was chasing after him tied down, they _were_ him after all,

Well...that and he stopped hearing the annoying growls of the yokai behind his back, so there's that.

The shinobi glanced down at the blissfully unaware girl under his arm, he was honestly surprised that she didn't wake up from the constant movement he had to undertake. Forests are rarely straightforward after all.

Anyways, now that he made some distance, hopefully he could begin the process of finding a place to stay for the night. For as powerful as he was, he still needed to be one-hundred percent in case some bad shit goes down.

But he shouldn't do it in the open...where should he go?

Naruto pondered the question as he continued to speed towards Kyoto, intent on making more distance, mostly so that the yokai could lose his scent.

Speaking of which, he needed to hide his scent...

The shinobi stopped momentarily, turning his head to look behind him, slightly bewildered.

He just got some memories, the clones were holding the beast back for now, but how exactly did the other clone get caught with the yokai...? Nevertheless, it looked like he had still had some time.

As he began moving again, the blond accidentally tripped over himself, nearly causing him to tumble over to the ground.

Blue eyes glared at the little rock outcrop that nearly made him trip, at least no one saw that...

However, the annoyance in his eyes quickly shifted into interest, as he noticed that the rock formation seemed to descend sharply behind some bushes...

The blond leaned forward, pushing the bushes out of the way to get a better view of what he was dealing with.

...

Well...that was convenient.

Naruto's eyes darted behind him, making sure that no one saw him. He had to make this quick, before the yokai broke through his last two clones.

The shinobi proceeded to move closer to the descending rock formation, making sure to block off the relatively small entrance up with the bushes again as he entered it. Wincing a little with the memories of the second clone's defeat.

He _really_ didn't need to see the snake vomit poison...that poor clone's face...

After Naruto covered the small hole up again, the last set of memories reached him, wincing again at the fact that his clone essentially got it's rib cage crushed.

Ouch.

The shinobi checked out his surroundings, seeing the cave get deeper, and deciding that this would be a good place to rest for the night.

He then proceeded to move forward, shifting the kid under his arm and placing her over his shoulder instead. This would be a long night...

* * *

"Yuki-san...I see them!"

The hero's eyes snapped back to the road in front of them, refocusing on her current surroundings and noticing what the succubus pointed out.

Both females quickly moved straight to the forest next to them, hiding in the underbrush to avoid getting spotted by the vehicles that were approaching them.

As the young human set herself comfortably onto the ground, she heard the noticeable sound of a helicopter nearing their location, probably following the vehicles.

News helicopter maybe?

They were silent as the columns of cars; some involved with law enforcement and some involved with the news, moved quickly to get to the train wreck they left behind.

Yuki grunted softly, looked like they needed to make more space between themselves and the train, they would be connected to it otherwise.

As the column finally moved past and the helicopter roared after them, Maria got up slowly, with her little gothic dress fluttering in the wind, and made to slowly check if they were in the clear.

"...I think we're good. Ready to go again?" the silverette asked rhetorically, a playful glint in her eye.

The hero merely nodded, standing up from her position and moving back on the road. The forest would cost them too much time.

Then another problem made itself known.

"...It's getting dark out." Yuki mentioned blandly, mind racing to figure out how to deal with the issue that she didn't consider until then and there.

What to do when you're stuck on the road in the middle of the night? While there are possible hostiles nearby?

She _definitely_ didn't expect her day to end up like this.

"Well...so much for calling a taxi before nightfall. I can't tell you how much fun it was to sleep in the wilderness last time..." Maria grumbled, stretching her limbs as a new wave of fatigue hit her.

The night did that to you.

The hero regarded her partner with slight interest. "You make it sound like you've slept in the wilderness before."

"Yeah." the succubus returned, a wry grin appearing on her face. "Back when me and Mio-sama were on the run, sometimes we had to sleep in the wild. It was...interesting times."

Yuki stared at her companion for a moment, despite the overall situation, she was genuinely interested in hearing more about her past experiences.

But one thing at a time, Naruto was counting on them to solve the situation quickly. So her curiosity was shelved for later.

As for their dilemma...now that they were relatively clear from the initial rush of the news and law enforcement, could they actually run away from the scene? Instead of just cautiously moving away?

"Speaking of which; I think we should just run away from the area. I've had enough sneaking, thank you very much." Maria claimed, nodding to herself with her reasonableness.

The female human glanced at her partner through the side of her eye, faintly annoyed that she made that suggestion right when she was going to.

Yellow eyes did one last scan around their position, making sure that they were really in the clear. But as she did so, she noticed something...odd.

"...There's a fog rolling in, a thick one." Yuki mumbled, as a deep feeling of unease began to grow in the pit of her stomach.

Maria shuffled closer to her, looking around at the thickening fog surrounding them. "That's strange...fog's don't just appear out of thin air. Nor do they grow so thick so quickly..."

Yuki didn't reply immediately, too busy with the growing sense of unease that somehow managed to paralyze her. What was this feeling...? It was so familiar...

She practically flinched when she heard the relatively hard crunch of metal against concrete.

By this time, the succubus immediately went on alert, prepared for an attack. This was obviously supernatural.

But who was it? How did they find them?

As she scanned the fog, she caught sight if a shadow that emerged from surreal mist.

A dark figure, wearing form-fitting black armor from head-to-toe, a glowing red visor that pierced the fog, and a large broadsword that was heaved over the warrior's shoulder.

"...That's _probably_ not a good guy." Maria said, flashing a shaky smile.

The dark figure didn't say anything, he- _it_ merely stayed motionless, almost as if it was a statue that was standing there the whole time.

Yuki stared at the figure, or rather...at the weapon the warrior was carrying, hypnotized. That was...

"Yuki-san! Get _down_!"

The hero felt a small body crash into her abdomen, sending her to the ground as a blade slashed violently above her horizontally...right where her neck used to be.

She growled as she realized that she nearly got herself killed by getting distracted.

The young human quickly recovered from her fall and got back on her feet, with the hero materializing her katana and charging forward with her blade at the ready.

The dark figure brought it's large sword to bear and swung down to where the female hero was moving towards, trying to predict her movements.

However, Yuki caught wind of the tactic and swiftly jumped _over_ the vertical swing, giving her an excellent shot for the warrior's head for her blade.

Yellow eyes were sharp as the young human thrust _Sakuya_ towards the dark figure's helmet.

But it wasn't meant to be, as it managed to quickly use it's broadsword's hilt as a shield to glance _Sakuya's_ blade away instead of taking the full brunt of the attack. It was that quick maneuver however, that allowed for the warrior to viciously bring a fist out and smash it towards the female hero's abdomen now that her defenses were open.

Yuki's eyes widened as the gauntlet-covered fist came sailing towards her, but with her weapon too far away to utilize as a defense, she instead used her free arm to cross her stomach to hopefully take most of the damage.

When the fist finally connected, the attack embedded itself into her arm and sent her backwards, sliding away on the ground.

The hero used her blade and impaled it onto the soil, using it as a way to slow her down as she cradled her left arm. Just as a silver blur ran past her and took their shot at the dark figure.

Maria herself rushed forward the second she got up from the ground, taking a shot at the warrior's legs to hopefully neutralize the helmeted jerk!

As the succubus raised her fists to attack, the warrior recovered enough to bring it's blade towards the ground and slash at it. Bringing forth a large amount of dust and soil out of the ground.

The half-devil responded efficiently, using the fists that she was about to throw at the mysterious figure and instead send it towards the ground, not allowing the dust that the warrior made to reach her eyes.

Even more dust flew into the air as the soil gave way easily under the loli's strength, clouding up the area even more when combined with the fog.

The warrior backed up a little bit, wary of the disadvantage it was put under. When facing two opponents, it wasn't wise to lose sight of them...

But it seemed that it didn't have to worry, as the little silverette from before pierced through the fog and dust to charge in alone.

 _Perfect_.

As the dark figure brought forth it's blade to brutally slash it's adversary in half, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and backed up inexplicably.

Although she did have a crooked grin on her face as she did so...

Then suddenly, it's original adversary sallied forth from the now-obscure battlefield, bringing her blade towards it's helmet.

The unknown warrior quickly continued it's course of action and intercepted the upward swing of the katana, a sharp ***** **clang*** accompanying the clash.

Yuki grit her teeth as she felt the warrior push her back steadily, it's greater strength beginning to force her feet to slide backwards, the fact that her other arm was still weak didn't help.

As the two locked with one another, Maria used this chance to jump over the female human and raise her foot in the air. Before swinging it down towards the head of the dark warrior, intent on ending the battle then and there.

The warrior, with it's superior strength, switched from pushing the female hero back to forcing their interlocked blades up. Using it as a shield, but mostly as well as a weapon with their sharp edges facing the succubus.

Maria's eyes widened, if her foot crashed against _two_ supernatural blades...!

The hero quickly acted after getting over her initial shock, using the lack of force against her to push the interlocking blades towards the mysterious warrior, presenting the flat of their blades to the falling half-devil.

Maria immediately crashed her foot onto the blades, the force of which was enough to push the weapons towards the warrior's body. But not enough to actually send it to the ground.

The silverette would fix that shortly!

"It's over!" Maria declared, bringing out a small fist and smashing it into the armored individual's face. Sending it sliding back along the road, it's feet grinding harshly against the hard concrete.

Yuki and Maria formed up next to one another, prepared for another attack by their assailant. Watching as the warrior was covered by the thick fog...

Silence descended upon them, as the mist seemingly sided with their enemy, as if it was almost alive...

"Impressive..." a voice rumbled, piercing the fog that surrounded the duo. "It's unfortunate that we can't continue our battle...but I've found what I needed to know. I assure you however...we will meet again."

Yuki took a step forward, intent on not letting the dark warrior get away-

"Wait!" the succubus cried out, grabbing her arm before she ran head-first into the fog. "What are you doing!? Don't run into danger so easily! We have to stick together!"

Yellow eyes snapped to the young-looking girl, stormy as they regarded an unusually calm set of purple pupils.

The growing unease that stayed with her slowly lessened, the tension finally leaving her frame, around the same time as the fog finally began to give way.

Yuki didn't say anything as she took the chance to glance where their enemy once landed, it was gone, with the marks it left behind the only proof of it's existence.

"...Sorry." she eventually spoke out, eyes aimed at the floor in shame.

She lost her cool in the middle of a battle, it was shameful how she almost got herself killed, possibly _twice_.

Maria locked eyes with her, visibly uneasy at the young human's behavior. "...What was that?"

The hero shifted uncomfortably, internally unwilling to divulge why she acted the way she did. If there was anyone she would tell it would be...

She shook her head, she was contemplating on divulging some personal baggage to a friend while he was busy trying to protect a child? How selfish...

But still...that sword...and the stance that the warrior utilized while fighting them...

...Hero...

"...Don't want to talk, huh?" the succubus noted, tilting her head in interest.

Yellow eyes strayed away from her companion's form, feeling a slight pang of guilt.

"Ok, that's fine."

Yuki blinked.

"...Really?"

Maria nodded, cheerful again. "Of course! We all have our secrets to hold. Myself excluded! So I guess...I can't really complain about the stuff that you hold close to your chest, right?"

Yuki simply nodded slowly in agreement, feeling the unease within finally disappear.

With that, the silverette looked up to the sky, frowning.

"...It'a dark now. Maybe we should cover a little more ground, then find some nice grass to sleep on, hm?"

The hero nodded. "You're right. We shouldn't move too much in the dark...hard to see. Best just to rest for the night. I'm sure that Naruto has done the same as well."

With that agreement at hand, the unlikely duo continued on their trek towards Kyoto. Intent on completing their objective first thing tomorrow morning.

* * *

"...He's late."

"Patience." Cao Cao recommended, casually leaning back on his seat. "He's strong, he'll be back. Probably just encountered more trouble than anticipated."

Siegfried shot his leader a sour look. "Cao Cao...we don't know anything about the abilities that Uzumaki's allies wield, for all we know...your...'servant' could be dead. Then we'd just be wasting time-!"

A mist suddenly began to form around the group, an event that shut the silver-haired hero's mouth quickly.

The Hero Faction leader merely smirked, he had no doubts.

As expected, the dark figure that served Cao Cao emerged from the fog. Kneeling down immediately once it saw it's master.

Georg also emerged from the fog, scrambling away from the warrior, it gave him the creeps...!

"As you expected master, Uzumaki Naruto's companions are weaker than him. They can be crushed at will if necessary." the unknown warrior rumbled, head still bowed.

Cao Cao nodded, pleased. "Excellent. But can you pinpoint who they are? Devils? Humans?"

The masked warrior reared it's red visor up. "One of them is a devil, her devil wings were out when she charged me. The other was...a human...a fake hero."

The young leader's eyes narrowed slightly. "A...fake hero? Of the Hero Tribe? Are you sure?"

"...She recognized my blade."

Cao Cao leaned back into his seat, contemplating this knowledge. Not many 'heroes' knew of that blade...

"Well...it seems we have an interesting situation, don't we? It doesn't really change anything anyways. They must have split off from Uzumaki for a good reason, so it's best to keep an eye on them for now. We will focus our efforts on Uzumaki for now." the young hero leader stated assuredly, before turning to address the young man by his side.

The _other_ young man.

"...Apologies Cao Cao, I can't seem to locate Uzumaki. There seems to be a lot of yokai roaming the area...it seems that their presence is disrupting my ability to pinpoint our friend's exact location." the young man apologized softly.

This young man was an average-built male with long brown hair that was tied with red ribbons on the left side of his face. All of this while his eyes were closed into slits.

The hero leader cursed. "Damn. If I was well prepared for his intervention then I would have had you on my staff from the beginning. But it seems that he's keeping low now. Sorry for the short notice."

The mysterious man just shrugged, not exactly upset. "It's boring when I'm at the Hero Tribe, this is more exciting. You won't hear any complaints from me about last-second deployments. That being said however...until Uzumaki flares his energy signal again...I won't be able to pinpoint him."

"I see...how much longer can you stay with us undetected then?" Cao Cao inquired quickly.

"...The Great Hero has his hands full with the rise of the Old Maou Faction, as well as the rising tide of rebellion in the Hero Tribe ranks. He won't notice my absence for another day at least. I'll have to return to my duties by then." the young man explained, a relatively tired smile appearing on his face.

The young leader leaned back into his chair again, shrugging. "A shame then, I suppose you have to return to your duties as well, hm? Well...destabilizing such an ancient organization like the Hero Tribe must be hard work, so I don't particularly blame you. How _is_ your mission progressing going by the way?"

The young hero opened an eye to reveal a crafty red eye with a pupil shaped like a slit, smiling enigmatically. "As well as you imagine I suppose. Dissatisfaction is spreading, and the threat of rebellion is keeping Toujou from paying too much attention to your operations. Not only that, but his fear of losing the last family member he has left is crippling him as well. By this point...it's simply a matter of time before you can destroy him."

Cao Cao couldn't help but smirk at that, soon... _very_ soon...

Then he frowned, eyes focusing back on his spy. "Speaking of which...how is the... _other_ splinter group?"

The young rebel hero's face darkened slightly. "Unfortunately...I have no idea. The Hero Tribe has lost all contact with _that_ man, and I haven't been able to pinpoint his location either. He's completely disappeared off of the face of the Earth."

"...How troubling. If it's that man...then he could cause us a lot of trouble down the road." Cao Cao asserted darkly, scrunching his eyesbrows in minor frustration.

"Um...who are you talking about, Cao Cao?" Siegfried asked uncertainly, knocking his the Hero Faction's leader out of his musings.

The young leader merely smiled in response. "Ah, apologies Siegfried. We were talking about...an old friend. You see, I wasn't the only one who left the Hero Tribe. Actually...I wasn't even the first."

The silver-haired man's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-You weren't? Then who-?"

"A village elder." Cao Cao interrupted smoothly, eyes glazing over as he delved into the memories of his youth. "Unlike my...rather violent exit, he left without warning and abandoned the Hero Tribe while I was still a mere child. I don't remember much about it...but I do remember that he was a brilliant man, perhaps too brilliant."

The young hero eventually shrugged. "They say that he went insane one day, out of the blue. Speaking about dreams he had of humans with incredible powers that surpassed what we as heroes were capable of. Apparently those dreams drove him to leave the Hero Tribe and create a new type of 'hero'. He was never heard of since."

Siegfried whistled in appreciation. "The man sounds like a complete nut job, so why worry about him now? He's probably just an old man that got himself killed by this point."

Cao Cao shook his head. "He may be an old man, but he is still a _smart_ old man. I don't like leaving loose ends, so it's best to keep our ears to the ground...especially if his words wasn't just a bunch of hot air."

Both men nodded, they didn't stay alive this long by being careless after all.

"Come now, we will strike when Uzumaki reveals himself, or when the yokai flush him out." Cao Cao stated with authority, before turning around and heading back to where the rest of the heroes remained.

The unknown warrior, who was staying silent the entire time, turned and gestured for the reluctant Georg to follow as well.

No one would disobey Cao Cao's orders. His word was absolute.

* * *

Naruto grunted as he slowly laid the little girl that he was carrying for what seemed like a life time, down onto a small blanket. Hopefully it would be more comfortable than the rock floor.

The shinobi has made a little camp inside the little cave that he found, going deeper inside it in order to make sure that his smell couldn't be detected.

The cold air made it pretty hard to breathe though...hell, maybe that could be used to keep the yokai from smelling him in here? He wasn't exactly the best guy to figure that shit out...

Naruto eventually shrugged, using his chakra to get his bags from the seal he place them in. He had food, water, some blankets...yeah, they'd be fine for a while.

He hoped the kid liked ramen.

Immediately after he finally got his bags out, the blond placed some twigs that he secured from some of the bushes that covered the entrance onto the ground. Using two rocks that he randomly grabbed near him to create a fire, smashing them together to cause friction and sparks.

Not too hard though, didn't want to break the stupid things!

After a few tries, he eventually sparked a fire in the little batch of twigs, a relatively small one. But they weren't exactly in high supply in a cave, so this would have to do.

With the small flame burning bright, Naruto finally relaxed, content that he did what he could to provide some semblance of comfort to the cold hard cave.

For the first time since earlier that day, the blond allowed himself to focus on things that weren't related to finding shelter and protecting a little girl. Whatever happened to Yuki and Maria for example?

The blond's face scrunched up in consternation, he hoped they were doing ok...

Blue eyes widened in elation as a new thought reached the forefront of his mind, of course! How could he forget!?

Naruto excitedly began to dig into his pockets, fishing for the new device that he recently received.

His cellphone!

The shinobi quickly fiddled with the phone, seeking to contact his friend, getting up from his spot on the ground so as not to disturb the unconscious girl laying on the floor.

Naruto waited with baited breath as the phone rang, listening intently for his friend's voice, hoping that he didn't contact her in a bad time-

"Naruto...? Is that you...?"

A sigh of relief blew past his lips before he could stop it.

She was ok.

On the other end of the line, the blond also heard his fellow human sigh in relief. Obviously glad to hear from him. "So I'm guessing that you managed to get out of that situation...good. Where are you right now, Naruto?"

"Ah...well, it took a while to shake our yokai stalker off, but for now I managed to find a little hidden cave to stay safe and hidden. I was gonna stake out in here for a while, then maybe sneak out a few hours before dawn and continue towards Kyoto." Naruto whispered, keeping his tone down so that he wouldn't disturb the kid.

"Alright, understood. That sounds like a pretty good plan, but we ourselves had a bit of a problem earlier today...to be blunt, I think that the humans we defeated before are hunting us. Specifically, the little kyuubi. We were attacked by someone who was probably affiliated with them." the hero responded, a slight urgency invading her voice.

The shinobi scowled. "Are you serious? Those bastards are hunting the kid? Damn...how did they find you exactly? I thought you managed to disassociate yourselves from me by making sure you weren't seen?"

Although he couldn't see it, he imagined his friend shrug in response. "Not sure how, but our enemies could have sensors among them, or they somehow saw us leave the train...which means that they could have seen _you_ leave as well. That being said, if you're still getting hunted down by yokai, then it's likely that they are unintentionally helping you mask your energy signal and keeping you hidden from any sensors. As for the other theory...well, I hope you're well hidden."

Naruto clicked his teeth, they had no idea how they were being tracked. If that was the case, then he wasn't entirely sure how to continue from here.

"...I'll figure something out. Unless this place gets compromised later, I think that we will just hang out here for a while and wait. If the kid wakes up though...then maybe she could explain the situation to the yokai around here. But still, I'm not sure if I want to deal with a powerful and irate mother...how close are you to Kyoto?"

The hero hummed on the other line, seemingly thinking about the query. "I'd say...only a third of the way there. We made some distance between ourselves and the train, only stopping to deal with an armored warrior that attacked us during our trek."

There was a pause in the conversation, with Yuki being hesitant in divulging what she suspected.

Naruto opened his mouth to ask what was going on-

"Naruto...whoever that person was...was trained by a hero."

Blue eyes widened imperceptibly, _seriously?_ "...You sure? Absolutely?"

"Not completely, but fairly certain, yes." Yuki affirmed quietly. "There's something strange going on here, too many things don't add up or we simply don't know. Like...how did this warrior find us? Why did they attack the little kyuubi? Why was that warrior fighting like someone who was trained by the Hero Tribe? It's just so...-"

"Yuki!"

The hero immediately stopped speaking, heavy breathing was now the only thing that was coming through from the other line to the blond's ears.

" _Calm down_." Naruto comforted, trying to ease her. "We don't really know anything, sure. But this isn't the end of the world, we will find out what's going on soon. Hopefully. Listen...this attack obviously spooked you, just relax for a little bit...alright?"

"R-Right..." Yuki agreed readily, breathing out some air audibly. "I suppose I've just been on edge for a while. Sorry."

Naruto nodded slowly, despite the fact that there was no way she could see it, but his facial features were still troubled regardless.

"...Uh, I'm not really good at reading people behind a phone, but...are you _sure_ that you're ok? You don't want to ask or tell me anything?"

The other line went silent again, but this was a moment of consideration rather than tension.

"Later." the hero quickly decided. "We'll talk about it later, I'd prefer to talk face-to-face. For now, let's just get some rest while we still can."

Naruto grinned, relaxing. "Got it. Tell Maria I said hi, would you?"

He could practically feel the smile grow on Yuki's face.

"Of course."

* * *

Yuki had a much calmer aura around her after having this conversation with her friend, whether she liked to admit it or not, the blond simply had that kind of effect on her.

The easy way he evoked a smile out of her could attest to that.

Not even her father could truly claim to have that kind of effect.

"Good!" Naruto chirped from the other line, content with her answer. "Now I'm gonna hang up now, gotta get some rest to deal with these pesky-"

Suddenly her friend cut himself off, almost as if someone cut off the connection between them.

The hero heard a twinge of concern leak into her voice as she called out. "Naruto? Are you ok? _Naruto?_ "

"Ah...sorry about that." the mysterious blond quickly apologized, a sheepish tone in his voice accompanying it. "Was distracted for a split-second. Anyways, like I said, say hi to Maria for me, ok? See ya later!"

With that, Naruto ended the call, cutting off any more questions that the young teen could have asked.

Yuki took the phone off of her ear, staring at it with a puzzled look, before shrugging.

If something bad happened, then she was sure that explosions would have interrupted him. He was probably just tired.

"Ahhhhh! What the heck Yuki-san!?"

Ah, Maria's back.

Yuki turned her head to look at an irate succubus holding two water bottles in her hands, gaping at her in horror.

"...What?" the hero eventually asked, dreading the answer.

Maria just stomped her foot petulantly on the ground. "What do you mean 'what'!? I'll tell you 'what'! You didn't wait for me to come back to say hi to Naruto-sama!"

The young human female sighed in response, feeling a headache come on. "I didn't think that you'd come back so fast, apologies, it was an honest mistake."

The succubus crossed her arms over her chest, looking entirely unconvinced. "You totally don't seem that sorry...I wanted to see how Naruto-sama was doing too..."

Yuki rubbed her temples, scrunching up her facial features. "Alright. _Alright_. I'm sorry, I will be more considerate next time."

The hero stopped rubbing her temples for a moment to send the half-devil a dry look. "That being said...he actually wanted me to tell you that he said 'hi'. So...there's that."

Maria blinked, looking somewhat stupefied that the blond would ever do such a thing. Before flashing a cheesy grin.

"Heh...really? Awww...that's so cute. That Naruto-sama is such a tsundere!" Maria mumbled incoherently, wiggling around with a self-satisfied look on her face.

Yuki stared at the silverette, completely unable to understand what exactly goes through her head to make her act like that.

To be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure that she _wanted_ to know...

After a few more seconds of wiggling, the succubus finally noticed her partner's disquiet and pouted. "What? Naruto-sama rarely acts like he cares about me sometimes, so when he _does_ say nice things, it becomes a big deal! Like a tsundere!"

Yuki remained completely unconvinced, since when was saying hello such a big deal?

"...If you say so." the hero allowed, leaning back on her bag which she was using as a pillow. "Hand me the bottle you filled up please? We should get some rest, we need to head out as early as possible and grab a taxi."

By this point, considering the distance they have made between themselves and the train, they should be able to disassociate themselves with it.

If you added the fact that a full day would have passed, then even better. Now they can simply claim that they were curious to check out the incident instead of being suspected of being a _part_ of it.

As the young human prepared to relax and fall to blissful sleep, a certain succubus crawled closer to her and gave a conspiratorial grin.

Oh no...

"So...we're in the forest...by ourselves...with no one to hear us...hm?" Maria hinted, the grin on her face growing.

"...You've somehow made this incredibly uncomfortable." Yuki noted dryly, turning her body over to look away from her annoying partner.

"No wait! I didn't mean it like _that_!" Maria protested, crawling around the hero to face her again. "I mean that we have a chance to talk about stuff that we normally wouldn't talk about! It's a chance!"

Weary yellow eyes focused on excited purple. "I _really_ don't want to take that chance with you though..."

The loli looked taken aback, as if she was physically slapped. "Huh!? What's that supposed to mean!?"

Yuki's expression was stoic as she delivered her retort.

"It means that my faith on whether you can keep a secret or not is nearly nonexistent."

Maria pouted at this assertion. "Oh come on~ Give me a chance! What's the worst that can happen?"

The hero's eyes connected with the silverette's again, raising a single eyebrow at her question.

"...Ok, new tact." the succubus muttered darkly for a moment, before -as if flipping a switch- gaining a happy demeanor again. "How about we do a give-and-take conversation, hm? Like...I'll tell you something that I rarely talk about, while you tell me something you rarely talk about."

Yuki's eyes narrowed imperceptibly, as if uncertain. "...Why are you so insistent on this all of a sudden? Can't this wait?"

Maria tilted her head, then her eyes strayed upwards towards the sky as she put her finger on her lips. Seriously considering the question.

"Well...I suppose it's just that...we don't really talk to each other much, ya know? We talk to one another, sure. We go through experiences together, yeah. But...talk? Like _really_ talk? I don't think so. Truth be told, I only know about you through Naruto-sama, but that's pretty much it. So...well...why not I guess?"

The young human's eyes scanned the succubus for any indication of her words being a joke, finding nothing.

Which only left her with one option left.

"Fine." Yuki relented, shifting into a sitting position to pay attention to her her partner's words. "If you want to talk so bad, then fine. But let's not take too much time with this."

Maria squealed, clapping her hands in joy. "Yes! Ok! I'll go first!"

The hero didn't even get a chance to reply before the succubus crawled closer to her, with her purple pupils shining, as if she was actually a child that was about to get candy.

...She was regretting this already.

"Do you have someone that you like!?" Maria whispered conspiratorially, a shit-eating grin accompanying it.

"Yes."

...

There a long moment of silence between the two females, as Maria gave the completely straight-faced human a completely confused look.

"...Wait...really?" the silverette couldn't help but try and confirm, that was _waaay_ too easy...

Yuki simply nodded. "Of course. I like otou-sama, my comrades in the Hero Tribe, and of course Naru-"

"Ah! Wait a minute!" Maria cried out loud, shaking her head vigorously in protest. "That's not what I meant!"

The hero frowned visibly in uncertainty. "What do you mean then?"

"It's obvious isn't it? I _meant_...do you have someone that you _really_ like?"

Yuki's eyes bored into her partner's head, as she stayed silent for a long moment that stretched even longer than the last one.

"...Why are we doing this again?"

"Oh come _on_! This is the perfect topic for a conversation anyways! You're at the cusp of womanhood and your hormones must be raging throughout your body! Surely you must like _someone_!" Maria pressed.

The young human closed her eyes, _did_ she have such emotions for someone...?

She thought about all of the people she knew, if there was ever someone who she deeply cared about. Beyond what was normal...

...

"I...can't say that I have. Heroes rarely have such time to engage in such relations, so it's not really that unusual I think..." Yuki eventually stated, nodding at her own reasoning.

Yellow eyes trained themselves on purple again, curious to see her reaction.

She was surprised to see that it was disappointment that categorized those orbs.

"Oh...that sucks. To think that you'd be a cat lady at such a young age..." Maria shook her head in sympathy, looking genuinely apologetic.

The hero's eye twitched, what exactly was _that_ supposed to mean?

With that last parting comment, the succubus stood up from her position on the ground and casually stretched her back. "Welp, I just realized that I forgot to grab my bags by the spring where I found the water. I'm gonna go back and get it, see ya!"

Almost as fast as she has arrived, the silverette dashed away, leaving Yuki behind without hesitation.

The human female could only watch in faint fascination. What went on in that girl's head?

She could only shrug. She didn't even care too much that the succubus dodged the 'give' portion of the talks.

Yuki laid her back on her bag again, using it as a pillow to let herself fall asleep. All to prepare herself to what would probably be a busy day tomorrow.

Though, inexplicably, her thoughts went back to a certain blond that night.

* * *

Darkness, that was all she could see.

Why was it so dark?

Last time she checked...it wasn't dark...right?

Golden eyes ever so slowly revealed themselves to the world again, unfocused and unseeing as the little girl slowly gained some sense of self again.

Those bleary eyes looked around, trying to get rid of the blurriness that clouded her sight.

The soft light of the fire kind of helped a bit...

...Wait...fire?

The young girl focused entirely on the little fire that was crackling besides her, one that illuminated the darkness around her and provided her warmth.

Despite her growing uncertainty, she couldn't help but allow the heat soothe her senses...

But still...where was she?

Kunou slowly got up from her downed position, turning her head to scan the area to find out what was going on.

Rocks...rocks everywhere. A cave?

Why was she here?

As if waiting for a signal, in a rush, several memories hit her; memories of excitement and innocent wonder of seeing the world outside of Kyoto...of wondrous people going about their lives...of fun train rides with her yokai guardians...

Kunou went rigid, eyes widening, as images of men viciously attacking her protectors flashed through her head. Of their large hands circling around her neck...

The little yokai shook her head, desperate to get those images out of her head. She needed to find out where she was...she needed to warn kaa-chan!

With that sliver of determination growing in her stomach, she finally stood up to look around, taking note of the bags that were next to the fire.

She took a few steps towards the closest tunnel, seeking to at least check if the bag's owner was still present...

"Good!"

Kunou stopped, freezing in her tracks as a voice reverberated across the cavern, it was faint, but she was sure that she heard someone speak.

The little kyuubi crept forward, moving towards the corner to see who was speaking...

"Now I'm gonna hang up now, gotta get some rest to deal with these pesky-"

As the little blond kept creeping forward, she accidentally punted a little rock on the floor, knocking it forward and causing it to clack around the rock floor.

The voice silenced itself immediately, which forced the yokai to stop moving, fearing that she was found out.

"Ah...sorry about that, was distracted for a split-second. Anyways, like I said, say hi to Maria for me, ok? See ya later!"

Kunou let go a sigh of relief, then continued to move towards the corner, where after a few more crucial seconds...finally reached the corner and took a peek around it.

Golden eyes squinted slightly, trying to look through the darkness to see the man that was talking...but she couldn't see him...

" _Yo!_ "

The little kyuubi yelped, jumping in the air, whirling around the second that she was able to.

What she saw shocked her.

A lightly tanned face, golden-blond spiky hair, large sapphire eyes, sharper than normal canines, and...

Whisker marks.

But all those observations completely slipped away from her mind as the older boy bent over in laughter, his obvious mirth echoing in the small cavern.

Kunou's fear immediately gave way to red-hot embarrassment.

"H-Hey! What's so funny!?" she cried out in anger, glaring daggers at the older boy.

The older blond just shook his head as his laughter gave way to incessant chuckling. "Sorry, sorry! I just...! I mean I _had_ to, ya see!? If you were in my position, you would _not_ have wasted such an awesome opportunity! Man...if you'd just seen your face..."

The little girl stamped her feet on the ground. "It's _not_ funny!"

Blue eyes were filled with mirth, as the teenaged boy knelt down and met Kunou at her eye level.

"It totally was." the spiky-haired boy claimed, unrepentant.

Golden eyes flared as the little yokai prepared to throw a verbal beatdown, she wasn't about to be talked down to by this jerk-!

"Ah, by the way. My name's Naruto. Pleased to meet you." Naruto said amicably, offering his hand in greeting.

Kunou glanced at the hand, unsure of how to respond. So instead, her hand moved by instinct to take the hand in order to shake it, as her mother taught her to do.

Then she froze.

Her _mother_.

Kunou immediately took a step away from the mysterious blond, becoming defensive.

"You..." the little princess began slowly. "Where have you taken me?"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Oh! Right! I completely forgot! You probably have no idea what's going on, do you? Well then...I suppose I gotta fix that. Come on, we'll talk about it over some ramen."

With that statement, the shinobi immediately made for the small camp fire, looking forward to some ramen goodness.

Kunou stared after the teenaged boy, confused, at least as much as she was cautious.

But, at least so far...this guy didn't seem so bad?

He even had some cute whisker marks on his cheeks...someone with whisker marks couldn't possibly be bad, right?

With that somewhat faulty logic in her head, the yokai princess followed after her strange captor, still wary, but at least willing to give him a chance.

* * *

...

"Well? Whatcha' waiting for? Hurry and eat, or it will get cold!"

Kunou decided that she wouldn't answer, but she still continued to stare at the cup of ramen in her hands with caution.

Golden eyes carefully peeked at the teenaged boy, seeing how he was practically _devouring_ the ramen cup without remorse.

It was actually kind of...eh.

After more than a few more gross slurps, the older blond stopped eating for a moment to regard the little kyuubi.

"...Not hungry?"

Kunou slowly shook her head.

"...You gonna finish that?"

Kunou shook her head again, handing the cup as if it was an offering.

Naruto quickly snatched up the cup, inhaling it all in a matter of seconds. A feat that caused Kunou to gape like a fish, how the heck was he doing that?

The shinobi finished his food relatively quickly, licking his lips to get the little bit that he missed, and turned back to his fellow blond. "Alright, I suppose you want some info...but I also have no idea what happened to you as well. So how about you tell me what happened before the incident at the train occurred, and then I'll fill you in about what happened after that? Fair?"

Kunou straightened her back, her demeanor changed to a more overtly formal one. "No...I demand that you tell me what happened! As the daughter of the leader of the yokai...you will answer my question!"

Although her demand came out strong in an effort to push for answers, the yokai was still nervous of pushing her captor too far. So she waited with baited breath as the whiskered teen opened his mouth to-

"Sure. That's fine too." Naruto agreed, giving the little girl a thumbs up for effort.

The little kyuubi shot Naruto a suspicious glare, why the heck was he being so nice for!? It was really getting to her now!

"Alright...well, I suppose I should preface this by saying that I had no idea who you were before I helped you out. You were in trouble, so my friends and I stepped in. Simple as that." the whiskered teen began, recounting events earlier that day.

Kunou leaned closer, eyes widening. "Wait, _you_ didn't kidnap me? Also, you had help from friends? Where are they?"

The shinobi raised a hand up, cutting her off. "Relax kid, no...I didn't kidnap you. As a matter of fact, I took down your kidnappers and saved you from them while you were unconscious. On a side note, my friends and I were forced to split away from one another...for a specific reason that I'm about to outline."

Naruto then proceeded to give her a sheepish grin and began scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Uh...well, it seems that someone sent yokai to rescue you since the train took too long to get back to Kyoto. So...they saw me holding you...and mistook me for your kidnapper. I ran all the way here to get away because they wouldn't listen to me."

"...Wait...are you serious!?" the yokai exclaimed, jaw unhinged. "You-wait...why? Who!?"

"...Were those questions for the kidnappers or for the yokai...?"

"Both!" Kunou shouted shrilly.

Naruto winced at that, she really had some lungs...

"Ok...uh, well...I don't really know the 'why' and 'who' of those humans, so I got nothing for that. But as for the yokai...well, one of them was a crow-like creature and the other was a chimera-like beast with a monkey face...it was kind of weird."

Kunou's eyes lit up. "That...that sounds like a karasu-tengu and a nue..."

With that, the shinobi snapped his fingers and pointed at the little girl. "That's it! I _knew_ I recognized those yokai! But unfortunately that's not all, it turns out that your kidnappers are still hunting for you. So we should wait until tomorrow morning to -hopefully- get this mess sorted out. If we go now...we might get more easily ambushed in the darkness of the night. Best wait for light and better visibility dattebayo."

The little kyuubi nodded slowly, that made sense...

Then she paused, throwing the teen an incredulous look.

"...Dattebayo?"

Naruto snorted. "It's my thing, don't judge. Anyways, it's your turn to tell me your story."

Kunou nodded, and opened her mouth to reply, but shut it quickly afterwards. Suddenly unwilling to say anything.

This person may be friendly now...but what if he was trying to trick her? What if this was _all_ some kind of trick? One that would hurt her mother...?

The shinobi, apparently taking the young girl's silence as an unwillingness to talk, made to lie down on his bag. Preparing to get some rest. "Well, no worries. You don't have to talk about if you don't want to. You're a kid after all, I'm sure you went through some tough shi- I mean...crap. Best to just unwind form the day's stress sometimes. Get some rest."

With that, the teen laid down on his bag, closing his eyes so that he could go to sleep.

"...You're letting this go? Just like that?"

Naruto didn't respond, he stayed on the ground, with his peaceful face inviting the blissful unconsciousness of sleep.

Kunou said nothing, she merely glanced at the older boy, then turned away resolutely, facial features blank as her thoughts raced.

"Kid?"

The little kyuubi looked back at the teen, her golden eyes connecting with his blue as he opened a single eye to look at her.

"...You're safe now. I promise. I will protect you. I'll stake my life on it."

Golden eyes blinked slowly, but then began to blink rapidly, trying desperately to stop the flow that wanted to leak through from increasingly puffy eyes.

The heightened sense of wariness finally left her frame as she began to sniffle, hiccuping minutely as she just let _go_.

Naruto watched in abject sympathy as tears began to freefall from the little girl's eyes...pushing him to get up from his position on the floor and move closer to the yokai princess.

The shinobi slowly, hesitantly, moved closer and brought his arm around her neck, bringing her close to his chest as she openly began to bawl, her hot tears quickly wet his vest as she snuggled close. Wanting, _needing_ that contact.

He could only shake his head. She was so _young_...

"Sorry kid...I tried to be as understanding and as positive as I could. I...didn't want you to be stressed out."

Kunou could only nod lightly, refusing to use her mouth with the lump in her throat.

Naruto closed his eyes as the little girl let it out, the stress of the day and the fear that came along with it. An image of a little boy going through such ordeals flitting across his head...

He quickly swallowed the anger that wanted to rise up his throat, getting angry wouldn't help here. Leave that for when he found the perpetrators.

"...Um...excuse me?"

The shinobi snapped back to the little girl under his arm, staring up at him with puffy red eyes.

"Oh! Sorry, I'll get off you now." Naruto began, moving to get back to his spot.

"No, wait!"

The teen paused, looking back at the younger girl with interest. Unsure.

Kunou for her part, squirmed in her place, eyes glancing down at the rock floor with way too much interest.

"...Could you...well...maybe...stay with me for a little longer?"

Naruto's lips twitched upwards, a growing smile spreading across his lips as he moved closer to her again.

"No problem."

* * *

"Hei!"

The sound of the powerful blow echoed across the room, shaking it faintly.

Koneko panted heavily as she bent over and placed her hands on her knees, using it as a method to keep herself standing.

Not enough.

Why wasn't it _enough_?

She growled as she forced herself up again, intent on trying again with more vigor.

Harder.

The little fist she sent sailing towards the wall impacted, enlarging the crack that was already there from her previous attack.

 _Harder_.

Another blow to the wall broke down the section where she was aiming at, the pieces of rubble falling off and riddling the floor.

This time Koneko sat down, taking in huge gulps of air to refresh her lungs.

...Ah...maybe she went too far...

The young devil groaned as her fists ached from the abuse she gave them, she wasn't getting much stronger...

She suppoed that it made sense...she already focused most of her energy on power, so raising that strength even further is going to be a bit of an uphill battle.

But she _had_ to.

That feeling of natural energy still lingered close to her heart, that overwhelming sense of fear of _that_ person being close.

Of _that_ person coming for her.

She _had_ to get stronger...!

Koneko couldn't help but sigh however, she definitely wouldn't be getting any stronger today. So may as well stop for today.

She wondered what everyone else was doing?

The young _rook_ got up from her position on the floor back to the main room of the training center, wondering what everyone else was up to-

"Ah, no wait! Rias-sempai! STOOOOP!"

"Sorry Mio-chan! This is what the note said to do! No breaks!"

Koneko wasn't sure about how to respond to this development, so she decided to stay quiet for now.

"Ara, you're back from your time in isolation, Koneko-chan?"

The young devil coolly turned her head to regard her devil sempai, how long has she been there? Plus, how did she manage to get behind her without her noticing?

Kind of scary actually.

Akeno was smiling at her, with the usual graceful air of an ideal Japanese beauty.

But that air was somewhat marred by the her slightly frizzled hair and clothes, as well as the soot that covered her entire body.

"...Did something happen, Akeno-sempai?" Koneko couldn't help but ask, eyeing the _queen_ warily.

Akeno glanced down at her current state. "Ah, you mean this? Well, I was testing out a new technique that I've been practicing today."

She then shrugged airily. "It didn't work."

Yeah, Koneko could see that...

"But that's ok!" the _queen_ chirped, clapping her hands together. "Afterwards I got a volunteer to help me out! It was...admittedly exhilarating."

The _rook_ shivered.

Who would be stupid enough to allow themselves to be a test subject for the sadistic queen...?

"Issei-san! Hold on! Please don't die!"

Amber eyes were dry as they slowly turned to look at the smoking body of Hyoudou Issei, who was currently twitching violently and didn't look amused at _all._

"Never again..." the perverted boy mumbled darkly, twitching once for good measure. "Never again..."

Meanwhile, the human nun was healing most of his wounds, but it became obvious that his pride was what was most damaged at the moment.

Koneko supposed that he really couldn't be blamed...it wasn't like anyone _told_ him that she had a sadistic streak.

"Ok...! That was...the last one...right?"

The _rook_ was almost afraid to look at the red-headed duo, but her curiosity eventually got the better of her and allowed her to see this incoming spectacle.

"Oh come on Mio-chan..." Rias drawled lightly, waving a small fire on her finger with a tiny magic circle. "You yourself said that you wanted to be stronger. You _need_ to keep going."

"Yeah I did!" Mio growled. "But not to the point of suicide!"

"Oh...you're exaggerating! You can handle this, you just need the support to push you to move beyond your limits! Which is why I'm doing this! For _your_ sake." the high-class devil insisted, pushing the little flame closer to a piece of paper that was on the wall right next to her.

"Then why do you look like you're enjoying this so much!?"

Rias quickly hid the smile on her lips.

"...For your sake!" the Gremory heiress declared, pushing the little fire close to the note.

"DAMN IT!"

As if on cue, several blurs emerged from the note, rocketing straight towards the half-devil that was more than a little ways away.

Mio ducked the second that her evil sempai activated the seal, her hair fluttering behind her as the small projectiles flew over her head harmlessly.

The projectiles? Rocks.

...Really Naruto...?

Although she dodged the initial volley, more rocks kept getting shot out of the seal, at rapid-fire. Forcing the young red-head to make split-second decisions to move, forcing her eyes and general senses to keep up.

Her reaction time.

Rias beamed with pride as her kohai continued to dodge the incoming rocks that were set against her. She was getting better at avoiding them...it was nice for them to do this every now and again. For a sempai to aid their kohai in times of need, to help prepare them for the world with such exercises.

It was definitely very nice.

"Evil! You hear me Rias-sempai!? EVIL!"

It was also an excellent excuse to tease her relentlessly.

"Ara...it seems that Buchou is enjoying herself quite a bit, eh Koneko-chan?" Akeno noted, glancing at her companion.

The _rook_ could only sigh, did she really expect all of them to do anything different?

Then she perked up, looking around.

"...Where's Kiba-kun?"

The _queen_ frowned at the question, her happy demeanor evaporating. "Unfortunately...we aren't really sure. He said that he would be here but...well, he never came. It's quite worrying."

Koneko's lips twitched downwards, just what was he up to...?

"Hey! Akeno-san!" Issei called out, walking towards the two devils despite still being covered in soot. "Can you...?"

"Use you as my test subject? Of course! As a matter of fact...it'd be my pleasure." Akeno stated with a dark grin growing on her face.

The _pawn_ shook his head back and forth so fast that the _rook_ thought that he was about to snap it off. "No! No, no, no, no, _no!_ Not that! I meant...well...the training that Mio-san is doing...I want to do it too!"

The black-haired devil raised an interested eyebrow. "You sure? I'm not as nice as Buchou you know?"

Issei shivered, not _as_ nice as Buchou...?

Brown eyes trailed back to the desperate dodging of Naruto's sister, her face the picture of overwhelming physical exertion.

But he swallowed his fears, giving his sempai a determined glare.

"I'm ready."

Akeno nodded slowly, accepting his willingness to die- she meant train.

"Ok then." the _queen_ stated simply, before turning her head slightly to regard the _rook_ besides her. "You want to train as well?"

Koneko's eyes snapped to curious purple, before trailing to determined brown.

The young reincarnated devil closed her eyes, remembering why she had to get stronger, what was really at stake when that natural energy invaded her senses.

...This would help too, strength wasn't everything.

"...Yes, please."

* * *

"Anything yet?"

The spy of the Hero Tribe shook his head slowly. "No, he's staying quiet. Too quiet. By this point...it's likely that he decided to get some rest. We probably won't hear from him until tomorrow."

Cao Cao nodded slowly. "...And his allies?"

"They're under my scope, and if I were to take an educated guess by checking the general direction of their movements...I'd say that they're heading to Kyoto. Are you going to stop them?"

The hero leader shook his head slowly, eyes scrunched. "No...they're no doubt going to try to solve the misunderstanding that Uzumaki caused with the yokai faction. By the time that they reach Kyoto itself...it should already be too late to do anything about it."

A single eye opened up to reveal a red slit, filled with nothing but sharp cunning. "Are you _sure_ that's all you want to do with them?"

Cao Cao faltered slightly, eyeing his spy in the Hero Tribe with interest.

"...You know something I don't?"

The young sensor shrugged helplessly. "I might, but I agonize over whether I should tell you, as it would undoubtedly cause a major shift in your plans."

The black-haired descendant of the great hero; Cao Cao, leaned closer, interested. "Come now, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me."

The brown-haired spy glanced at his leader, acquiescing shortly after doing so. "...Uzumaki's 'hero' ally that your...'servant' spoke about. Her energy signal is extraordinarily familiar...so familiar that I actually focused on her for a few moments and...discovered something very interesting."

Cao Cao's eyes narrowed, what was he-?

"It's _her_...your old apprentice...it's _her_."

Black eyes widened in absolute shock, that was...

Cao Cao took a couple of steps back, completely shell-shocked by the discovery. _She_ was here...? Of all places? As Uzumaki's ally?

Unwittingly, a dark chuckle began to escape his lips, growing in it's volume and intensity with every second that passed. Until it reached it's apex with a full-blown hysterical laugh that rang across the field that the heroes were occupying.

It took several moments for Cao Cao to regain control of himself again, but when he did, his eyes were more than a little predatory. "That _is_ interesting~ Thank you for bringing this to my attention...Shiba."

Shiba grinned. "Of course, who am I to interrupt such a...momentous occasion? The question is then...what are you going to do?"

The young hero leader shot his ally a grin. "...Test her of course, learn about how much she's grown over the years. As for Uzumaki himself...well, I'm setting up a strike force to deal with him the moment that he reveals himself."

A red slit eye widened fractionally. "Really? You're not going to deal with him yourself? Is that wise?"

Cao Cao simply shrugged. "That's not the point. I'm not sending them to him to...'deal' with him. I'm sending them there to weaken him. If they manage to defeat him on the other hand...then he simply wasn't worth the effort anyways."

Shiba couldn't help but smile. "You'd throw your heroes at Uzumaki...possibly get them all killed...all to weaken and make sure that he's worth your effort? How dark."

The former apprentice of the Great Hero could only smirk in self-satisfaction.

"Is it not a hero's duty...to _die_ for the greater good?"

* * *

 **AN: That's a wrap! Geez...sorry for the late upload, I had to re-write this because I made a scene originally that didn't make sense for the story. Goes to show that sometimes binge writing isn't always a good idea.**

 **Anyways, interesting stuff all around, the news of what happened in the Underworld hasn't spread to the main characters yet and as someone already noted, the Excalibur Arc is already beginning to start while Naruto's away. Like everything else, the actions of the past are going to effect the actions of the present, so of course...things will end probably end up more difficult. What with Naruto's luck being what it is.**

 **Also, just a side note, I've also begun setting up the stage for the arrival of the fourth crossover. I know one of my readers knows about what that crossover actually is...and he's apparently really excited for it. So yeah, it's incoming.**

 **That being said, you won't know what it is until you get some names, so right now it's just vague set up.**

 **...This shit is hard people. :P**

 **Anyways! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long, cya all next time! :D**

 **-RekkingPride**


	30. Chapter 30

Light.

That was the first impression that Yuki got when she began to regain consciousness.

Yellow eyes fluttered open, squinting at the brightness of the morning sun. Before getting up and stretching her limbs, trying to work out her aching muscles.

"...Time to go." Yuki mumbled lightly, eyes turning to look at the sleeping succubus besides her who was snoring faintly in contentment.

The hero stared at her fellow female for a heartbeat, contemplating whether she should let her have a few more minutes of sleep. She looked quite content...

That idea was squashed quickly, they didn't have time to kill.

So Yuki nudged Maria, intent on waking her up so that they could get a move on.

All that managed to do was make the succubus giggle in her sleep, turning her body to instinctively get away from her nudging.

Change of plans then.

A green aura surrounded her hand as she materialized her katana, before swinging it unerringly at the half-devil's neck-

"AHHHHHH!" Maria screamed shrilly, rolling out of her comfortable spot on the floor to avoid the blade. "What the _hell_!? Yuki-san!?"

"Sorry." Yuki said as she de-materialized her blade. "It was the quickest way to get you up, besides...I stopped the blade before it reached you."

The succubus didn't look impressed. "...Cold comfort when you wake up to a sword swinging at you. What, you couldn't have thought up of a better solution?"

The hero leaned down and grabbed her bag, throwing her arm around it's strap. "The fastest way. Also...Naruto told me that he would be moving out early in the morning, which means that he will be _vulnerable_ again."

Maria's eyes softened, realization lighting up her purple orbs. "...This is about Naruto-sama, huh? Worried about him?"

Yuki stopped, considering.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm worried. It's really only a matter of time before _someone_ finds him, but most likely...it'll be at the head of a group at least. With the little kyuubi to take care of, it will be difficult to protect himself to the best of his ability as well. He can make a lot of stupid mistakes that he might not have if he didn't have to worry about her well-being. So the faster we clear this up, the better."

The half-devil nodded slowly, standing up and grabbing her bag as well. "Alright, fair enough then. Just...try not to swing your sword at me again anytime soon. Let's not make this a habit."

Yuki felt her lips twitch upwards for a split-second.

She could definitely agree to _that_.

* * *

It was a new day, as evidenced from the bright sunlight that peeked through the clouds and lit up all that was under it's observation.

To many, the dawn of a new day meant that the troubles of the day before was washed away, all to make a new and clean slate.

Well...it did for those who had a bad day anyways, like Mio.

Mio winced as she kept walking to her destination, still smarting from the 'training' that she was put under. Rias-sempai really did go too far...

Though her complaining didn't really mean much if she was literally going _back_ to train so early in the morning. She sometimes wondered if she had some masochistic tendencies...

Ah well, no one could claim that she wasn't stubborn at the very least.

The young female finally snapped out of her musings when she reached the front of the old school building, her sempai's base of operations...

She resisted the urge to jeer at it, she was still pretty sore about how much fun the high-class devil had in 'training' with her.

So the half-devil knocked on the front door, waiting for someone to open it and let her continue where she left off yesterday.

...

...

No response, great.

"I'm coming in!" the red-head declared, opening the door and looking around to see whether anyone was inside.

After a quick check, she determined that she was alone in here.

Well...that left two options then; leave and come back later or go to the training center anyways.

The answer was obvious, damn Naruto for rubbing off his spontaneous nature to her.

Mio felt a pang in her heart at the thought that drifted through her head...Naruto...

How was he doing? Was he ok? Did he finish his objective?

Those thoughts and worries impacted her the second that she thought about the hyperactive blond, nearly causing her to trip over herself.

She missed him. She missed him a lot.

Mio sighed as she combed her hand through her bangs, why was it suddenly so quiet...? Almost oppressively so.

Where were the mischievous smirks that lit up her day? The constant hidden excitement of what crazy hijinks he would instigate that would spice up her school life? The constant security that he always gave just by being in close proximity?

The red-head quickly shook her head, he'd be back before she knew it, she just had to keep getting stronger. _Stop_ thinking about it.

If she couldn't handle being alone in a silent house for a few days, then how could she look at him in the face and claim to be strong?

Though...that was just it, wasn't it?

Whether she liked it or not, she wasn't just doing this for herself, but also for _him_. She simply couldn't stay this weak...so weak that she could be the back door that his enemies used to get to him...!

 _No!_

She wouldn't be that way, that was why she was going to keep coming back here.

She wouldn't watch another family get destroyed.

 _Not again. Never again_.

With new-found determination in her eyes, she opened the door that led to the elevator and went inside, heading to her destination.

* * *

"Wakey wakey! Rise and shine, kid!"

Kunou grunted softly, pulling the blanket over her head in protest. Unwilling to get up.

"Come on kid...you _do_ want to eat, don't you?"

She did. But not enough to get up.

"...Don't want to..." Kunou grumbled out, slurring her words faintly.

Naruto rolled his eyes in exasperation, look at her...she was a far cry from the distrustful and wary princess that he initially met. Now she was just another child...

The shinobi then grinned, there was a _very_ simple and effective way to get a child out of bed.

As soon as the idea sprung into his mind, he began to enact it by moving stealthily closer to the resting kyuubi with his fingers moving around in a threatening manner.

Then he struck.

"Ah...! No...wait! _Please!_ "

Naruto gave no quarter, he wouldn't let the kid go...no matter what!

Kunou's ringing laughter was echoing across the cave, showing no signs of stopping as the shinobi kept tickling her without mercy.

"Give up yet!?" the blond questioned with a grin, completely merciless.

The little yokai tried to wiggle out of the older boy's torture, refusing to admit defeat, but the teen was relentless and followed her as she kept trying to roll away from him.

The tickling began to be unbearable, as her face grew red and tears began to overflow from her eyes from the constant laughing.

Then she broke.

"Ok...! Ok! I give! I give up!" Kunou shouted at the top of her lungs.

Naruto was smug as he backed up from the little kyuubi, he knew that he'd break her with his tickling.

Kunou finally gave out a sigh of relief at the reprieve. "...That was mean, you jerk."

The shinobi shrugged as he walked back to the still crackling fire. "I know, but then again...it _is_ time to eat dattebayo."

The yokai princess looked up at the older boy from her position on the floor and stood up, moving to join him by the fire with her miko outfit fluttering faintly behind her.

"So..." the older blond began, after passing a ramen cup to the little girl. "I suppose we better get a move on today, we will be heading towards Kyoto...and if we run into more yokai, then hopefully we can explain the situation to them. If we got some half-way decent luck, then maybe we won't run into your kidnappers either."

Kunou absentmindedly agreed as she blew onto the cup on the palm of her hands, taking the chopsticks that Naruto just offered her right afterwards. "Ok, got it. So when are we going?"

Naruto grinned. "The second that you finish. We are going to take another way out of here instead as well, best not use the entrance in case there are...unpleasant people lying in wait."

As the young teen slowly began to put his things back into his bag, he moved his head towards the cave that he wanted to go to, implicating it. "We're going that way. Where you found me talking on the phone. That still moves us to our destination, so we won't lose that much progress anyways."

All he heard in response to his statements was the constant slurping sound of noodles, with the kyuubi eating ravenously. Boy...she must have been hungry.

It was only after she stopped gorging herself and put the cup down, that she responded.

"K."

Naruto blinked.

"...Well...you seem to be more easy-going." the whiskered teen pointed out bluntly.

Kunou just beamed. "Yep! It's 'cause I know that I'm going to be ok now!"

The shinobi chuckled, the pleasant feeling that her words gave him felt nice. "Of course you will, it's me after all."

With that said, the shinobi stood up and stretched slightly, before offering a hand to the small blond. "You ready?"

The little kyuubi nodded, confident.

"Yes!"

* * *

"How much longer do we have to wait? I'm absolutely _itching_ to fight...I've heard more than a few rumors about the man that we will be fighting." Heracles complained audibly, tapping his foot incessantly.

"Oh calm down Hera-kun~ We're gonna go as soon as possible~" Jeanne cooed easily, as she was laying down on the floor. "Besides, we still have to actually find him! He's going to be our new recruit I hear!"

The descendant of the great greek hero snorted, both at his comrade's assertion and his nickname. "I don't think our great leader entirely feels that way...about recruiting Uzumaki I mean. Also...don't call me that."

Jeanne shrugged, completely ignoring his words about his nickname, although to be serious...she had no idea what went through their leader's head sometimes.

Both heroes were currently stationed at the small outpost that their faction has created as a temporary base of operations, a forward base for their ambitions in Kyoto.

For now, two of the most powerful heroes in the Hero Faction were simply killing time, waiting for their time to deploy and defeat their erstwhile enemy.

"My...seems our meddler has some new fans, hm?"

Both heroes turned around to see Siegfried walk towards them, a rare playful smirk adorning his face.

"Oh~? You seem to be in an awfully good mood. Something good happen?" the female hero wondered aloud, curious.

The handsome descendant of the original Siegfried only smirked wider. "It turns out that I'll be joining you in your little expedition. I'm surprisingly anxious to get started...it's been a long while since I've faced a worthy opponent. It's a shame that he isn't a swordsman."

Heracles looked surprised at this admission, but his growing grin belayed any evidence of his disapproval with the idea. "I see! Then we shall all occupy the battle together! I pity Uzumaki then...unless he's as powerful as the rumors claim he is...there's no way he can get out of this alive!"

Siegfried grunted in affirmation, he agreed, there was no logical way for their adversary to get out of this one.

"Hey Sieg-kun...speaking of mysterious figures...do you know anything about the weird guy that hangs out with Cao Cao?" Jeanne whispered to the silver-haired hero, big blue eyes shining with excitement at some juicy info.

The swordsman twitched slightly at the nickname, but tanked through it regardless. "...Unfortunately, not much. The man's as much a mystery as he was when we first met...I just don't know what to think about him. Cao Cao won't say anything about him either, maybe he might be more willing to talk if we destroy the Japanese branch of the Hero Tribe..."

Heracles raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Why the hell would you say that?"

Siegfried eyed the burly hero. "Because the last time he was so forthright with information about his past was when we obliterated the Chinese Hero Tribe. Whether we admit it or not, that armored... _person_...is a part of Cao Cao's past."

"Ohh...makes sense." Jeanne wondered childishly. "Still, he kinda gives me the creeps."

Both men couldn't agree more.

As the trio of heroes continued their talks, another individual walked towards them with anticipation, intent on sharing the news...

It was starting.

* * *

"It should almost be here by now...looks like we will finally have an easier time of getting to Kyoto. It's about damn time!" Maria complained, relieved that they wouldn't walk anymore.

Yuki couldn't help but agree, the taxi that they called up in Kyoto should be moving to them now, cutting down the time they would have taken significantly.

All while making sure that they didn't use any supernatural methods to get there, they didn't want to needlessly antagonize the yokai after all.

So hopefully they will be able to explain the situation to the yokai leader, giving Naruto some leeway and ending this little crisis before it could further get out of hand.

She was actually a little hopeful, maybe she wouldn't have to deal with that hero-trained warrior again...

But as she kept moving forward in the hopes of catching their taxi, her hopes were quickly beginning to fade.

"...It's here." Maria whispered besides her, glancing around nervously.

Fog.

"Maria." the hero spoke out with authority. "How far away is the taxi?"

The succubus quickly scrambled her own phone out, scanning the time to better find out where-

"It should be right here..." she mumbled out, eyes scanning the dense fog to see if there was a motorized vehicle in their somewhere.

Both females tried to look through the fog to see if they could find their ride, hoping that it would reach them before their enemies did.

After a moment of silence, the duo saw twin lights break through the mist, catching their attention.

"That's it! It has to be!" the succubus cried, charging forward towards the lights.

Yuki followed shortly after, a bad feeling crawling up the back of her spine.

She had this feeling before, when the last time that this fog appeared, except if anything...it was _worse_ this time.

With that worrying thought present in her mind, the hero kept moving, eventually moving close enough to see the form of the car. As well as the taxi driver, who was glancing around, thoroughly confused.

"Hey-!"

As the succubus tried to call out the driver's attention, the fog surrounded the motorized vehicle from view, thickening to the point that the lights seemingly couldn't pierce through it.

Nevertheless, Maria kept moving forward, remembering where the general direction of the car should be.

She then reached it, causing her to stop in her tracks as she stared at the empty ground.

Gone. It was _gone_.

"...Where did it go...?" Yuki asked quietly, eyes scanning around as she caught up with the loli.

The car disappeared right in front of their eyes, vanishing into thin air as if it was never really there.

Yuki had no doubt now; the fog definitely had something to do with this.

The fog conveniently appeared when that armored being first attacked them, then it disappeared along with the fog...and now this.

They were interconnected somehow, maybe some sort of teleportation...?

She couldn't ponder the issue further, as a new sound entered her ears, one that immediately made her bad feeling get worse.

The scrape of metal against concrete...

The duo quickly closed the distance between each other, with Maria bringing her fists up and Yuki materializing her katana. Ready for whoever was coming from the fog.

As if alive, the mist slowly rolled back and revealed the dark figure that attacked them the other day, standing stoically still as if it was nothing more than a statue.

"Look Yuki-san." the succubus drawled. "Our stalker is back, maybe he hasn't had enough of us, hm?"

The hero didn't say anything, she only raised her blade higher so that it would point at the mysterious being, refusing to be cowed or to lose focus like last time.

"Who are you? What is your objective? How did you find us?" the human female demanded, voice firm.

The armored warrior was silent, standing stoically in place as if it really was just a statue.

Yuki grit her teeth, lowering her center of gravity in order to pounce-

Clapping.

Random, but consistent clapping echoed around them.

Both females quickly looked around, slightly unnerved by the unreserved clapping, trying to discern where the sound was coming from, as it almost seemed to echo around them.

The hero in particular glanced around, the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach getting worse and worse as the clapping continued to echo.

Nevertheless, she stayed firm externally, her yellow eyes unyielding, as they searched for their potential enemy.

Those eyes would eventually zero in on a spot behind the mysterious warrior, as a form began to coalesce while the mist began to lighten up.

Yuki raised _Sakuya_ higher, making sure her defense was up to prevent any kind of-

The hero froze, the grip on her katana loosened to the point that it almost slipped through her fingers, shock replaced the steel in her eyes.

She could make him out now...it was _him_.

"No..." Yuki whispered, taking a step back at the visage that appeared in front of her.

Maria chanced a look at her partner for a moment, before looking at the young man that emerged from the fog, walking towards them in a self-assured manner. Still clapping.

The mysterious man eventually walked up right next to the armored warrior, patting it on the shoulder as if it was a pet. Before turning his pitch-black eyes to the two females.

"...It's been a while...Yuki-chan."

The succubus' eyes snapped to the hero besides her, uncertainty dancing in those orbs.

Yuki merely continued to stare at the older man, jaw clenched and eyes stormy, with several emotions flitting through her eyes so fast that Maria couldn't see them.

"...It has...sensei..."

* * *

Naruto peered into the darkness of the cave, trying to make sure that he didn't crash into a wall and embarrass himself for such a stupid reason.

Meanwhile, Kunou was holding his hand tightly, gripping it to make sure that she didn't lose track of him in this dark cave. She definitely didn't want to get lost in here...

"No worries, kid." the shinobi stated assuredly. "We just have to go a little further."

The smaller blond looked up at the person who helped her so far, gratitude in her eyes. "...Thank you for helping me so far, I honestly don't know what I would have done without you..."

Blue eyes turned to look at her, mirth in those orbs apparent. "I'm sure you would have thought of something, you've got quite the backbone when you need it."

Kunou beamed at that, pride swelling in her chest at the compliment. "Thanks! Kaa-chan always tried to teach me to be strong, for the sake of our faction. So I try."

Suddenly, a shadow descended upon her new friend, as his eyes darkened faintly, and a frown began to taint his usually positive face.

The yokai princess was taken aback. "Uh...I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?"

Naruto blinked and shook his head, trying to get certain thoughts out of his head, before shooting the kyuubi with a wistful smile. "Nothing...it's just that I'm proud that your mother got to taught you some things. Not everyone can say that, you know?"

Kunou tilted her head cutely, unsure what the whiskered teen meant, but accepting it nonetheless.

The two fell silent afterwards, with the older blond focusing on where they should go next as his priority.

"Do you want a kaa-chan!?" Kunou suddenly shouted.

Naruto jumped, caught off guard. "...What?"

The younger blond shifted uncomfortably. "Well...you seemed sad when I talked about my kaa-chan...so...I thought that maybe..."

The shinobi scratched the back of his head, slightly nervous. "Uhh...it isn't quite that simple dattebayo..."

Kunou leaned in, eyes shining brightly. "No! It's fine! You can just spend time with me and kaa-chan! That way you won't be sad anymore!"

Blue eyes widened slightly at that statement, so _that's_ what this was about...

"...Hey kid...honestly, thanks for the suggestion. That was very kind of you." the older blond began gently, patting her head. "But I'm sorry to say that I can't spend too much time in Kyoto, I just came here to talk to your mother about something personal. After that, I gotta head back home and make sure everyone is safe."

Naruto moved his eyes forward again while he was talking, assured that the little girl that he was escorting was still following him since he was still holding her hand.

But, inexplicably, her smaller hand slipped through his fingers.

In response, he quickly turned around, worried that something was wrong.

"...You're...you're just gonna leave? Just like that? So quickly...?"

The shinobi stared at the yokai princess, wary at her shift in demeanor. "What? You expected me to stay here?"

Kunou looked towards the floor, biting her lips in the process. "I just... _hoped_ that you would...you know? Stay with us for a little bit? Maybe a week?"

Even while the little girl was making her plea, the teen started shaking his head. "I can't, I'd like to...if only to dodge more classes. But I have a responsibility to my friends back at Kuoh Town."

As he was speaking, the shinobi went to take the younger blond's hand, grasping it and tugging so that they could continue. He wanted to make sure that they would cover as much ground as possible.

The little kyuubi was silent as she was now hurried along the cavern, watching as the darkness of the cave grow more apparent as they moved further away from the warmth of their campfire...

"...I thought that you were going to protect me..." she whispered, practically silent.

Naruto didn't say anything at first, he kept moving forward, searching for the right words.

"...I _am_." was all that could come out of his mouth.

Then all of a sudden, he felt Kunou pull at his arm.

"Then _why_!?" she demanded. "What happened yesterday...I can still feel it...you're the only one that made that feeling go away! So _please_...!"

She glanced down again with glassy eyes, tiny fists balling up.

"Help me get away from this fear...make me feel _normal_ again..."

The shinobi went stock still, eyes widening at her words.

Of _course_. Even after getting rid of the accumulated stress of her day yesterday, there was still a...scar. One that wouldn't heal so quickly.

But despite this revelation, there was something else that he focused on. A word that triggered a memory of a time that seems so...long ago.

A vision of long red hair and hopeful pink eyes, that begged to attend school with him...

All to feel _normal_.

Was this not the same thing? A reprieve for a stressful time in order to _live_ again?

He did it for her...should he not do it for Kunou...?

" _Please!_ " Kunou wailed, hugging his leg desperately.

The little girl kept holding him, refusing to let go, clenching her eyes as she waited for his response.

After a few more moments of silence, she finally got it.

"...Kunou-chan."

Golden eyes snapped open, glancing up at the towering teen with shocked eyes. Did he just...?

"It's kind of funny..." Naruto began, a wistful look in his eye. "Someone had actually asked me to do something similar for them, ya know? It almost seems like a lifetime ago, but the request is practically the same."

The older blond then tilted his head down, looking back at the still-shocked yokai.

"I accepted her request then."

Kunou gasped audibly, lips spreading into a smile, then that means...!

"That being said...I'm sorry, I still can't stay."

Almost as quickly as it came, the smaller blond's smile cracked and fell apart, eyes looking entirely betrayed at the seemingly cruel decision.

She was so taken aback by the young man's words, that she didn't protest the fact that he was pulling her again towards their destination.

Naruto quickly moved forward, they wasted too much time as it was, but it didn't change the fact that he hoped that the kid would understand why he made his decision.

In time, but now wasn't the moment to deal with it.

So the two kept moving forward, deeper into the cave, until they hit a snag.

A big one.

"...Damn it..." the shinobi grumbled, glaring at the route that they were taking, which was suddenly ending in form of a stone wall.

He thought that this was a way out...damn, maybe he should have actually checked.

The shinobi moved to check if there was another way, maybe a hidden entrance like how he got in the first place?

But someone held firm, refusing to budge.

Naruto sighed, looks like he really couldn't leave this for later, huh?

With that, the blond turned around and knelt on one knee, facing the yokai princess. Intent on ending this discussion once and for all.

"Kunou-chan..." Naruto started. "I know that my declination of your wish has upset you, especially since I've accepted something similar from someone else...but there's a reason for this."

The little girl refused to respond, she only surly turned away.

Undaunted, the shinobi continued. "Despite the similarities of the request, the situation surrounding that request was...quite a lot different than yours. So different...that if I helped you actively on this, that I'd be violating one of my principles."

Kunou's eyes snapped back to the teen's, surprised despite the silent treatment that she was giving out.

Before she could ask however, he answered.

"...To put it bluntly, I can't fight this battle for you. I definitely _can't_ fight _every_ battle for you, this is actually for your sake."

...

"Wh-What?" the yokai princes blurted out, breaking her silence. "What the heck does that even mean!?"

Naruto sighed, looking somewhat tired of the question-and-answer session. "It _means_ that if I go ahead and stay to help you get over your fears...I'll be depriving you of some valuable experience. I know this isn't the nicest thing to do, but I'd like to help you only to the point where you _can't_ help yourself. Especially since I believe that you can face this fear that you're carrying."

The shinobi turned his head towards the ceiling, eyes unseeing. "You see...life can be cruel, can throw curve balls, can rip your life out from under you in a single day. That is a fact, no matter how old you are, what gender you are, what race you are. So if someone would help someone else with everything that may hurt them...then how are they supposed to deal with greater pain in the future? How can they become stronger? How can they take life's challenges?"

Kunou stared at the older blond with intensity, watching as he turned around and walked towards the end of the cave.

"...If I can, I want to prepare everyone I care about...prepare them for the harshness of reality, for their own sakes. As for the person that I _did_ help? Well, her circumstances were far more extreme, she was on the run for a long time and was reaching her stress limit. Although she framed it as a question...she needed that reprieve back then."

After a few more seconds of walking, he reached the end of the cave, right in front of the wall.

"The point of all of this, is that stronger people won't always be around to help you solve your problems."

He stared at the wall for a moment, before moving to turn around.

"There are going to be times where you have to face your demons..."

* * *

"What's wrong, Yuki-chan? Aren't you happy to see your old teacher?" Cao Cao mocked lightly, grinning uncharacteristically.

Yuki didn't respond, she only raised her blade back into a defensive position. Trying to regain some semblance of serenity to fight properly.

Even if it was... _him_...

She _had_ to...Naruto was counting on her.

She wouldn't fail him. She wouldn't fail someone so precious to her ever again.

* * *

Naruto turned back to the little kyuubi, with his blue eyes reinforcing how passionate he was about this.

"...And rise above them. Despite the pain that those demons gave you, despite the scars that you still held. Despite it _all_. Sometimes...you just have to push through."

Kunou couldn't help but hang onto every word, in awe at what was coming out of his mouth. Was this really Naruto...?

This time, the shinobi turned around again, facing the wall and holding his left hand out, bringing his right hand close to it.

"The fact is Kunou-chan...I want you to be able to stand without my support. I want everyone to be able to stand without my support, and I won't be able to do that while everyone is leaning on me all of the time. I want them to grow stronger!"

* * *

Mio reached the training center again, noticing that, like last time, she wasn't alone.

Almost everyone in the Occult Research club was here, using their free time to train...

The red-head grinned, she couldn't let them get too far ahead now...!

She walked forward, waving as several of her friends happily greeted her when they saw her.

They would all get stronger, in preparation for the future, she had no doubt about that.

* * *

The yokai princess' eyes focused on the little ball that the older boy had formed in his left hand.

Watched as it brought light to the oppressive darkness that surrounded them.

"...More than anything else...Kunou-chan." Naruto declared, voice confident and stance implacable. "I believe that it isn't my duty to solve everyone's problems, even if I could. No...I'm not going to solve _your_ problem..."

The shinobi brought his left hand back, bringing the small maelstrom of power in his hand to bear.

"...But here's what I'm going to do...!" Naruto roared, swinging his left arm forward and into the wall in front of him.

Kunou quickly crossed her arms over her face, protecting herself from the debris that came flying when the blond smashed the orb into the wall.

She then fell over backwards when a shockwave pushed her back, dust flying everywhere and clouding up the cave.

The little kyuubi coughed thanks to the large amount of dust, only opening her eyes once everything has settled down...

Her golden eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, this was...!

Light.

Naruto's outstretched arm led to a rather large opening in the wall, with the sounds of wildlife becoming more apparent with the hole that was created.

With that hole, came the light of the day, bringing forth illumination into the formerly dank cavern.

The shinobi turned around to look at the little girl, the light embracing him as if he was made from the piercing rays. Especially as Kunou watched in slight awe as the sunlight framed his golden hair like a halo and brought his bright blue eyes to life.

"...I'm going to show you the way forward." was all he said.

All the yokai princess could do was nod.

She believed him.

With that statement made, Naruto held out a hand, an offering.

"But at the very least, I can help you with the problem that you are in no way ready to face. Let's get you back to your mother, shall we?"

Kunou could only grin.

She got up and took the hand.

* * *

"...Oh my."

Immediately after the traitorous hero made that statement, he opened a single eye and smirked in satisfaction.

It was a split-second, barely noticeable, but it was also unmistakable.

It was Uzumaki, he recognized that energy signal anywhere.

But...now that he was searching for energy signals after all this time, he couldn't help but make an interesting observation...

Didn't this power feel similar to a yokai's chakra?

Not so similar that they would seem like sibling powers...but they did seem to have a passing similarity. He honestly would not have been able to notice if it wasn't for the fact that he was used to sensing yokai, thanks to all of the time he has used up here.

It didn't change the fact that they were still different, just similar. An interesting thing to ponder about.

Nevertheless, he should probably inform Cao Cao and the rest of the faction.

Shiba's face broke out into a grin, he was sure that the hero leader was having a wonderful reunion right now.

* * *

Maria's eyes were snapping from her human ally to the the mysterious man that appeared from the fog, which began to recede. Uncertain about what was going on, but sure that the man was bad news at the very least.

After the initial round of questions were bandied about, everyone stood perfectly still. Caught in something of a standoff.

Especially between teacher and student.

Cao Cao was grinning, as confident and self-assured as ever. But also interested, curious to see what his erstwhile student would do in this situation.

More importantly, _how_ she would do it.

Yuki for her part, was now giving the older man a look that alternated between anger, fear, wariness, and outright confusion.

After a few more moments of silence, the female hero finally opened her mouth.

"Why are you here..."

The hero suddenly stopped mid-sentence, her mouth opening and closing as if trying to speak but unable to.

"... _sensei_?" Yuki eventually spat, eyes harsh.

Cao Cao merely smirked. "Why indeed? But let's leave those...'heavy' questions for later, this _is_ a reunion after all. So tell me...how did you get involved with Uzumaki?"

The young female frowned, eyes narrowed into slits. "...Answer my questions first, then I'll consider yours."

"...Hm? It seems that you've become more defiant after all of this time." the hero leader muttered, interested. "Is that confidence? Or simply enmity? More than that...your eyes have changed since the last time I've spoken to you..."

"I'm not the same person as that little girl that you took under your wing." the female hero ground out. "Nor am I the same as the girl that you selfishly left behind. I've changed for the better."

The hero leader tilted his head, increasingly interested, fishing for answers. "...You _are_ different, aren't you? You're not the well-adjusted little girl that I met or the bitter little girl that I left behind. I even heard that you increasingly became extremely distant over time...but you're not like that right now. If anything, you're more like what you were when we first met."

Cao Cao's dark eyes locked with his former student's yellow ones.

"...The question is then, why did you change?"

Yuki kept her eyes locked with her former sensei, refusing to show weakness, refusing to show how much he was getting to her.

So she stayed silent.

A brief moment of quiet descended upon them again, with the two willful individuals challenging one another through their increasingly darker glares.

Until Cao Cao finally broke it.

"...Did it have anything to do with Uzumaki?"

Yuki's facial features flinched imperceptibly, completely unnoticeable to almost anyone else.

But the former member of the Hero Tribe _did_.

Ah...he understood.

"Well then, this is a very interesting turn of events. I'll make sure to get all of the details once I speak to him."

The moment he made that claim, yellow eyes flared, lips revealed bared teeth, and Yuki's face twisted into _anger_.

" _Don't you touch him!_ "

Maria bit her lip as she continued to watch the events unfold in front of her. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to intervene in such a charged and personal conversation. But it was becoming obvious that her partner was quickly losing her cool.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao began feigning ignorance for a moment, giving her an easy-going grin.

"Oh come now, don't be upset. Your friend is already falling into a trap that my comrades set up, so it's not like _I'll_ be doing anything to him."

The young hero's form went rigid, a trap!?

Her hand twitched as they sought to move to her pocket, where her phone was, if she could just inch her hand slowly to it and contact her friend...

The succubus heard her partner gasp, forcing her to twist her head to see what happened-

She froze, eyes wide as she saw the older man bent close to the female hero, arm securing hers as they aimed for her pocket. When did he...?

Cao Cao smirked at the thoroughly shocked look of his former student, before leaning closer to her and placing his face near her ear.

"There'll be none of that." was all he whispered.

Yellow eyes widened in fury, as the owner snarled and brought her katana towards the man who _dared_ -!

The hero leader immediately backed up from her, retreating back to his ever-loyal servant that stayed still for the entire conversation. "My, quite jumpy are we?"

Yuki only glowered at the black-haired man in response. "...Don't. Touch. Me."

Cao Cao shrugged, raising his hands in the air as if guilty, humoring her. "Very well. But I still can't allow you to alert our blond friend, now can I? But don't worry, I have a solution to our dilemma."

The young man then spread his arms apart, as if inviting someone to hug him. "I am _very_ curious to see how well you've grown you see. So I'm willing to compromise on the issue by giving you the chance to contact him...if you defeat my apprentice."

Yuki's eyes traveled to the dark warrior, who was staying completely silent, even now.

Maria, finally finding a way to jump in, leapt at the opportunity. "We accept! If we work together, then we can totally-!"

"No." the hero leader interjected calmly. "Not the both of you...just Yuki-chan. If you do try to intervene their fight however...then I'm afraid that you'll have to deal with _me_."

The succubus took a step back, alarmed. "T-That's..."

"Maria-san."

Maria glanced at her partner carefully, reading the grim determination that laced her features.

"...You're going to take his offer? Is that a smart idea?" the half-devil questioned, frowning.

"It isn't." Yuki admitted. "But the alternative is worse. We simply cannot afford to take on my old teacher...we would be crushed. Especially if he has _that_ weapon with him..."

The succubus' face scrunched up, annoyed.

"...That's not all however." the young hero said after a few moments of contemplation.

Yuki straightened her back, eyes still tumultuous when facing the self-assured hero leader. Fists clenching around the hilt of her trusty blade, the katana that would get her through this...

"I want to beat him in his own game. I want him to _see_ that I've moved past him, that I've become a hero beyond his expectations!" the female hero declared, taking a step forward and allowing a green aura to envelope her form.

She emerged from the fierce energy donned with a hero's armor, cross-hairs in her yellow pupils, _Sakuya_ ready to fight.

Cao Cao could only grin, bringing his hand up, aimed towards the sky. "Interesting~! Now...show me how much of a hero you've become! Show me whether your definition of 'hero' is greater than my own! _Show me your resolve!_ "

With that said, the hero leader swung his hand down, pointing at his former student.

"Go."

The black figure immediately obeyed, charging forward and bringing forth it's large sword.

Yuki brought her katana forward, charging forward to meet the anonymous being in a contest of steel.

Their clash of blades echoed across the forested field.

* * *

Naruto was piggybacking his little friend, glancing around momentarily to make sure that they weren't in the middle of an ambush. Damn, he hasn't been this cautious in a while.

Kunou for her part was also looking around worriedly, that attack that he blatantly used to get them out of the cave...she felt it's latent power. The energy.

It was like chakra...but more, _so_ much more.

The energy that was flowing through her body, it felt like something similar to his...but his felt more...alive.

Vibrant, not just in quantity, but in quality.

It was weird!

There wasn't a power that was like chakra, right? Not that she knew of...

The little yokai huffed, annoyed that the blond that was carrying her was more confusing than she initially thought. More than that, he had a penchant for saying really good things out of nowhere...

He was weird.

"...Why do I suddenly want to throw you off my back?" Naruto grouched, glaring at the kyuubi through the side of his eye.

Kunou immediately looked away, sweating lightly. How did he know?

The shinobi kept glaring at the yokai princess for a little longer, before turning back to what was in front of him.

"Kunou-chan, how long do you think it will take for your people to find us?" he eventually asked, eyes scanning their surroundings.

The little kyuubi plopped her head on top of his golden spiky hair, thinking. "Hmm...not sure, but I think that they would have found us soon after you broke us out of the cave. By the way, why did you do that? I thought you wanted to stay hidden?"

Maybe he had some kind of elaborate plan in the works? Some way to make sure that the yokai that her mother sent would listen?

Naruto twitched, moving his head to flash the younger girl a shaky smile.

"I sort of acted without thinking...I was caught in the moment, ya know? I actually didn't even know that breaking through the wall would break us out."

Kunou deadpanned. Seriously?

He was so confusing...

Naruto's eyes snapped away from Kunou, turning to the sky as a mysterious form flew overhead.

Now _that_ looked familiar.

"Looks like they found us." the shinobi pointed out blandly.

The yokai princess looked up as well, before shifting her head to the forestry around them. If that karasu-tengu was there, then...

A roar reverberated across the forest, gaining both of their attention spectacularly.

"Not that thing again..." Naruto couldn't help but groan, remembering that creature and it's _ridiculous_ tail.

The duo stayed at their current position and waited for the yokai to reach them, both entirely sure that they'd be alright.

Well...Naruto was, Kunou was just trusting that he would have a good idea to keep them safe.

To be honest, he really didn't.

Soon afterwards, several yokai emerged from the general surroundings, moving towards them threateningly and with ill intent.

The whiskered teen regarded them cautiously, making sure that the yokai princess was in full view over his head, hoping that they would notice.

Eventually they did.

"Ah...! It's Kunou-sama! She's awake!" the crow-like yokai from above shrieked, moving closer to the two as it made that observation.

Immediately, the hostile atmosphere dissipated, shifting to confusion at the knowledge that their kidnapped princess wasn't trying to escape her supposed 'kidnapper'.

Kunou quickly utilized the lull in hostility. "Everyone! Please listen to me before you do anything!"

As expected, everyone attention focused thoroughly on the yokai princess, latching onto her words after several days of absence. To many, she was very much like their daughter or younger sister.

The kyuubi kept going, trying to keep the momentum up. "I'm sorry for worrying all of you, but there has been a _huge_ misunderstanding! You see...this young man was the one who actually saved me from my kidnappers! Not the one that actually attacked me!"

Several gasps came from the yokai group, audibly expressing their disbelief at the situation. It was almost fantastical.

Yet here their princess was, telling them to stand down...

Meanwhile, Naruto decided to stay quiet during this little bit, allowing for the young girl to make her case without his input. She could convince them better than he ever could.

However, it was while he was letting her speak that a new phenomenon emerged, something that subtly put him on edge.

Fog.

There was a slightly dense fog that was rolling in, getting thicker as it began to surround them.

Kunou continued as the weather condition got more serious, ignoring it for now. "I understand that some of you have concerns over my present state of mind as well, but don't worry. My resistance as a kyuubi is strong, so unless I begin acting strange...that should be enough of a reason to figure out that I'm still me."

As she spoke, mutters began to rise out of the group of yokai, the karasu-tengu watching from above to continued to observe the situation in uncertainty.

But as the yokai continued to watch, a heavy weight _smashed_ into it's side, throwing it into the forest and hiding it from view.

The mist had become so thick that no one noticed, but the shinobi did get a growing feeling of unease as time progressed.

"So please...believe me, help me get back to Kyoto, and clear my savior's name!" Kunou declared more than asked, bowing her head infinitesimally to her rescue party.

Now the muttering ended, giving the little yokai time to actually try and gauge her people's reaction.

She didn't have to.

Among the group, a single yokai moved forward, moving towards the twin blondes with intent, it's eyes sharp and it's canines vicious.

Naruto's eyes took in the large creature, it _had_ to be the one with the snake tail, didn't it? Couldn't just be a nice and friendly little one?

The creature, the nue if the shinobi remembered right, walked up to them, before inclining it's head and moving one it's large tiger-like paws in front of the other. Bending it's knees and closing it's eyes.

It bowed to them, acquiescing.

As if a signal had been made, the other yokai also made to bow, deferring to their precious princess.

Both blondes let loose a sigh of relief, they managed to convince them-

" _Guh...!"_

Naruto's heart sank, suspicions confirmed as he heard a wet gasp, as well as the sick sound of metal impaling flesh.

They weren't alone.

All eyes moved back to the back of the yokai group, several creatures falling down with weapons sticking out of them, their wielders right behind them.

It took all of a second for Naruto to bellow what everyone was thinking.

" _Ambush!"_ he shouted.

Chaos immediately erupted after that declaration.

The whiskered teen didn't do anything immediately after his shout, opting to debate the pros and cons of staying to fight and risk Kunou or to leave.

Though the fact that he didn't notice them until they were right there disturbed him a little...it was like that freak from the forest a while ago.

The nue that bowed to them turned around to assess the situation, watching as it's comrades rallied and charged the humans. Obviously intent on crushing their new enemies.

Then it saw the blond human place their princess down, obviously intent on joining the battle after making his decision.

" _No!_ " the creature roared out, turning it's fierce eyes towards the young man in protest.

Naruto stopped for a moment, eyes uncertain. "...Why? Don't you want my help?"

The nue shook it's large head, turning it's eyes to the little kyuubi. "Our duty is to protect the princess...and you wish to exonerate yourself, right? Well then do me a favor; go. Take the princess to Kyoto where she will be safe. She's the objective for our enemies, we must not allow her to fall to their hands. Especially since..."

The creature lowered it's head for a moment, cutting itself off, despite the sounds of conflict around them due to the battle at hand.

"...Especially since her mother has left Kyoto to rescue her."

The shinobi's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. " _What_!? What do you mean!?"

The nue turned to regard the human, eyes cool for the first time that Naruto saw them.

"We sensed you due to your strange power, human. Do you truly think, especially when we're so close to Kyoto, that Yasaka-sama wouldn't come to retrieve her daughter herself?"

Blue eyes blinked, understanding the situation quickly. Silently acquiescing to the yokai's point.

They both had their duties in this case.

However...

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Several eruptions of smoke later, and suddenly a small army of clones surrounded the blond, shocking the nue and anyone else that was watching.

"...A parting gift." was all the teenaged boy said, as he turned around and picked up the young yokai, making a break for it towards Kyoto.

Several clones followed, intent on backing up the boss in case there were anymore tricks up these assholes' sleeves. With one breaking off silently to go and hide.

The rest?

"Reinforce the yokai! Save as many as you can!" one clone ordered out, charging to help their new allies as the rest followed in with roars of approval.

The nue could only let loose a sharp grin, the kid wasn't so bad after all!

It joined the battle soon afterwards.

Meanwhile, Naruto held Kunou tightly behind him, jumping away the second he made his parting gift. Flanked by several clones, knowing full damn well that the kid he was holding was the real target.

The question was, was this really it? The ambush? These strange human's attempt at getting Kunou-chan?

It felt too easy...unfortunately.

Though the screams and sick sounds of flesh getting cut open helped belay that notion, especially since they only grew in frequency and volume despite the fact that he was making some space between the two groups.

Kunou, with all of the hectic decisions that was made in such short notice, was entirely silent, watching the devastation behind them as they moved away, eyes wide in horror.

"Naruto!" she cried out, trying to wiggle out of his grip after a second of hesitation. "What are you doing!? We have to go help!"

The shinobi could only shake his head, eyes flitting around the thick fog. "We can't! The nue was right, it's my job to keep you safe! I _won't_ put you in danger by staying to fight, let them do their jobs so that we can help later! No worries, I left some clones to help out. They will be alright!"

The yokai princess could only stop moving, golden eyes clenched shut at the sounds of fighting that was finally beginning to recede.

Just when she thought that she made a difference...

"Boss! _Move!_ " a clone screamed.

Kunou yelped as both blondes were bodily pushed away from an incoming barrage of ice, impaling the blond copy that pushed them away from the attack.

Naruto grit his teeth, eyes wide.

He didn't even sense that until it was too late to move...

He had no idea why he couldn't sense them before, but he at least had a rough idea on who was attacking him and how to counter.

Humans again, thanks to their subtle _lack_ of energy signals.

As for how he knew where they were? Well...

"Heya! Sieg-kun! We found him~! This onee-san wants to kill him already~!" cried a female voice, suspiciously chipper in tone.

"Tell him to hurry up, or I'll just have to kill him before any of you even get to fight him!" roared another voice, this one just filled to the brim with confidence.

...Their killing intent was palpable.

Blue eyes scanned the area around himself, noting that the fog was still thick.

Good, he'd use it to his advantage to keep the little kyuubi safe.

"Boss." a clone muttered beside him, giving the original blond a look.

Yeah, he knew.

The yokai princess looked at the identical teens nervously, unsure of what they were about to-

She let out a way-too-loud yelp as the group of humans surged forward as a group, using their greater numbers as an advantage, moving at similar speeds as their original.

* * *

Maria watched in faint trepidation as the two warriors clashed their weapons together, red visor against yellow with cross-hairs.

The moment that they clashed together, Yuki made to sidestep the new apprentice of Cao Cao before it could really utilize the full strength of it's legs to push her back.

The movement allowed for her to take advantage of the momentum that her katana had when forced backwards to twirl around and force her blade to the warrior's unprotected back.

However, the mysterious being brought one of it's gauntlets out, obviously intent on catching the sharp edge of her sword in the confines of it's fist.

It was as she was finishing her twirl and moving _Sakuya_ to attack, that her head faced the dark figure's head in passing.

As did her _True Sight_.

The same second that her eyes connected with the dark figure's, was the same second that her movements became more swift. Giving her the chance to shift her weapon's trajectory _over_ the awaiting hand and onto...

A sharp ***clang*** echoed around them, signaling that a strike has been made.

Cao Cao could only grin, amused.

Yuki simply grit her teeth, staring at her katana.

But more importantly, looking at the armor which it crashed against.

She cracked the armor, but only that, there was no damage done whatsoever to the person inside.

Yuki determined that her current position was impractical, her close proximity made it difficult for her to move around. So she made to temporarily retreat so that she could-

A fist quickly grabbed her by her form-fitting top, lifting her from the ground and over the dark figure's shoulder's.

Ah...

Before throwing her into the forestry, smashing her against a tree without mercy.

The young hero gasped as she hit the large plant hard enough to nearly knock it off of it's roots, causing her to see stars.

She managed to recover quickly however, as a vicious swipe forced her to push herself to the ground before it managed to catch her neck in the attack.

The overhead attack easily cut through the wood cleanly. Giving her a small window to move out of the way before the warrior hit her properly, with unpleasant results no doubt.

Yuki efficiently sprinted away from the armored being, moving away from her downed position to make some space between the two combatants.

Good thing too, as the warrior attempted to swing their blade around in an arc to catch young human, but only narrowly missed the shot due to the running start she had.

Although because of the dodge, the attack would hit the ground instead, bringing up a lot of dust into the air and clouding the area up.

The young hero stopped once she made enough distance, eyes scanning the artificial cloud, she needed a clean shot...

Almost as if on cue, a green blur broke through the cloud, heading straight towards her at breakneck speeds.

Yuki allowed for a green aura to envelop her katana, before swinging it down in an arc to produce a vicious green wave that sped towards the blur, intent on catching her enemy by surprise.

Indeed, the two blurs _did_ clash, but now that the blur got closer, she noticed in rising shock that the blur was...

 _Another_ green wave, one that only _heroes_ knew...!

"Cao Cao...!" the hero couldn't help but growl, furious that he would go so far to teach that move!

But she didn't have time to worry about that, as a looming shadow began to move towards her quickly.

Yellow eyes turned to the sky, seeing her shadow fall towards her, causing her to spread her legs as she prepared to move from her position in short notice.

As expected, the armored warrior came sailing down upon her, using that attack from before as a way to distract her for a surprise attack.

So Yuki quickly backed up a little bit, making sure that the metallic apprentice of her former sensei would be too far to hit her, but close enough to counterattack the moment it landed.

Except that it didn't work out like that.

The mysterious being instead covered their broadsword with a green aura, before slashing it towards her position.

The female human quickly brought her blade up, catching the errant attack before it could reach her, but still pushing her towards the ground with it's force. Causing her feet to begin to crack through the ground due to the pressure.

She could only grit her teeth in frustration, there went her plan...

While she was temporarily preoccupied with that, the armored warrior actually _smashed_ it's blade onto the ground, using it as a stopgap and then as a makeshift pole to _launch_ itself straight towards the young human.

Yuki only just destroyed the wave that was sent against her, leaving a clean shot to her body as her former sensei's apprentice raised a metallic fist to do immense damage to her person.

She could only raise her left arm for defense.

 ***Crack***

The hero bit back a yelp as she felt something break in her arm, but was unable to do anything about it as she was sent crashing across the ground, sliding away in a rolling heap before hitting another tree. This time, knocking it off of it's roots.

Except, due to the angle that she hit it, it became obvious that she would be in it's falling trajectory.

With this in mind, she grit her teeth, tucked her left arm to her chest, and rolled out of the way. Hearing the unique sound of a tree falling down where she once laid.

She could only groan at the turn of events, this wouldn't be easy...that's for sure.

* * *

The young traitor of the Hero Tribe sighed as he continued to sense the ebb and flow of battle close to Kyoto, making sure to keep his 'eye' on the important players.

As of now, the strike force was engaging the yokai group, as well as several copies of the 'unknown variable'...

Shiba couldn't help but smirk, boy...did he live up to that name.

Speaking of which, the blond wonder himself has begun his engagement of the some of the most powerful heroes in the Hero Faction, ambushing him.

Although it was a shame that Georg's last-second teleportation to Uzumaki's location didn't allow for a quick win...those clones of his saved him. A shame.

As for their brave leader? Well it seemed that he was enjoying spending quality time with his old apprentice.

The young man then revealed a red slit eye, suddenly serious.

...Looks like new players were entering the board.

Ah...but they were expected anyways, so it wasn't anything serious.

Nevertheless, he should contact Cao Cao, he would definitely want to know about this movement.

Shiba also needed to know when he should release control of his monster, especially if he wanted to control someone else...he could only do so much after all.

His senses shifted back to Uzumaki, a bright light of power still burning bright.

He wondered how much that light could take before it was snuffed...?

* * *

Naruto surged forward with the rest of his clones, intent on breaking through this human-made blockade.

As expected, there were at least two humans laying in wait, with presumably one more incoming.

Thanks to their great numbers and their identical appearances however, he had no trouble getting through. Their presence alone shocking his enemies into stopping to watch.

Heh! He knew that he was too good for these bastards!

"Uh...um!" Kunou attempted to talk.

Not now, kid! He was basking in his own brilliance! Let him have his victory!

The yokai princess didn't listen to his mental commands however, and continued to look agitated as she tried to spit out what she wanted to say.

Then she managed it.

"Well...! Aren't we different from the other clones?" the kyuubi asked, genuinely confused on what the plan was.

The shinobi blinked.

"...Oh shit..."

This abrupt realization came at a pretty bad time as well.

" _Hahahaha!_ You really are an idiot, aren't ya!? You're the only one holding our target after all! Well, that's alright! I like idiots like you!" a boisterous voice claimed as they moved onto the blondes.

Naruto groaned as a large man charged him from behind, raising a large fist to hit him with.

Right behind him was a young woman with a sword brandished, covered in ice and about to swing at his direction.

Well fine then! He would just have to try to use his training back at Rias' place to full effect!

Naruto dug his hand into his back pouch, grabbing several stars to utilize quickly.

But he added a little _something_ into them.

"Catch!" the shinobi declared, jumping ahead and then twisting around to swing several shuriken at his opponents.

Heracles smirked as several metal stars were sent towards him, throwing his fist at the metallic objects so that they would get blown away by his fists!

As expected, the man's fist blew up the metal stars.

" _Gah!_ "

Naruto smirked as he landed on his feet and kept moving forward, the idiot fell for it.

As the shuriken moved past the hulking brute, it moved towards the female hero who was following shortly after him.

Jeanne responded quickly, using her sword to create a storm of frosty wind, quickly freezing up all that was in it's path, aiming for the deadly weapons that were heading towards her.

Except that they weren't stopping.

The young hero's eyes narrowed as she _saw_ her icy wind begin to freeze up the star, but how it kept getting ripped apart before it could settle.

Almost as if something was protecting it.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that her fellow blond's throw was obviously weakened by his awkward angle, it was still heading towards her fast.

So she stabbed her sword into the ground, creating several _walls_ of ice, using it as a shield against the dangerous weapons.

The wall of ice didn't work.

Jeanne ducked the second that she heard the harsh crunching sound of ice getting ripped apart, barely moving out the way in time.

As they passed by though, she _did_ hear the sound of sharp whistling.

 _Wind_.

"Aha!" she declared, standing up once the danger has passed. "You can't fool this onee-chan~! I found your little trick!"

Heracles was just gritting his teeth as he glared heatedly at the blond that was moving away from them, all while covered in minor cuts and deep gashes. "Damn him...!"

Jeanne ignored the furious man, instead opting to tap her ear and contact their other partner. "Sieg-kun? Yeah...turns out that our friend is heading to you now! So...maybe we can have a party there instead?"

She went silent, listening to the other line for a moment, before smiling.

"Roger that! We're gonna catch 'em! No worries!" she chirped, before cutting off the connection.

"Hey, hey...Hera-kun! We are gonna hang out with Sieg-kun now, is that ok?"

Heracles growled in response, eyes still on the receding irritant.

Jeanne could only grin. They still had one more player to use, that hadn't revealed themselves yet.

Meanwhile, the blond duo continued to make their way to Kyoto, hoping that they would intercept the yokai matriarch along the way.

"...Hey, they seem to be giving up the chase." Naruto pointed out, confused, but also unwilling to question their good fortune.

Kunou was also watching for enemy attacks from the humans, wary that they were let go so easily.

Then, almost as if he somehow predicted it, the yokai princess felt her protector swerve to the right, dodging a fierce volley of magic missiles that nearly hit them from the front.

Naruto held the little girl firmly, barely moving fast enough to swiftly sidestep, duck, and jump over several magic missiles, all of which were fired from some shrubbery that hid the attacker.

The shinobi quickly retaliated by digging a free hand into his pouch, grabbing some shuriken and enhancing it with wind chakra. Intending to throw the more powerful projectiles to end the battle quickly.

He quickly went ahead and did so, flinging the razor-sharp weapons where the magic attacks were originating from.

The attacks ceased the moment that the weapons sailed towards that position, shredding everything apart the second that they passed through.

The teenaged boy stopped moving for a split-second to scan the area where his enemy once was, he didn't hear anyone getting hurt or moving...just gone.

Also, when the hell was this mist supposed to subside!? It was seriously annoying!

Naruto then felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

The shinobi twisted about to face the magic missiles that were streaming towards him from behind, the same ones from before no less.

This time, the teen was forced to back up quickly, buying some time to grab a kunai from his pouch and cover it with wind chakra.

Then, with quick and deft hands, he began to swipe and parry all of the quick magic shots that were set against them, refusing to let any of these ethereal attacks get close to the yokai princess.

Once more, the volley ended prematurely, with the shooter disappearing into the mist like a ghost. As if his attacked never existed.

Naruto glanced about himself, cautiously waiting for the inevitable attack to-

" _Ha!_ "

Blue eyes snapped to the sky, widening as he saw a silver-haired man raise his large sword and swing it towards the ground-

"Shit!" the shinobi growled as he moved Kunou -much to her discomfort- around to a bridal carry and tucked her close to him. Before rolling out of the way with a mere second to spare.

The moment that the sharp blade hit the ground, all hell broke loose, much to the blond's rising annoyance.

Immediately after contact, the sword created a massive crater with it as it's epicenter, one that obliterated the forestry around them and forcefully pushed the shinobi away with it's incredible force.

The best he could do was tuck and roll to make sure that his fellow blond didn't get hurt.

Naruto indeed rolled onto the floor, only stopping after he slowed down enough to forcefully push his hand to the ground to utilize as a brake.

Not even a few seconds afterwards, a large shadow enveloped his form, with an overbearing figure raising it's fist to bring forth onto the vulnerable teen.

Again, he managed to push himself out of the way, but due to the short notice, he was only able to use the hand that was already on the floor to push himself.

So when an explosion rocked him as he moved out of the way, his loose grip on the little girl under his arm allowed for Kunou to tumble out of his hands. Separating the two from one another.

The blond tried to rectify the situation, but once more, he was cut off.

An icy wind blew onto him, which literally began to form ice on his clothes and to slow his movements significantly.

"D-Damn it!" he couldn't help but snarl out, this wasn't good...!

"Well, well, well...looks like we finally caught him." a young masculine voice drawled, approaching him from the side.

Siegfried moved closer to the nearly frozen ninja, studying him as if he was an exhibit from an expensive museum. "So...you're Uzumaki Naruto? The unknown variable? I have to admit, I didn't quite expect for you to go down quite so...easily."

Naruto merely returned with a toothy grin. "I'd like to see you do better with a kid to protect."

The right-hand man of Cao Cao inclined his head to accept the point. "I suppose even the most powerful would have trouble in such circumstances, what with Georg's use of his Sacred Gear and all."

As he spoke, a young bespectacled young man emerged from the ruined forest, wiping off the dust from his robe.

Blue eyes widened. " _You!_ But...I thought that-!"

"That this was the last time that you'd ever have to deal with me?" Georg finished, a self-depreciating smile touching his lips. "You should know that life doesn't work like that."

Another human walked closer to the small group, but moved to the little kyuubi on the ground. "Welp~! It's about time that we grab our mission! Cao Cao asked us to do it after all, right? This onee-chan wants to keep her good reputation!"

Jeanne leaned to the unconscious girl, lightly grabbing her underarms to pick her up and-

 ***POOF***

The human female blinked as the young girl popped into nothingness, confused and horrified.

What the heck!?

All eyes quickly turned to the blond that was partially frozen, who had a massive shit-eating grin on his face.

"Come on now, did you really think it's be _that_ easy?" Naruto asked rhetorically, looking about as smug as one would expect.

 ***POOF***

Then he exploded into a cloud of smoke, disappearing.

...

"Damn him!" Heracles roared, gnashing his teeth.

Siegfried stared at the position where their enemy once stayed, a slow smirk growing on his face.

"Well then...this is much better."

Jeanne walked closer to the silver-haired young man, pouting. "Shoot, it seems he tricked us. How did he do that though? This onee-chan is confused~!"

He wish he knew, but there was one thing he could be relatively sure of.

He wasn't far from them.

It was during that time that the earpiece in Siegfried's ear buzzed, grabbing his attention.

"Hello? Shiba? What's going on?" the young man asked, sensing something wrong.

He stayed silent as the other line spoke, widening his eyes after a moment.

"What's wrong Sieg-kun? Bad news?" Jeanne inquired, curious.

Siegfried turned off the earpiece once he was done, glancing at his comrades. "We have a position on our target again, follow me there so that we could finish this. But first..."

Several fast projectiles shot out of the woods near them, ripping across the air towards them at furious speeds.

The silver-haired man grinned sharply as he turned around, _Twice Critical_ activating and then...taking it even further...!

 _Balance Breaker!_ _Chaos Edge-Asura Ravage!_

Four arms grew out of his back, with one of them holding another blade...

Before impaling it into the ground.

" _Dáinsleif_!" Siegfried roared, calling upon the demon sword's power.

Immediately, a massive pillar of ice emerged from the ground, one that took the metal stars, barely stopping them despite the sheer size of the pillar.

"...First we take out the trash." the descendant of the original Siegfried finished.

Heracles grunted, taking a step forward. "Fine by me, I want to relieve some stress anyways. There's no way that these fists won't crush him!"

Jeanne beamed in agreement. "I want to kill some of those weird copies too~! Let's all kill him, together!"

Georg stayed silent, he just studiously watched as several of their enemy's copies emerged from the woods, ready to fight.

They didn't waste any time. As the corporeal copies surged forward, with some bearing sharp objects on their hands.

The clones crashed against Siegfried first, who had brought out a few more demonic blades for his other arms, making five in total.

'Naruto' had two kunai out, wind coating them as he set them against the six-armed warrior.

Two demonic swords were swung down by the silver-haired hero, with the blond copy catching them with his own enhanced metal knives.

 ***CLANG***

'Naruto' grit his teeth as the powerful swords pushed his feet a couple of feet deeper into the ground, obliterating a huge chunk of ground from right under them, leaving them in a crater.

Siegfried quickly disengaged his two swords, grinning wildly as his other arms began to swing the other weapons at their enemy in successive blows.

The clone reacted quickly, catching the sharp objects before they reached him by knocking them away from their trajectory, making sure to glance them instead of take their full brunt.

However, it became quickly apparent that these swords of his had special abilities that the clone wanted no part of.

Every time 'Naruto' managed to knock a sword away, he only knocked it's effect away from him, he never stopped them from actually happening.

So when he batted away the hero's _Gram_ , there was an inevitable explosion of dust and dirt that ricocheted from the ground where the sword hit.

As the sharp echoing rings of weapons clashing continued, completely unabated, large pillars of ice began to pierce the ground around them, and vicious whirlwinds formed around them, buffeting them with it's fierce power.

Other blond copies joined in during the confusion, attacking the group of humans to keep them off the boss' tail.

They won't get past them that easily!

* * *

'Naruto' landed at a relatively well-hidden grove, receiving the memories of the clones that he sent out.

Alright, good time to release the _henge_.

 ***POOF***

An explosion of smoke erupted at his position, covering the two individuals that were covered by the jutsu.

"Whew...! Looks like my idea worked. They didn't suspect a thing until it was too late." the shinobi noted, grinning at the little girl besides him.

Kunou was looking around, completely dazed. "W-What did you do? That was...that was _weird_..."

Naruto rubbed the yokai princess' head. "Sorry, it was kind of in short notice, I just had to use the mist to our advantage to fool those bastar- uh...jerks. It's called a _k_ _onbi henge_ (combination transformation), which made us look like we were just one person. Pretty useful, huh?"

The little kyuubi couldn't disagree with that.

Naruto then plopped down onto the ground, relaxing. "Alright then, all we gotta do now is wait."

Kunou frowned at that, leaning in. "Huh? Why? We got away, right? Why not try to go to Kyoto or maybe even find okaa-sama along the way?"

A indulgent sigh was her first response, much to her slight annoyance.

"Kid...don't you find it suspicious that these guys found us in the middle of a thick mist? How easy they pinpointed us? The problem is, even if we lose them for a little bit...they will probably just pull another disappearing act and attack us when we're distracted. So I'm planning on ending this fight before we keep going."

The yokai princess nodded slowly, made sense. It was pretty weird how easily these people kept finding them.

But...why wait here then? Why not just go and face them?

These questions were bandied about in her head, as her golden eyes bored into her protector's skull.

Yet he simply stayed still, waiting.

She huffed finally, relaxing back onto the tree that she arbitrarily chose as hers.

She honestly didn't get it, but she trusted him. So no need to go out of her way to prod Naruto for answers.

A few minutes passed in silence, with the sound of battle echoing from somewhere relatively far away.

Then, almost out of nowhere, Naruto stood back up, stretching his limbs.

Kunou stared at him, transfixed.

He didn't... _look_ different, but he was. He _was_.

She couldn't really put a finger on it, but he had a new...aura. A feeling that surrounded him in such a way that it changed him, but it was still subtle.

Naruto turned to her, grinning, with toad-like eyes and orange pigmentation around them.

"I sent a clone to send me some extra power when we first left the yokai search group, he just finished now. Now...I'm gonna go beat everyone up, alright?" the shinobi asked, a cheeky smile on his face.

The yokai princess blinked, if anything more confused than before.

But she still believed him, she had nothing to fear.

"Got it. Go get 'em! Naruto!" Kunou declared, raising a small fist into the air.

A confident thumbs up was her answer.

* * *

Yuki was knelt against a tree, head peeking out of her cover to help determine where her adversary went.

She needed to find a way to win this without her left arm now...which meant no more sword locks, it was a battle that she couldn't win now.

But she couldn't think of anything...there had to be something...!

...What would Naruto do?

Yellow eyes blinked.

...That actually gave her an idea.

She'd have to thank Naruto later.

Immediately after this epiphany, a harsh amount of killing intent hit her and gave her the good sense to roll out of the way from the tree. Right before it was cut vertically in half.

The dark warrior was back, and obviously intending to finish her off this time.

But hopefully...just _maybe_...she had a way to cut her enemy down to size. She just had to play her cards right.

The hero raised her katana up with her right arm, eyes narrowed as she regarded her adversary, making sure to glare right at the red visor.

Both combatants went silent for a moment, contemplating and sizing up the other for battle.

Then the dark figure made the first move, charging forward in zeal and swinging it's blade horizontally at the human's torso.

Yuki responded quickly, utilizing _Sakuya_ to catch the broadsword at the bottom and swinging upwards, redirecting the attack so that it would reach her neck instead.

She already made to lean back while she was doing this, barely avoiding the attack that was set against her.

 _Chance!_

The moment that the attack went by, she leaned back in and moved forward, intent on getting under her opponent's guard to counterattack.

But that was foiled quickly when the warrior twisted it's sword hand, swinging the blade so that it would make an arc and prevent the hero from moving closer lest she take serious damage.

A makeshift shield.

Yuki opted to back up again instead, using the fact that the warrior's maneuver required for it to stay still to work.

Once the dark figure noticed her movement, it stopped spinning it's weapon to give chase, idly noting that she was moving behind a couple of trees for temporary cover.

It decided to use this, swinging it's broadsword to cut through the trees easily without effort, feeling a pang of disappointment when it didn't feel flesh get ripped apart.

Then it saw harsh yellow eyes emerge from the series of stumps, connecting with it's own under the visor, swinging the weapon in her hand which had a green aura surrounding-

The warrior growled as it's left arm caught the violent green wave, making the large cracks that were already present even _worse_ than before.

As it the mysterious being was distracted, Yuki closed the distance between the two, ducking under the figure's guard and bringing her blade in towards the damaged armor.

She aimed her katana at the crack, impaling it with vicious force and pushing with all the strength that her arms and legs could muster, eyes locked onto the visor.

But now that she was up close...she could see.

She could _see_.

Green eyes stare back at her.

* * *

Cao Cao watched the final stage of the fight with a smirk, thoroughly pleased.

She has grown well, he was sure that she'd be a nobody but...

"It seems you've surpassed my expectations, Yuki-chan..." he couldn't help but say.

Her eyes especially has surpassed what he expected, he left those eyes broken and embittered, but now they're firm and practical.

Wasn't this what he wanted? Wasn't this what he sought?

To test the limits of humanity?

Even if she became physically powerful, her eyes would still have been merely a fraction to what they were in the beginning, what with the loss of her original family and all.

Yet here she was.

How much would it take until she broke again? What were her new limits?

"What are you up to?"

The sudden question broke through his musings, pushing him to turn his head just enough to glance at the devil that interrupted him.

"Hm? Whatever do you mean?" he asked sarcastically, a sly smile growing on his face.

Maria glared at the human male, eyes narrowing. "You know what I mean! What are you planning!?"

Cao Cao shrugged helplessly, nonchalant. "I'll tell you this, I don't have something planned for Yuki-chan. But I _do_ have other plans in motion...you simply don't know about them yet."

The succubus watched the older-looking male suspiciously, before she turned to her comrade with worried eyes.

The hero leader eyed the female devil that was floating beside him, curious, then coolly disregarding her.

They were both in an elevated position, looking down on the battle that moved deeper into the forest. With himself standing on a tree branch while she stayed floating near him on her devil wings.

All thoughts ceased again as he tapped his ear, listening to a voice that was giving him a warning.

His eyes widened, his plan was underway.

"I see...very well then, I will be there shortly. Also...cut him off of your Sacred Gear...he isn't useful anymore. Leave him as a ticking time bomb if you can." Cao Cao muttered gently into his earpiece, before turning it off.

"Well then!" the young man declared, straightening his back and catching the succubus' attention. "I think it's about time that I take my leave. I hope that we shall see each other in better circumstances!"

With that statement, the 'hero' materialized a spear out of thin air, calmly wielding it with practiced ease.

Maria immediately flew backwards, away from the spear that just screamed ' _danger!_ ' to her.

Almost as an afterthought, seven orbs materialized immediately afterwards, one of which began to move closer to his person as he opened his mouth to whisper.

" _Hatsutei Ratana_..."

Maria gaped as the young man that was occupying a tree branch suddenly disappeared into thin air, just like that! No sudden movements whatsoever!

Just gone.

It _had_ to have been one of those orbs...whatever they were.

Nevertheless, she now had the option to help Yuki-san without punishment, so she was intent on doing so.

With that in mind, she lowered herself to the ground, ignoring the feeling of water droplets that began to pelt her head.

* * *

Blood spurted out, splashing her as she made her pass, covering her and _Sakuya_ with it's disgusting substance.

She tripped over herself from the sudden loss of resistance to her blade, falling down face-first to the grassy floor, wincing at the fact that she fell on her broken arm.

Ugh...

The young hero slowly turned around, eyes focusing on the form of her enemy, who was standing tall still, almost stoically.

But slowly, the figure began to hunch over, moving it's last good arm to cover the stump on it's other arm from bleeding. Trying to slow down the loss.

Red liquid kept seeping through clenched fingers, as the powerful being eventually fell down to it's knees, losing it's strength as time went on.

Yuki watched, feeling extraordinarily complex feelings conflict with one another as she continued.

She could only turn away, feeling inexplicably sad.

It was at that moment that she felt something wet tickle her scalp, which pushed her to check the sky despite the fact that the danger hasn't already passed. Her mental exhaustion being that extensive by this point.

It was beginning to rain...

"Yuki-san!" a feminine voice called out, moving closer to her as well.

The hero turned to look at the half-devil that was steadily floating closer to her, waving happily.

But Yuki didn't exactly look amused to see her.

"Maria-san, what are you doing? The battle isn't over yet!" she reprimanded sternly, voice firm.

Maria kept moving towards her, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Yuki-san. He left already, just like that. Even leaving behind his apprentice no less..."

The human female looked surprised for a moment, but quickly smoothed out her facial features to think.

He left...just like that? Then why did he bother to come here in the first place? What was his _real_ goal?

She knew her former sensei, he didn't do things for no reason, despite the fact that he claimed to do so. No...he always did things for _some_ reason...

The hero pondered the question for a minute or two, seriously considering, ignoring the rain that began to get heavier as time passed.

Then realization reached her yellow orbs as she remembered something.

She quickly moved her hands over her form, cursing under her breath when she realized that she already got her hero outfit out.

"Maria-san!" Yuki shouted, grabbing the succubus' attention. "Lend me your phone! Quickly!"

Maria didn't argue, she quickly went into her dress pocket and gave her partner her phone, silently thankful that she didn't transform into her fighting outfit.

Yuki quickly called up Naruto, hoping that he picked up so that she could at least warn him of the fact that Cao Cao was after-

Her thoughts went cold and her lips thinned as she slowly took the phone off of her ear, giving it back to Maria, quietly.

"...Straight to voicemail." was all she said.

Bad implications.

The half-devil took the phone back after wiping if from the rain that accumulated on the screen, worried. "Then what should we do? Keep going to Kyoto? Try to warn Naruto-sama? Whatever we decide...we have to do it now. Especially since we probably can't make another call now that the taxi driver disappeared..."

Yuki nodded slowly, recognizing their bad position, but her mind was still elsewhere.

More specifically, her mind was...

Yellow eyes turned to look at the dark warrior, still holding on to it's stump of an arm desperately, trying to keep itself...no... _himself_ alive.

Her heart was bleeding with sympathy now, seeing the mysterious figure still hunched over while still trying to nurse his injury _after_ getting abandoned by his master was painful to watch.

It reminded her too much of her own past.

She looked away, unable to look at the person in the suit of armor.

"... _No_..."

Yuki froze in her tracks, flinching imperceptibly at the distorted voice that called out, almost as if physically rasping for her...

She turned around cautiously, eyes wary. Idly noticing that Maria was also watching with an equal amount of caution, ignoring the fact that the rain was pouring onto her heavily now.

The armored figure slowly got up from it's position on the ground, getting to it's feet as it steadied itself. Blood still seeping from it's arm. With the heavy rain helping the blood flow from his body to the ground.

"...No...I won't... _let you_...!" the figure growled, shaking his head repeatedly.

The two females watched in fascination, uncertain on how to respond., but couldn't help but continue to watch anyways.

But their attention was about to move to something just as troubling.

Before any of them could figure out what was going on, Yuki and Maria both shivered as a heavy sense of foreboding entered their senses, giving them a heavy dose of goosebumps.

Both turned around, eyes wide as they searched for the source, fear began to unwillingly to creep into their hearts.

Then Maria saw it.

"...What is _that_?" she couldn't help but breathe out, the sense of foreboding growing in her stomach.

Yuki turned to where the half-devil was looking at, swallowing the sense of unease that accompanied it.

They were both looking at a pillar of violent red energy, swirling from the ground into the sky from another part of the forest, somewhere closer to Kyoto than them.

It's power was...dark. That was all she could say for sure.

She couldn't tell what it was or where it came from, but there was something she _was_ sure of.

Naruto was there, somewhere. In the middle of that mess.

She opened her mouth to inform the succubus beside her-

A harsh clang interrupted her thoughts from behind her, followed by repeated chants.

"No...no, no, no, no!"

The hero grit her teeth as she was unpleasantly reminded of the _other_ problem they had, forcing her to turn around and deal with the issue at hand.

So she did so, prepared to end this, permanently. It was truly unfortunate though...

But then her facial features contorted to something very different from her attempt at calm detachment, shifting to something akin to complete shell-shock.

All thanks to the fact that the warrior clawed his helmet off.

Green eyes.

Brown messy hair.

Facial features that mirrored that of her adoptive father...

She took a step back, unwilling, _unable_ to understand what was happening.

But she tried to, she wanted to, but it was so much at once...!

Yet her mouth still opened, tentatively whispering a name that she hasn't uttered in years.

"...Basara?" Yuki whispered out, hoping against hope that her comrade was-

'Basara' growled, clenching teeth as he grasped his head, shaking it repeatedly. Green eyes glowing ominously as a streak of hair began to shift to vibrant green as well.

No...there was something _wrong_...

Then the young man let loose a scream, raising his stump of an arm into the air as it glowed green, covering it up in it's luminescence.

Once the glow faded away, both females stared in abject wonder at the change.

The abandoned 'apprentice' of Cao Cao now had a metallic arm where his old one once stayed, wielding the broadsword that he carried before as several pieces of it glowed green.

 _Brynhildr._

His features had grown increasingly intense after he grew out the arm, with a small clump of hair standing up vibrant green, a strange mark right next to his right eye, and his eyes glowing ominously with power.

But what really struck Yuki was the slasher grin on his face.

"...Bad." was all the hero could say. "This is very, _very_ bad..."

Maria nodded slowly, before she turned back to where the pillar of energy came from.

She seriously hoped that Naruto-sama was doing better than they were...

* * *

"Damn you...! Stay still so that I can pummel you!" Heracles roared, throwing a fist straight at the obnoxious blond's face.

'Naruto' spun around it, catching it as he did so and bending it around the large brute, a dark grin on his face as he did so.

The large hero grit his teeth, he couldn't hit the slippery bastard...!

He was about to swing his other arm around, intent on catching him off guard, but through the side of his eye, he caught two blurs appearing right under him.

He immediately tried to intercept, but instead, all he got was two vicious blows up his chin.

The descendant of the original Heracles was sent sky-high, his jaw smarting from the blow, but when he managed to open his eyes, he was met with a new problem.

Three of those damn copies raising their foots in the air, right above him.

Three vicious blows smashed against his face, sending him sailing to the ground, slamming him into the ground with brutal force.

As he crashed, Jeanne was facing off against a clone herself, deftly clashing against his small knife with deft swordplay from her rapier.

The two clashed their weapons together after a swift flurry of blows, faces inches from one another during the cross of blades.

"You know..." the clone grunted out, trying to ignore the creeping feeling of frost that was enveloping his hand from her blade. "You really should stop while you're ahead. There's no way you can win this."

The female hero hummed at that, tilting her head upwards as if to consider. "Whatever do you mean? This onee-san doesn't really think that our chances are that bad, you know~?"

'Naruto' narrowed his eyes faintly. "Because despite the battle that we're fighting, we aren't taking you a hundred percent seriously. We have no idea if your bodies can take our more...powerful moves...so easily. So to be honest...we're hoping that you give up before the boss gets back."

It was true, despite how much stronger these humans are compared to the normal ones...they still didn't have anything to truly enhance their bodies. So to take a _rasengan_ to the gut would be...

Well...it would probably kill them. Easily.

He wanted to keep these people alive for questioning, so this was ridiculously important!

Jeanne pouted, pressing her rapier against the clone further. "Oh~? You're not taking us seriously? Well that won't do...that won't do at _all_."

Blue eyes crinkled lightly, confused at the shift. He wanted to defuse the situation, not make it worse.

Jeanne then stamped her foot onto the ground, a decidedly _unfriendl_ _y_ smile plastered on her face.

 _Balance Breaker._

" _Blade Blacksmith_ _!"_

The clone's eyes widened, wha-?

Then his thoughts ceased, thanks to the fact that several holy swords were sticking out of him.

 ***POOF***

The female hero smiled as the copy disappeared. "I suppose that we just have to stop holding back too, now don't we~?"

As she stated that, several magic bullets shot out of what remained of the forest around them, piercing through the still-too-thick fog and aiming for...

"Look out! Move, move, _move_!" a clone cried out, rolling out of the way as the magical attack nearly hit him, trying to spread the word before his brothers met their end.

Several copies shifted their focus from their fights with the 'heroes' to the attacks, trying to make sure that they didn't get popped.

Some didn't stand a chance.

The clones that were just coming down from sending Heracles to the ground, couldn't get out of the air in time. They got impaled before they could move out of the way.

The 'Naruto' that was in the middle of a duel with Siegfried was a different story, they were surrounded by ice pillars and small whirlwinds that prevented anything from getting through, literally insulating them from harm.

Excluding the one locked in a death battle, that left four clones running around dodging the suspiciously accurate shots.

Jeanne took this opportunity to concentrate inwards, calling upon her inner strength to end this fight, they _did_ have a job to do after all.

As she went to do just that, the someone broke through the ground close to her, emerging from it like some sort of zombie from a horror flick. Looking absolutely _furious_.

Looks like she wasn't the only one about to get serious.

Several of the holy swords that were created to destroy the blond copy began to coalesce into a single entity, growing ever more elaborate as it took in more of the sharp weapons.

Meanwhile, Heracles' body began to glow bright, with several small protrusions beginning to stick out from his body.

" _Stake Victim Dragon!"_ Jeanne declared excitedly, gleefully watching the numerous swords form a large dragon. Allowing her to jump on top of it's head and survey the battlefield from an elevated position.

" _Detonation-Mighty Comet!"_ Heracles roared, with several missile-like objects sticking out of his skin, a maniacal grin accompanying it.

His own _Balance Breaker_...!

He was going to _enjoy_ this...

* * *

Naruto was close to the area where his clones were fighting, he knew that his enemies were still fighting there thanks to the recent memories his clones left behind and to his incredibly enhanced sensing abilities.

Almost there...

He stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes as an explosion rocked the forest, sending dirt, rocks, and trees into the air. The shock wave also buffeted against him, strong enough to bend the trees near him, but not nearly enough to make him budge in his current state.

The shinobi just watched the plume cloud that went higher into the sky, receiving all of the memories of the recently deceased copies. Contemplating the turn of events.

Sacred Gears were annoying, weren't they?

He had no idea about the full extent of these people's new abilities were, only fragments. Underestimating them wasn't a good idea in this case.

So then...may as well make sure they didn't have the chance to attack back.

A bit of...shock and awe was in order.

With that thought in place, he took off his vest, leaving it at the floor so that it wouldn't get caught in the second technique he learned back at the forest. After that, the sage moved forward, toad-like eyes serious as he zeroed in on his enemies.

He reached his destination in no time, crashing through the fallen trees as he emerged in the now ruined battlefield. Which was a mix of rubble, several craters of varying sizes, holy swords sticking out of the ground, pillars of ice towering over everyone, and toppled trees everywhere.

Moving away from that, Naruto quickly took stock of his enemies; noting the silver-haired man and his six arms, the young blond woman standing upon a dragon made of swords, a muscle-head that was glowing with weird protrusions all over his body...

Plus there was a pseudo-sniper here too.

As a side note, the fog that was still lingering on the battlefield was...unnatural. He could tell now, but what did it do exactly?

"Ah...so you must be the real one, right!?" Heracles growled out, taking a menacing step forward.

Toad eyes panned to the muscle-head, deadly serious, but strangely quiet.

"...Hm? Is Uzu-kun shy now? You shouldn't have to worry! Onee-san will take good care of you!" Jeanne chirped, while the dragon that she was sitting on began to move closer to his position.

The blond continued to watch, silent, contemplating.

"It's a shame Uzumaki, it's been a long time since I've faced another blade-user with such skill. But we have our objective...hand over the girl." Siegfried demanded, as his four dragon arms wielded the demon swords with expert efficiency.

Once more, the young teen stayed silent, closing his eyes after a few more moments.

"One chance." he eventually said, unusually solemn. "You all have one chance to give up. If not, then I'll have to crush _all_ of you."

The humans exchanged glances, surprised, before bursting into fits of chuckles, amused that the blond would issue demands with his horrible position.

They were currently utilizing their _Balance Breaker_ _s_ , the epitome of power for Sacred Gears. Not only that, but some of them were using their sub-species variants of their Sacred Gears, more powerful and personalized versions of their inherited weapons.

What chance did Uzumaki possibly have?

Naruto didn't bother to wait for them to stop chuckling about his threat. He simply made a familiar hand sign and let it do the talking.

 _"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"_

Immediately, two clones appeared in an explosion of smoke, flanking him with serious expressions.

The heroes immediately quieted down, getting serious now that he made the first move.

One of the clones leaned to the boss. "Hey...are you _sure_ you want to go through with this? I mean it will probably work...it's just kind of risky, don't ya think?"

Naruto shrugged casually. "The theory is pretty sound I think, and in practice it works too. Don't worry."

The copy sighed, seems that there was no convincing the boss with this.

The triplets then huddled together, the original provided the hand, another started to making grabbing motions over that hand, and the last poured wind into it...

He needed to make the jutsu as stable as possible...!

Siegfried narrowed his eyes as a fierce wind began to blow against him and his comrades, coming from-

" _Fūton: Rasenshuriken!_ " Naruto shouted above the screaming winds, carrying the deadly jutsu over his head with practiced ease.

The heroes watched the spinning star with unease, the power of the attack was obvious as it boldly pushed them all back, despite the great strength that they all boasted.

Even the dragon that Jeanne created was slowly getting pushed against the powerful push back of the jutsu.

Naruto noticed their worried features, he tilted his head as he looked at all of them, an amused smile on his face.

"Oh...don't worry you guys." the shinobi stated clearly over the screaming winds. "This jutsu isn't actually for you."

Siegfried's eyes shifted from wariness to confusion, turning to look at Jeanne and Heracles who carried the same looks.

Before anyone could ask, the blond raised the fierce attack higher as if about to throw it...

"It's for _me_."

With that, he threw the powerful jutsu to the ground, right where he stood.

The explosion enveloped the blond immediately, vicious winds grinding against one another as a dome of wind began to emerge from the impact.

Siegfried took a step back, eyes wide, did he just throw that attack at himself!?

Regardless of what he thought, the dome of wind was beginning to expand, growing larger and about to reach them, with deadly consequences no doubt.

Jeanne and Heracles stared at the dome, gobsmacked themselves, but also quickly noticed the danger.

But before any of them could actually make any moves, a peculiar thing happened.

The dome _stopped._

It's expansion stopped suddenly, despite the fact that the violent wind blades from within kept swirling around inside.

If anything...the dome of wind began to _recede_.

All watched in awe as the dome of wind slowly but surely retreated back to where the attack was initially thrown, until it finally vanished into nothingness, leaving nothing but the crater as evidence of it's existence.

In the middle of that crater...was Naruto.

Naruto opened his eyes, still toad-like, to the world again. With a soft wind shifting the clothes he wore and the occasional violent crash of wind blades that broke out right next to his form, just far away enough to not harm him.

With his golden hair flowing, eyes fierce, and clothes following the whims of the wind surrounding him, he made his declaration.

"... _Fūton Chakra Mode_...activated."

A few seconds of silence passed after the declaration was made, with the heroes watching him warily.

"...W-What did you do?" Heracles questioned eventually, shaken, but managed to gather his nerve at the last second. "Well...it doesn't matter anyways! We're still going to crush you, even after your little circus show!"

With that, the large man screamed, releasing the missiles that were attached to him as they surged to the stationary blond.

Naruto just watched as the projectiles headed straight towards him, clustered together for one powerful strike.

Then he raised his hand in a quick motion, as if back-handing the air itself.

Siegfried narrowed his eyes at the movement, what was he-?

His eyes widened, his mouth fell open to gape as the missiles that was set against their enemy was shredded to pieces, several of which fell short of their destination. Falling in a heap in front of the blond.

Jeanne blinked, thoroughly confused, not understanding what just happened.

While Heracles involuntarily took a step back, horrified. That was his _Balance Breaker_...!

His eyes traveled back to his enemy, anger rising in his veins, about to mete out his righteous-

"Yo."

A hand casually clasped itself at the descendant of the original Heracles' back.

"I _warned_ you."

Heracles screamed as he began to writhe in pain, feeling something akin to a shredder do it's dirty work on his back, trying to get away from the pain...!

Naruto took his hand off the large man's back, allowing him to breathe, worn out from screaming his lungs out.

Then the teen flicked a finger.

A large gash appeared on the hero's back, ripping apart skin as the owner bit back a scream, as he fell down in agony.

Naruto watched, frowning. Somewhat uncomfortable with the pain he's caused, but still fine as long as it doesn't go overboard.

Now for the others...

A wall of flame came flying towards him while he was distracted, coming from Jeanne's dragon as it utilized the holy swords from within itself to attack at her order.

His form was seemingly taken in by the storm of fire, causing the blond woman to smile in triumph, believing that she managed to catch her opponent off guard.

* * *

Meanwhile, Georg was watching the battle from a still-forested area, several magic circles ready to fire at the ready. Using the mist that he's created to hide his position and prepared to teleport again should his position be compromised.

A perfect plan for a support like himself.

But it seemed that Jeanne managed to kill their enemy, so maybe it was time to-

"Nice hiding spot, though I _di_ _d_ figure out where you were before I even entered the battle dattebayo."

The bespectacled man's eyes widened, spinning around to try and salvage the situation.

All he saw was a hand.

"Sorry about this, it won't kill you."

* * *

"Where did he go!? Did you see him escape, Jeanne!?" Siegfried questioned harshly, eyes scanning around the burnt crisp of ground that his partner burned.

The girl that carried the spirit of the original Joan of Arc huffed, pouting cutely. "How rude! My child's flames are more than powerful enough to kill him!"

The silver-haired man could have growled, he still wasn't comfortable until he found a body!

" _Gaaah!"_

Both 'heroes' snapped their heads to an area where trees still stood, as a body came flying out in a heap, covered in nasty cuts and gashed all throughout his body.

"...Georg!" Siegfried muttered, mortified.

It became increasingly obvious as he stared that the young man was either dead or unconscious since the fog around them finally began to lift, aiding in visibility.

As the mist lightened, their enemy walked right out of the area that he kicked their comrade out of. Just as self-assured as before.

Jeanne subtly ordered her dragon to move forward slowly, intent on getting close enough to use another elemental attack and catch their enemy off guard.

Siegfried also raised two demonic swords; _Balmung_ and _Tyrfing_ , to use their powers to catch the teen before he tried anything else.

As they began their attempts to attack, Naruto himself brought his arms close to his chest, crossing them as if he was clutching something invisible to his body. As he did this, the casual wind that surrounded his form began to move to his hands, enhancing it to the point that the wind around the skin began to grind violently against one another.

This powerful winds glowed bright white, cupping his hands like a couple of gauntlets.

As the two heroes made their move, he made his.

Naruto once more back-handed the air, releasing the charged power from his finger tips.

The moment that they were released, the ground around him began to shred apart, literally getting ripped apart piece by piece as they made their way to their intended target.

Neither Jeanne or Siegfried had a chance in dodging the nearly invisible attack, at it moved far faster than anything they were capable of.

It hit the female hero first, as the blades that make up her 'child' began to get ripped to shreds from the attack, destabilizing the dragon as it began to fall apart from the accumulating damage.

Until it finally broke apart, the swords that made it up were broken up to little shards, falling under it's own weight.

Jeanne was hit by the last bit of violent wind as it broke through the crumbling dragon, giving her massive cuts and gashes all over her body.

Siegfried was behind the female hero when she received the attacks, using the two demonic swords he was already about to use from before. Summoning a whirlwind and a massive pillar of ice for protection, before crossing his swords together in a makeshift shield for the attack ahead.

The wind reached him.

He grit his teeth as the wind blades buffeted the ice pillar after cutting through the whirlwind with little effort, carving through his makeshift defense without much difficulty.

The silver-haired man held firm, watching the ice pillar begin to crumble under it's own weight as the wind shred it's base to pieces.

Then, it broke through.

He bit his lips hard enough to bleed, as the wind hit him where his demonic swords weren't protecting, ripping his body apart as it made it's pass.

The wind continued past the two heroes, sending rock and soil into the air as it ripped apart anything in it's way, eventually shredding the trees that were on the other side of the field.

Until it finally died down, leaving the ground devoid of grass or soft dirt, and making a long line of obliterated trees.

Both heroes that were affected by it's coming fell over, groaning and bleeding heavily on the ground.

Naruto's eyes flitted around, determining that the battle was over now that his enemies were for the most part, finished. All he had to do now...was get Kunou and take these people with him to Kyoto or her mother.

Either or.

"N-N-Naruto! What _was_ that!?"

Ah, there she was.

Toad-like eyes turned to where he came from in the forest, as a little girl emerged from it, golden eyes wide in awe.

She followed him...it was a good thing he had Sage Mode on, otherwise he could have accidentally hit her with his attacks...

The blond couldn't help but shake his head, but he let it go.

"Kunou-chan, you alright? Not hurt are you?" Naruto asked gently, walking up to her, making sure to not touch her.

Kunou just gaped, completely entranced. "...That was _amazing_! I've never seen anything like that before! How'd ya do it? How'd ya do it?"

The shinobi allowed for an indulgent smile to spread across his lips, amused. "Kind of complicated kid."

Her eyes dulled, looking annoyed that he still called her a 'kid' after all of this.

But he was telling the truth, it was kind of complicated.

The process of his _F_ _ūton Chakra Mode_ was very similar to similar to his _f_ _ūton: rasenshuriken._ Almost identical as matter of fact.

In a _rasenshuriken_ , the _rasengan_ itself was the medium that was used to control the wind, spinning it around faster and faster to create the deadly wind blades that were so infamous.

The _rasengan_ was the core.

The _Fūton Chakra Mode_? Same concept, as _himself_ as the core. Spinning around the wind chakra around his form to provide a coat of deadly wind, keeping himself insulated from it while keeping it as armor.

Not only that, but by utilizing his skills in shape manipulation, he could actively send out wind chakra from the points of his fingertips if he wants. A flick of motion while releasing some of the wind coating his body actively sends wind blades in that direction.

But...there were still lots of problems with it.

For example, he couldn't make the wind blades in this form anywhere near as powerful as those in a _rasengan_.

The _rasengan_ was essentially a little maelstrom of power, with the chakra flying everywhere, clashing against one another repeatedly to make it's grinding effect against it's victims.

It was that aspect of the jutsu that makes the wind blades so deadly, as it spins around the wind blades and grinds them against one another. It made them overwhelmingly sharp, and when they were released...they flew apart everywhere because of their momentum.

There was no way he could replicate that with his body, if he tried, he'd just kill himself.

So instead, he created the _rasenshuriken_ , set it on himself, released the wind from their container, and spun his chakra around himself, trying to keep the wind's momentum without having it kill him.

Although it _would_ have killed him in his normal state, but that was what senjutsu was for. As senjutsu chakra had a stabilizing effect on anything he attempted with chakra, allowing him to stabilize the rasenshuriken enough to throw it for example, or even make a one-handed _rasengan_ without any help.

Hell, he made a _rasenrengan_ without clones once against one of the Paths of Pain, in the toad chief's mouth if he remembered...

So essentially, with senjutsu chakra, he could keep the wind chakra spinning around himself, to be utilized however he wishes. As a shield, or even to keep the air pressure off of him when running at high speeds, allowing him to move even _faster_ than normal.

Too bad he couldn't fly or anything while like this...that was the original point of this mode too.

More than that, since the mode was still new, it still takes a lot of concentration to continuously spin his chakra around for so long, so he couldn't focus on any jutsus or anything while in this state.

Speaking of that, the _final_ problem with this was...

Naruto took a deep breathe, as he slowly and methodically let loose the wind that was coating him. Making sure that the wind blades that surrounded him were still getting moved around his body, but slowing down the chakra that was spinning it.

Slowing it down, little by little.

The process of getting rid of the mode he was using was exhausting for his senjutsu reserves, as he meticulously made sure that the winds blades wouldn't be released in a fashion that the _rasenshuriken_ did.

As he finally slowed down the wind blades enough to let them be released, then watch them fizzle out, completely harmless, he came to an obvious conclusion.

The amount of senjutsu chakra he had left was pretty low, especially since before he even used his new chakra mode, he used a _rasenshuriken._

So he let loose a sigh as toad-like eyes shifted to blue, and orange pigmentation faded away.

Naruto finally looked at Kunou again, who was looking at him all confused. Opening his mouth to speak-

He suddenly fell to his knees, eyes wide as he nearly fell to his hands, shaking.

Kunou looked taken aback at the sudden movement, but quickly moved closer to him, clutching at him. "Naruto!? Are you ok!?"

The blond turned to look at the yokai princess straight in the eye. Suddenly and completely unsure.

Why did he feel so... _weak_?

His legs quite simply gave up on him to what quickly felt like a building on his shoulders.

This was something that never happened before...what could have caused it?

Then his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him, remembering how slick and oily the natural energy felt as the clone took it in...

Could that be it...?

He didn't feel anything negative when he used senjutsu...so maybe the negative effects were just hitting him after he's weakened after using Sage Mode?

If that's the case...then he had to use it more carefully.

"...Naruto?" the little kyuubi called out, concerned.

The teen raised his head to her, giving her a shaky smile. "Ah...sorry, just tripped."

Kunou's eyes scanned his face for a few seconds, trying to see if he was telling the truth, before nodding slowly.

Blue eyes turned away from the kid for a moment to look to where he laid his vest at-

Ah.

He face-palmed as he realized something.

The area that he just completely obliterated with his wind? That was where he placed his vest...

He was so worried about making sure that Kunou didn't get hit that he obliterated his vest...and the phone inside it as well. Probably.

Damn...Rias and Akeno were right about his luck with phones, weren't they? He'd never hear the end of it.

For now Naruto ignored that little fact. Instead he forced himself up, grabbed Kunou by her hand in order to lead her away to the powerful energy source that he noticed while he still had his senjutsu.

A powerful energy source.

It _must_ be the kid's mother, and she wasn't that far either!

It was while he was leading the little girl by the hand that he felt something wet hit his scalp, making him flinch at the sudden contact.

He glanced up into the sky, was it about to rain...?

Kunou snuggled a little closer to his body while he was distracted, catching his attention as she did so.

"Naruto? We're...actually going to be ok, right? We're really gonna see okaa-sama again?" she mumbled out, trying to meld her body as close to his as possible.

The shinobi held the little hand in his palms a little tighter, as reassurance. She's had a rough day.

"I told you didn't I? I'll protect you." Naruto soothed, firmly holding that tiny hand.

She didn't reply, she simply stayed as she was, moving in tandem with him.

Naruto smiled, continuing forward to meet the faction leader of the yokai. Eager to put this whole mess behind him and finally learn more-

His smile suddenly disappeared from his face as a chill went right down his spine, as the sound of clapping began to drown out all else from his eardrums.

"Heartwarming." a masculine voice stated dryly. "But you really shouldn't make promises that you _can't_ keep...Uzumaki."

The shinobi didn't reply, caught completely off-guard by the sudden appearance of the handsome man wielding a spear. He literally just appeared in front of them! No warning!

It was only after he got over the abrupt surprise, that he noticed the seven orbs that were surrounding the young man...

" _Okaa-sama!_ " Kunou screamed out, charging forward.

Naruto's eyes widened as he physically pulled the kid back, eyes scanning to see what had her so riled up.

Then he saw it, or rather... _her_.

A breathtakingly beautiful woman with long blond hair, a voluptuous body, and golden eyes.

But those eyes were...dulled, as if the woman wasn't actually present in her own body.

More importantly...she looked just like...

The shinobi gripped on Kunou's hand harder. He understood.

"...What did you do to her?" Naruto demanded quietly, doing his best to keep a lid on the anger that was boiling inside.

Cao Cao shrugged airily. "What I did to her, I've done to many, including my former student as a matter of fact. I sometimes have to use more... _extreme_ measures on certain powerful or talented people refuse listen to me. Nothing personal."

Blue eyes narrowed dangerously, anger growing further from his complete lack of contrition. "You're controlling her then...? How? But more importantly...why?"

The hero leader sighed, casually placing his spear over his shoulder, at complete ease. "My, don't you have a lot of questions? But unfortunately, I didn't come here to answer those questions, I've come here to get the girl...and to give you an offer."

Kunou looked up nervously at the teenaged boy, fearful that the man would do to her what he did to her mother.

He squeezed her hand, easing her worries.

He was still with her.

Cao Cao didn't say anything if he noticed the exchange. "I'll only ask once, as many of my people are quite upset at you for all of the trouble you've put us through. Join us, embrace us as your brothers and sisters, and help us overthrow this decadent world that the Hero Tribe has allowed to form."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, ignoring the slow increase of rain that was falling now. "Decadent?"

The older man nodded solemnly, completely serious. "Yes, a world where supernatural beings such as devils, fallen angels, and even angels have abused and oppressed humanity for over thousands of years. A world where humans are _still_ used by their 'betters' to inflate their numbers or use as cattle. A world that the Hero Tribe could have ended it if it had the guts to do so...but didn't."

The shinobi frowned heavily, confused, but steady. "What kind of bullshit are you spouting? What the hell does _any_ of this have to do with that cause?"

Cao Cao inclined his head. "Fair point, if you're looking at it from a narrow point of view, it _would_ look strange, wouldn't it? But I assure you, this _is_ relevant. This event will aid us in our quest to challenge the supernatural, to show that they _can_ be overcome by humans!"

The hero leader leaned back, tilting his head to regard the young woman that stood by his side. "Yasaka here will give me the ability to challenge the greatest of all monsters; Great Red."

Naruto's eyes widened to the size of saucers, horrified. "Are...are you insane!? I thought that Great Red was the strongest being alive!? Why would you-?"

"To test my limitations." the 'hero' interrupted, deadly serious. "Humans are known for adapting to difficult situations, aren't they? They can overcome numerous challenges to reach their end goal, given time. Can this not be seen as a new challenge to be overcome? A new goal to be reached and conquered?"

He then spread his arms out, welcoming. "I intend to open the flood gates Uzumaki, to push as many humans as possible to challenge their limitations...and challenge the _greatest_ limitation."

"...He's insane." Kunou whispered, shuffling closer to his body.

Naruto didn't respond, he kept his eyes locked on his opponent. "...I wonder how many people will have to end up like Yasaka for this...'plan' of yours to work out."

Cao Cao's facial features crinkled slightly. "Why should the oppressed care about what happens to their oppressor?"

The shinobi took a step forward, newly aggressive as his eyes dilated, raising Kunou's hand as he did so. "Does the kid look like a fucking oppressor to you!?"

Now the hero leader's own eyes narrowed. "It doesn't change the fact that she benefits from the system in place, she's complicit, whether she likes it or not. So I ask again...should the oppressed care about what happens to their _oppressor_? Is it not just for the oppressors to get _destroyed_ for their arrogance? As comeuppance?"

Naruto's face blanked out at that statement, he took a step back, and released a long drawn out sigh.

Then he gave his fellow human a steady look.

"Man...I wish I can see things from your point of view." the blond mused, suddenly relaxed. "But I'm afraid that I can't stick my head far enough in my own ass for that, so I'll have to decline."

Cao Cao frowned, bringing his spear back to the forefront. "A shame, we could have used your abilities. But as it stands..."

The black-haired young man turned around to look at the unresponsive Yasaka.

"...Kill him, I suppose." the 'hero' ordered lightly.

Golden eyes flashed open, glowing brightly with excess power as the beautiful woman began to _change_.

Her form grew to gargantuan proportions, dwarfing the trees easily with this transformation.

Then she solidified into a form that made Naruto do a double-take, trying not to equate it to... _something_ else.

A kyuubi, with beautiful golden fur, and nine long royal tails, in all of it's feral glory.

Naruto pushed Kunou behind him, prepared to fight against the fierce beast of legend, but trying to do his best to ignore the memories of _another_ beast...one that sometimes still haunted him.

 **"...Naruto..."**

 _Ignore it_. _Pretend it doesn't exist_.

The shinobi quickly brought his hands together, prepared to use his signature jutsu to get him out of this mess.

As he did so, he noticed that his enemy seemed to be looking awfully smug over something...

Then he felt it.

 _Killing intent_.

He had to cut himself off in order to pull Kunou away from him and to cross his arms in take the attack that was heading at him from behind...!

 ***BOOM***

The yokai princess was thrown bodily away from her protector, only getting up to see what happened when she managed to stop herself. Giving her the chance to see what happened...

She couldn't, the mist that was surrounding them was too thick to-

Wait...mist?

Hey golden eyes widened, but that's impossible! They were badly defeated already!

Meanwhile, Naruto swiped away at the smoke that the attack left behind, giving him the chance to see what was going on. Smarting at all of the singes that the attack left behind.

As he did so, the first thing that his eyes registered was the maw of a what seemed like a thousand swords...

Fire and electricity spewed from that maw, heading straight towards him as the blond quickly grabbed a kunai from his pouch and enhanced it with wind chakra so that it could be used to intercept the attack.

He succeeded, stopping the attack cold, but the twin attacks were taking their toll on the little knife and on his hand, which was quickly getting heated up from the assault.

As he focused on this, his instincts _screamed_ at him to move, pushing him to grab another kunai from his pouch and enhance it with wind chakra.

He caught the vicious blade that was aimed at his heart, but the power of the blade bodily pushed him close to the ground, making a decent crater from right under him.

It also pushed him closer to the double elemental attack, wincing as the attacks buffeted him on the left side of his face.

 **"You're outnumbered. You're weakened. With a large handicap. You need me..."**

Naruto grit his teeth, as he used every ounce of strength he had left in him to shove the blade that was used against him and shift it to where the elemental onslaught was pushing him back.

This surprise move obviously shocked the sword wielder, as his blade was used to intercept the attack from his comrade, but during the distraction, Naruto quickly backed up. Needing to get some space.

It was at that moment, while backing up, with the now thunderous sound of rain pouring onto the ground, that he noticed something.

Fog. If anything, thicker than before.

The shinobi growled, how could they have gotten up? They were so wounded that it would have been impossible!

But he couldn't stop to think, as several missiles pierced through the fog, moving towards him.

Naruto prepared to move again, looking for his enemies in this annoying fog which lowered his field of vision.

Then he noticed something strange.

The missiles weren't...aimed at _him_. Their trajectory was, if anything, aimed at something behind him...

It felt like a lead weight fell onto his stomach as realization hit him.

The shinobi spun around and raced towards the missile's destination, running as fast as he could with his weakened body.

Kunou's golden eyes shone with relief when their eyes connected again.

"Ah! Thank goodness you're-"

She didn't finish her sentence as he scooped her up and jumped away, with several explosions erupting behind him as they moved away.

Naruto released a sigh of relief when he landed, preparing to let go of the little girl to get back to the fight.

Then he saw several sharp glints break through the fog.

"Shit...!" the blond couldn't help but spit out, as he realized he had no time to make another jump or make a jutsu.

Naruto turned away from the attack, showing his back to it, and covered the little kyuubi up with his arms as he braced for impact...!

Several magic missiles crashed against his back, sending the duo forward and towards the ground. Crashing against it due to the initial push from the attack.

 **"You're still human...Naruto...you can't ignore me forever..."**

The shinobi grit his teeth as he took the attack and made sure that his arms took the hardened dirt as well. Sparing his fellow blond from pain.

He hoped that the second that they stopped sliding across the ground, that he could make some distance to turn the tables on these people.

But then he saw the massive dose of flames get spewed from his right side, not even letting him get up to respond.

Once more, the blond covered his body, gritting his teeth as the powerful flames consumed their forms, knowing instinctively that this was from the yokai leader.

As he tanked through the attack, he began to get bombarded from the air by missiles and rapid-fire magic bullets crashing into him, sending him flat onto the ground in pain.

Damn it...! He just needed a single second to fight back...!

 **"...You can't keep this up...Naruto."**

Blue eyes clenched shut as the fire grew _stronger_ , enhanced by the fire from somewhere else, as well as a whirlwind that picked up. Leaving him in the middle of a literal fire storm.

He felt skin begin to give way as the flames grew stronger, giving him mild second degree burns that were moving dangerously close to third degree.

Yet his resolve to protect the little girl under him held firm.

The onslaught continued for a little while longer, until it finally, _mercifully_ , stopped.

Steam came out of the blond's body, getting cooled down by the incessant rain, a pool of red water began to flow from under him as water and blood intertwined.

It hurt. It hurt so much...

"Naruto...?" Kunou whispered, voice small. "Are...are we going to die...?"

The shinobi slowly got up on his elbows, making some space between the two blondes, revealing a soot-covered face surrounded by burns.

But his smile was still true.

"...I promise you...didn't I?" he rasped out, wincing at the effort. "I...I will protect you. I _promise_."

The little girl let loose a wistful smile, eyes fluttering close.

" _Thank you_."

With that, Kunou closed her eyes, losing consciousness. The stress of the day knocking her out.

Naruto leaned down, tapping his head with hers, getting a little bit of soot on her completely clean head.

"...I'll keep that promise." the shinobi determined solemnly.

He had no choice anymore.

He _had_ to do it.

Even if it made every fiber of his being feel sick at having to rely on _that_ power again...it was for the greater good.

With that, he closed his eyes, losing consciousness.

* * *

...

...

...

"I know you're there."

...

...

...

 **"It's been a long time...Naruto."**

"Not long enough."

...

...

"I heard you. I didn't want to, but I _heard_ you..."

...

"This is a one-time thing, I won't let you push me as far as last time. I won't let you put those I care about in danger. You understand?"

 **"...I understand. But I wonder...do _you_ understand? If I remember correctly...it was _you_ who began to use my power recklessly enough for me to utilize to my advantage. Just remember...Naruto...we aren't friends."**

...

...

"...That's too bad. Honestly, if there was a way to get us to work together as a team...ah...who am I kidding? Never mind. Though...if there's any chance for you to join the good side...I'd take it you know?"

...

 **"Keh! Damn brat..."**

* * *

Cao Cao stood on the yokai leader's head, staring down at the fallen body of their adversary.

"Not bad. You used his protective feelings of the child to bombard him relentlessly. I'm impressed." Cao Cao complimented, turning to Heracles with a raised eyebrow.

The 'hero' puffed his chest out, proud. "I did it by accident, but by the time I realized it, I thought that it would be a good idea. Hahahaha!"

Siegfried walked closer to the hero leader, also peering down at the blond. "Also...his movements were far more sluggish compared to before. Perhaps his first battle with us took more of a toll on him than we thought."

The black-haired young man nodded, considering the idea. "Fortunate for us then."

Jeanne walked up to them, humming to herself. "Yep! It was also a good thing that we brought those phoenix tears with us! We would have been in big trouble if that Lucifer guy didn't hand them out to us."

Cao Cao hummed, agreeing silently. The supply of phoenix tears proved to be an excellent investment. He was partially stalling for time as he was talking to Uzumaki as a matter of fact, hoping that the team would use the phoenix tears to restore themselves to full strength and ambush him from behind.

It ended beautifully.

The hero leader then leaned down from his perch, as self-satisfied as ever. "Hey Uzumaki...there's one more thing that I forgot to mention. There's actually something I should be thanking you for."

Cao Cao spread his arms out, smirking. "It was actually thanks to your intervention, that I managed to trap Yasaka here. As she left Kyoto on the assumption that her daughter was close by and you were the only enemy, unaware that I was _waiting_ for her to make such a mistake. In short, you were the beacon, her daughter was the bait, and you all played your parts to perfection. Isn't that funny? So thank you for your support."

Naruto didn't respond, still face down on the ground.

The 'hero' shrugged. "Well, he seems spent. I suppose I should just kill them both."

No one disagreed.

But before he could give the other, a sudden chill crawled down their collective spines.

What was...?

"...Hey...what...what's happening to him...?" Georg asked quietly, taking a step back from the group in fear.

All of the humans turned to look at the teenaged male on the ground, still face down, but with steam exuding his body.

Everyone watched in morbid fascination as severe burns were repaired, cuts were sewn shut, and clumps of skin grew back.

Then a violent red aura began to surround the blond, overtaking his form as the red energy shot into the air, piercing the storm clouds overhead.

That aura, oh...that _aura_...!

It felt like pure evil...

Suddenly, without warning, Naruto began to _stand_. Getting onto his feet despite formerly being unconcious, keeping his face turned away from the 'heroes'.

He had _changed_.

His fingernails grown to resemble claws.

His already wild hair became feral and untamable.

The whisker marks on his cheeks grew and thickened.

The aura around him was volatile and dangerous, with small pebbles floating into the air just from being in close proximity to him, and the ground cracked and gave way from him just standing there.

Then, slowly, ever so _slowly_ , he turned around.

Glaring at them, through a harsh and blood-thirsty red slit.

"...What _are_ you...? Cao Cao whispered, taking a step back, feeling something he hasn't felt in a _long_ time.

 _Fear._

Naruto didn't reply immediately, he first smiled, which bared impossibly sharp and dangerous canines.

" _Your worst nightmare incarnate._ "

* * *

 **AN: The longest chapter that I'll probably ever make. I guess I just wanted to see how you guys liked things such as these. Also, I just couldn't stop. -.-**

 **Oh well, I suppose everyone gets to see what they have been pining for since the beginning of this fic; Kurama. Yep, he's made his first official appearance now.**

 **Now you guys kind of see why I waited for so long? It's just so much more badass than just seeing him in a mindscape like usual. I just want to make these things more powerful, if it's possible anyways.**

 **Also, as I said, Naruto isn't all-powerful, his unfortunate position and strange ailment pushed him over the edge quickly. That and being ambushed while getting bombarded by attacks from zero-visibility mist is rough...**

 **So I hope the hype was worth the wait. Hoped I delivered. Hope that it wasn't too long. (Tell me about what you thought about chapter length by the way.)**

 **And finally, hope that I reach 2k favs. :P**

 **The end of the Kyoto Arc is next chapter, which smoothly begins the Excalibur Arc, with some interesting developments. :3**

 **By the way, I need practice with writing impactful scenes. I sometimes feel like I suck at them! XD**

 **(Quick edit: For anyone that thinks that Cao Cao is acting OP, remember; he is only the sum of the parts of a faction. The Hero Faction overwhelmed Naruto, not Cao Cao himself. The proof is in the text. I did hope that I didn't have to say that outright tho! XD)**

 **-RekkingPride**


	31. Chapter 31

***Tick Tock Tick Tock***

"Buchou, are you ok?"

The Gremory heiress broke from her self-imposed silence, looking up from her table to look at her worried _Queen_.

"Ah...yeah. I'm just in a daze from all the training that we've been doing. It almost seems unreal to be honest." she admitted, shaking her head lightly to get the mental cobwebs out.

She was _supposed_ to be working, but for some strange reason, she couldn't really concentrate. Her head was quite simply, stuck in the clouds.

Why? Well...because it was so _quiet_. Almost deafeningly so.

The room then shook lightly, very faint, but the two devils in the room did notice it.

"Seems Mio-chan is still determined to follow Naruto's words to the letter..." Rias mused faintly, a ghost of a smile growing on her lips.

Akeno smiled too. "You don't seem to be too different though."

The red-head had the decency to look away sheepishly. Placing her hands on top of her lap to hide the numerous scratches and burns that were on them.

They were on her feet as well...probably because she went too far.

"You say that...but aren't you just as bad?" the high-class devil countered eventually, a challenging glint in her eye.

Akeno's body was also covered in small wounds, thanks to the high voltage that she kept using for training.

"I never claimed otherwise." she stated, a pleasant smile still on her face.

Rias huffed, leaning back on her chair. Trying to force herself to work.

"It's quiet." she decided, seemingly arbitrarily. "That's the problem. It's too _quiet_."

The sadistic black-haired woman tilted her head, giving her friend a look of understanding. "You miss him too, hm?"

The red-head coughed, a little red staining her cheeks. "I wouldn't put it like _that_...but in essence, I do miss him and his antics...a little bit."

A slow smirk began to crawl it's way up the _queen's_ face, a teasing glint in her eye.

" _Don't_." Rias warned, eyeing her friend warily.

Akeno raised her hands up, guilty as charged. She was just looking for a little bit of innocent fun.

...At her friend's expense, as usual.

The Gremory heiress turned away from her thoroughly infuriating friend, turning to the window outside, eyes scanning the skies to seek some sense of serenity.

At first, she succeeded with her goal, as she watched the calm skies above with a calmer mind. Trying to move past the minor annoyance of a Kouh Academy without anyone to make it more lively.

...But was that really all that she had a problem with?

The red-head unintentionally snorted at the thought, what was she thinking right now...

Akeno watched her _king_ with some concern, knowing intrinsically that her close friend was dealing with some...internal issues as well.

Hopefully those 'issues' would lessen over time...

As Rias continued to watch the skies outside, her self-depreciating state of mind suddenly began to shift, turning serious.

This shift came as her blue-green eyes continued to study the skies, watching as the dark clouds from afar began to move closer to them.

"A storm is coming." she stated evenly, sure of her assessment.

Akeno turned her eyes outside, scanning the clouds herself. "Yeah...it seems so. It's coming from the west...Kyoto is in the west, right?"

Rias nodded, it was.

The storm that was coming...it gave her an ill feeling, it was instinctual.

Yuuto hasn't been showing up to school, Naruto was gone, and now this deep sense of unease was gnawing at her.

They should be careful, should anything happen to them while they were in this condition...

They would have to handle it on their own.

At that exact moment, the door to the training center slammed open, revealing an exhausted Mio, looking annoyed.

Both 'Great Ladies' looked at the young teen in surprise, it was rare to see her look so...aggressive.

"Hah...this training that Naruto gave me...is _really_ hard." the red-head stated abruptly, no doubt in her mind.

Akeno walked up to the panting red-head, patting her back soothingly. "You don't have to keep going at it you know? The instructions he gave you are...strange. I've never seen anyone use elements like your brother is asking for you to do. It's an incredibly high order. To be honest, Rias and I figured that the training he's pushing you to do is just meant to enhance your elemental manipulation, not to necessarily accomplish your goal."

Mio laughed breezily at that, shaking her head lightly. "That sounds like something he could do...but I don't think that's what this is. I'm going to keep trying...mostly so that I can shove it in his face with a grin."

The high-class devil snorted rudely, she had no idea whether sibling rivalry or sibling affection was driving her fellow red-head. It was hard to tell sometimes. Perhaps a bit of both?

"...It's too bad that school's about to start. I have to get ready for class." the half-devil groaned, stretching her limbs and moving to leave the building. "I'll see the rest of you later!"

The Gremory heiress blinked, before turning to the clock, groaning herself. "Shoot...lost track of time. We have to get ready too."

As she said this, the door to the training center opened again, revealing Issei, Asia, and Koneko. All looking incredibly weary themselves.

"Ah...Buchou." Issei mumbled out, with bags under his eyes. "We...really shouldn't be doing all-nighters for this sort of thing. I feel like shit."

Rias and Akeno regarded the group, noting that Asia was nodding off while standing up and that the _rook_ was swinging back and forth, as if about to topple.

Both teens sighed, offering each other exasperated looks.

These kouhai of theirs...

* * *

Yasaka watched, unable to move, as her daughter's protector got ready to face the ones that would do them both harm.

...Yet she was one of those who would do them harm.

How did it come to this...?

* * *

 ** _Several moments earlier..._**

Golden eyes stared stoically ahead, lips set in a firm line, as the leader of the yokai faction kept up her momentum. Moving deeper into the forest that was next to the city of Kyoto.

Getting close...

"Yasaka-sama...we're getting close." one of her bodyguards reaffirmed, trudging ahead of her just in case.

Yasaka didn't respond, she kept all of her attention onto her senses, seeking to find the strange burst of power that resonated to her.

She knew it must be her daughter's kidnapper...and when she found this strange being...she would do everything in her power to inform him of just how _displeased_ he had made her.

Never cross a mother's children.

"Ah...seems I finally found you."

The powerful yokai's pupils flickered to the sides of her eyes, a deep frown growing across her face as a masculine voice addressed her from behind the group. How did he...?

Her two bodyguards immediately flanked her, growling menacingly to the young man.

She slowly turned her body around, grace and power exuding from her form as her miko outfit flittered against the cool forest floor.

"...Who are you?" Yasaka demanded coolly, getting straight to the point.

The young man's grin widened at the complete lack of niceties. "To the point I see? I suppose you _are_ in a bit of a hurry...well I apologize. This won't take too much of your time...you will see your daughter soon enough."

The atmosphere quickly dropped several degrees, the yokai leader's bearing became increasingly more hostile and cold at the statement.

"...Then you're with the kidnappers, I presume?" she asked quietly, her golden eyes locked onto Cao Cao's unerringly.

The hero leader shrugged. "You're about half-right. He isn't necessarily working for me...but he is still working in my favor."

Then the grin on the human's face grew even further, a dark glint in his eye as he regarded the kyuubi.

"He is very much unlike you of course...you'll be working for me from now on. No questions asked."

Yasaka bared her teeth, incensed that this man had the gall to-!

The air was knocked out of her chest as she nearly fell over, eyes wide, as time seemed to slow to a crawl. Sound seemed to have become muted. All colors gave way to gray, white, and black.

...What...?

" _My my...such basic fear for those you love...with your mind as frantic as it is and your heart as emotionally vulnerable as it is...this shouldn't be too difficult now should it?"_

Yasaka tried to growl, to angrily demand who that was, to threaten, to scream, to rage...

But she couldn't.

Realization hit her like a wrecking ball.

She _couldn't_.

Limbs that used to respond were now sluggish, eyes that scanned now refused to do so, and her body...

Her body wasn't responding to her commands...it was almost as if everything she _was_ was suddenly given the back seat to...something else.

No...not something else... _nothing_ else.

Then she saw it, above her, in the sky. A visage that only she could see.

A single red slit staring down at her.

Cold and calculating.

Cruel and sadistic.

"...Impossible..." she breathed, eyes wide. "When did you do this...? When did you place your illusion on me...? There aren't any abilities or Sacred Gears that could do this without my knowledge!"

Despite the fact that the kyuubi couldn't see her enemy's face, she could very well hear the smug smile that he had.

 _"Knowledge is power. Your lack of knowledge is what damned you to such an easy trap...but then again, considering your current emotional state...it would have been doubtful that you could've resisted me anyways."_

Yasaka tried to shake her head. She had a basic knowledge of Sacred Gears and abilities that could rip away her free will, it was necessary since she was the leader of an entire faction. Yet...she's never heard of anything like this before.

 _"...Apologies, but we're in a bit of a hurry...we'll be taking control of your body for a while. Please try not to resist too much...my abilities are quite...unique you see...and I can be very inconsiderate if I really want to."_

The beautiful woman could only grit her teeth, who were these people? What were their aim? Why target her?

Then her golden eyes widened.

What about-!?

"Ah...so she's available to implicit suggestions now?" the enemy leader called out, summarily bored.

Yasaka finally managed to rip her attention away from her dilemma, but doing so only confirmed her fears.

Her bodyguards were left to face the man alone once she was taken out of the picture by his ally...

Their corpses laid about her, while her clothes remained unstained, the forest floor could no longer say the same.

Cao Cao placed his finger to his ear, opening up the line to his hidden ally. "Shiba, how is your control over her?"

A beat passed before his old comrade answered.

"Stable." the traitorous hero stated, voice clipped, lacking the confidence of before. "But not stable enough that I'd feel comfortable in leaving her unattended should I have to rest. We may need her daughter after all...to act as a guarantee. To keep her obedient."

The hero leader nodded, eyes narrowing, ignoring the feeling of droplets that was beginning to fall on his head.

"...You said that keeping your target emotionally despondent was another option, yes?" the former apprentice of Jin questioned, another idea popping into his mind.

He could feel his ally's agreement despite the lack of words.

"Then...perhaps... _killing_ the child is another option." Cao Cao wondered aloud. "Surely that should be more than enough to break her in. The question is...do you think you can retain total control over her after that?"

Silence once more reigned on the other line, before Shiba answered. "It would work if you succeeded in killing her daughter. But that being said, having Yasaka face her daughter in a battle could cause her resistance to rise to intolerant levels. It's a risk."

"A risk we'll have to take." Cao Cao responded, eyes sharp. "Tell me, where's Uzumaki? Has our strike force made contact?"

"Yes." Shiba responded, all business. "But it seems that they have been recently defeated...do you want their coordinates?"

The hero leader nodded, allowing for one of the black orbs surrounding him to move closer to him. Grabbing his new pet all the while so that they would both be transported.

Yasaka could only watch helplessly, watching all the events that would transpire like some sort of horror flick.

She saw the black-haired man teleport the both of them behind two blondes, her daughter, and -to her shame- her protector. Proving that she really did have the entire situation wrong.

But it was too late now.

Her heart would bleed at the panicked plea from Kunou, trying to get her to see reason.

She would listen with a tinge of admiration as the blond boy; Naruto, would decline her captor's offer. Despite the odds he was faced with.

But as the two men were about to clash again, she tried to open her mouth to scream. To give a warning to the teenaged boy that was protecting her daughter. Of the group that was about to ambush him from behind.

Once more, she could do nothing but watch, as Naruto was taken by surprise and slowly, but surely, overwhelmed by the attacks that were specifically aimed for her daughter.

To her eternal shame, her flames were among them.

As the 'heroes' gloated over their victory, and as the yokai leader feared the worst for her daughter and her protector...something _changed._

Despite taking heavy damage, the boy _stood_ , a new and powerful aura surrounding him as he did so.

Her heart leapt in her chest as she watched the young man turn to face his enemies, a vicious red slit accompanying the change.

Maybe there was still a chance to turn their situation around?

But as Yasaka watched, newly hopeful for a better conclusion, she still couldn't help but note something...dark about his change.

Those eyes were still reminiscent of the passionate and hotly righteous blue of prior...but there was a darker tint to it now.

There was an aspect in those eyes, that reminded her of the eyes of the one who controlled her.

A cold and ruthless darkness hidden deep inside.

Nevertheless, he was her last shot.

Very simply, she still held out hope, that darkness _was_ deep inside after all. Hopefully it would simply stay that way.

Golden eyes clenched shut, prepared for whatever he had to do to protect her precious child.

As long as Kunou lived...that was all that mattered.

* * *

'Naruto' smashed the back of his kunai into his enemy's head, smashing him to the ground, knocking him out instantly.

Another one down...

The clone was still partaking in the battle between the yokai and the strangely powerful humans, pushing back their enemies steadily and with no casualties so far. Thanks to the fact that the few dangerous moments where death could have happened... were shut down by the clones quickly.

They had to be careful, they still had no idea why these people were attacking, or what their objectives were. For all they knew, this could be a massive misunderstanding, so killing these people could only make things worse.

Or more than that, erupt into a full-fledged war. Diplomacy was still an option if the causality list _stayed_ low.

Besides, they weren't a threat anyways, but those other humans that his brothers fought on the other hand...

The muscle-head, the six-armed swordsman, the glasses-jerk, and the crazy-happy lady. Those guys were different, they were among the higher-ups in the group. He hoped that the boss secured them by now...

'Naruto' gasped as he suddenly clutched his stomach, as an intense burn spread across his body from it, crippling him for a split-second.

It wasn't just an isolated incident, as his brothers also stopped what they were doing and clutched their stomachs, feeling the same sensations that he was going through.

He recognized this feeling...but the boss wouldn't resort to _that_...right?

Then the dark chakra hit him like a freight train, causing his eyes to widen at the familiar feeling.

Kyuubi...

At that moment, a violent burst of dark chakra erupted from an area much further away from them, piercing the sky with it's power.

The power wasn't just noticed by the clones.

Yokai and human alike stopped fighting for a moment to turn and look at the pillar of dark power, surprised and wary of it's sudden existence. Uncertain of how to take it.

But 'Naruto' was more worried about something else, more importantly, about just how... _different_ it felt.

The chakra that was erupting felt very much like the kyuubi no yoko's power, but it felt more...darker.

More sinister.

At least that new aspect of the chakra felt somewhat faint. So while it was worrying, it wasn't some kind of emergency or anything.

It was still disturbing however...the initial stage should only make their boss angrier, more easier to enrage. But this feeling felt more oppressively darker, more harder to control.

But more than that...what about the pain the clones just felt?

The chakra that they sensed wasn't like the feral rage that he associated with the version 1 chakra cloak, or like the mindless blood-lust of the version 2 chakra cloak...

No...this was just the initial stage, he could tell.

But, the initial stage _shouldn't_ be hurting them as clones! The version 1 cloak was when that started to happen!

So _why_ were they in pain...?

Nevertheless, while he was thinking on it, the other clones didn't wait around to find out, instead they decided to take out as many of their opponents as possible now that they were distracted.

The humans, once distracted, rallied at the assault, and the yokai soon joined in. Trying to finish this as soon as possible so that they could find their princess.

'Naruto' got up and joined in, feet pushing him forward and ignoring the annoying sound of his shoes hitting the muddy ground caused by the rain.

He hoped that the boss knew what he was doing...

* * *

Yuki used her single arm to raise her katana, prepared to use lethal force if necessary.

Though the thought of using lethal force at this particular enemy was...disturbing.

"Yuki-san, do you know this guy?" Maria asked, cautiously eyeing their adversary, unsure of what to make of the change of his appearance.

The young man, Basara, panted repeatedly, as if exhausted from an extremely strenuous work out. Smirking at them with an insane look in his eye...

"...You can say that." the hero replied, eyes making sure to lock on her former partner, trying to rationalize the fact that he was even _alive_.

She last saw him when they were just children...when their mentor stabbed them in the back.

The memory was vivid, she could still _see_ the little boy charge at their sensei, furious green eyes locked onto his enemy. Wielding the legendary blade; _Brynhildr_ , with unusual strength.

She remembered the crater where the little boy once stood.

Gone. Just like that.

Yet here he stood, flesh and bone, alive and well.

Working for _him_.

As the thought crossed her mind, a new-found desperation engulfed her, pushing her to drop her weapon. Pushing her to walk up to her long-lost ally and simply hug him.

To say hello, to ask how he's been, to drag him back to his father so that they could be what they once were...

But she knew it was impossible for them to perfectly emulate those days. Too much has happened between all of them for that to happen.

...However...that didn't mean that they couldn't forge a new relationship based on what they had. It didn't mean that there was no hope for him to be her ally again.

So the hero opened her mouth, getting ready to try to-

 _Brynhildr_ was enveloped by a green aura, surrounding it whole as the former hero brought his blade up with an insane grin.

Both Yuki's and Maria's eyes widened, remembering what that entailed.

So the brown-haired teenager brought his sword down, which as expected, brought forth a vicious green wave from the tip of the blade. Thankfully, the pair of allies were already in the middle of moving out of the way.

The female hero opted to run towards the attack at an angle, closing the space between the combatants as she made enough distance to be safe from the attack.

 _Sakuya_ was engulfed in a green aura as well when it was swung towards her former comrade, intentionally aiming for the man's sword arm.

She never got the chance to finish the swing.

A knee viciously hit the hero at her abdomen, stopping her dead in her tracks at the sudden blow.

Yuki gasped as she was brought to her knees, eyes dilated as she wheezed desperately for air, trying to bring back oxygen to her suddenly empty lungs.

But she was given no reprieve as a fist slammed into her cheek, knocking her at just the right angle to set her sliding against the now-muddy ground.

Meanwhile, after tucking and rolling away to dodge Basara's attack, Maria finished her roll and faced the berserk warrior. Only just in time to see her ally get knocked back towards her.

The succubus opened her palm to create a magic circle, concentrating a large amount of demonic energy into her creation. She needed one clear shot...!

There was no way she would be able to hit her enemy while he was moving, this was her best chance.

As Yuki slid back to Maria, she managed to keep the green aura around her blade intact. The volatile energy was more unstable than before...but it should still be ready to launch regardless.

So as a parting shot, the hero swung her blade as she finished her slide.

At the same time, Maria launched a ball of demonic energy that was bigger than her head from her magic circle, heavily charged and primed to explode.

Both attacks soared to the insane young man, moving at him from the same general direction.

Basara merely watched the attacks come, the glint of insanity still bright in his eyes as he brought his sword to bear, preparing to swing like a bat.

The moment that the attacks came close enough, he swung.

 _Brynhildr_ was pit against both attacks, stopping them both in their tracks as his weapon began to glow, the latent power within was being _released_...

 _Banishing Shift!_

The green wave and the purple orb were both cut in half, before dissipating from view. Disappearing into the rainy atmosphere like smoke.

Maria gaped, what...what just happened? Her attack was primed to explode! If something was strong enough to cut it in half, then it should have detonated like a grenade!

"...Great...he can use _Banishing Shift_ at will..." Yuki murmured, eyes focused onto her enemy's eyes.

The succubus didn't turn, opting to watch their enemy, a large frown on her face. " _Banishing Shift_? Is that his special ability or something like that?"

"You can say that." the hero responded levelly, staying focused. "Suffice it to say that as long as we use energy attacks...it's likely not going to work."

Maria bit her lip, considering, then as she was now...she was useless in this battle.

With _True Sight_ , Yuki can actually fight with something resembling a chance but...she wasn't in any condition to take him down either.

She had to use _that_.

Maria turned her head to say something to her partner, as she continued to look at their enemy through the side of her eye. "Hey...I have an idea-"

The abandoned apprentice vanished from view.

Purple eyes widened at the incredibly fast movement, only catching a blur move out of her line of sight. Where did he go!?

Yuki on the other hand, _saw_.

Her eyes barely managed to keep eye contact as her enraged former-comrade moved swiftly around their position, obviously to try and kill them from behind. However, her current speed was only fast enough to react, not enough to actually _stop_ him.

When the powerful warrior reappeared behind them, his large blade at the ready to cut them both in half, Yuki was ready.

The female human still had her enemy in her sights as she jumped backwards, pushing her partner and raising her blade to take the attack. Knowing full well that with only one arm, trying to actually stop his attack wasn't going to work.

She was proven right.

When _Brynhildr_ smashed against her guard, both females were launched back, set crashing against multiple trees harshly without stopping, bringing forth a lot of broken bark and splinters from their impacts. Before finally hitting the muddy forest floor in a heap.

Yuki groaned as she tried to lift her her body from the mushy ground, doing her absolute best to ignore the stinging pain from her broken arm.

"...As I was saying." Maria grumbled out, getting her face out of the mud since she fell into it face-first. "I have an idea. I need you to buy me a little time to transform."

Yellow eyes turned to purple ones, intrigued, but still wary. "...You can transform?"

The succubus nodded quickly, eyes wide. "Yeah! This isn't technically my 'true' form you see. As a succubus...my body _is_ supposed to be quite a bit more seductive than this...but that's not what's important. What _is_ important, is the fact that I'm much more powerful in that state in comparison to now. I'm a hindrance as I am now...and the only way we can win here is to fight together."

The hero listened carefully, weighing her options, as she saw her former ally walk back into view. Using the fallen trees as a psuedo-breadcrumb trail to them.

Then those glowing emerald eyes locked onto hers again.

Accompanied by a dark smile.

"...This transformation of yours better be powerful...!" Yuki bit out, before standing up again and placing her katana in a defensive position.

Maria was already on it, as she summoned a small magic circle and materialized a small item from it.

A key.

The key floated closer to her, as she carefully aimed it to her chest...

Her costume always had a strange addition to it's appearance; that addition being a keyhole that was resting over her collar.

It wasn't there for show, it was a seal, meant to lock her power for emergencies only.

That time being now of course.

As Maria continued, Yuki took a step forward, prepared for the inevitable clash between her and the berserk Basara.

As expected, the young man charged forward, a dark grin spread across his lips as he raised his weapon too, preparing to kill her with one swift stroke.

 _"GRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!"_

The hero was nearly knocked off her feet as a powerful wind physically pushed her back, coming from a bellow that echoed from somewhere far off. She was unable to tell where though, since they were fighting deeper into the forest now.

But what really caught her attention was the power that accompanied it.

It was like before with that red pillar of energy...except the dark feeling was _worse_ if anything else, as the energy was completely filled with feral anger and dark intent.

Just what was going on over there...?

She didn't have much time to dwell on it though, as Basara was also caught off guard by the attack, knocking him off his feet and onto his knees from the surprise wind.

Chance!

The female human once more surrounded _Sakuya_ with a green aura, before slashing the air with it.

As the green wave coalesced from her sword swipe, Yuki swung again, intersecting the wave with another slash, her sword still covered in green energy.

She did this repeatedly, making sure to use every ounce of concentration to keep the attack from moving yet.

It needed to be as powerful as possible to do _any_ damage. Also to hopefully be too much for _Brynhildr_ to cancel out...

Her window of opportunity was closing quickly though, as Basara managed to get up relatively quickly, despite the heavy armor that was weighing him down.

Finally, after having several green waves intersect one another like a complicated calculus problem, Yuki allowed the attacks to move. Letting the waves compound one another as they sped towards her opponent.

Glowing green eyes finally landed back towards the young hero, snarling as the attacks soared to him at rising speeds.

Like last time, he aimed his large weapon at the attack, slamming it with brutal force as his sword made contact.

But unlike last time...the attack didn't give way so easily.

The former apprentice of Cao Cao grit his teeth as the waves conspired against him, pushing him back steadily as he attempted to cancel the attacks.

Yuki gasped as she fell to her knees, using her katana like a crutch to keep her from falling flat on her face, thoroughly exhausted.

That...was it. That was all she had.

Sweat intermingled with the rain droplets as she panted, hard. Taking comfort in the knowledge that her last attack would hold him back for a little bit.

Those green waves that she used were all separate attacks, enhancing each other as their own entities instead of a single united attack.

Because of that, her old comrade had to separately cancel out each wave, not getting any reprieve as he did so.

Good thing too, as her stamina was thoroughly shot by this point. Using _True Sight_ for extended periods of time, having her arm broken, and continuously fighting with such intensity would do that to you.

Not to mention her last attack...

" _Aaaargh!"_

Yellow eyes snapped back to her adversary, horror lighting up her pupils, as she saw her attack get _cut_.

Those numerous green waves were all cleanly cut through, canceling it out and forcing it disappear into the air.

Just like that.

Yuki quickly tried to raise her eyes to meet Basara's, getting ready to use the last bit of strength she had to-

A metallic hand closed themselves on her throat, stopping her train of thought cold.

 _Too late_.

The hero saw stars as she was slammed back to the muddy ground, the back of her head getting dirty from the contact, as the hand that was enclosed around her throat slowly clenched shut.

"...Ba...sa..." she tried to cough out, only to stop as more pressure was put to her neck.

Yuki struggled, trying to claw at the metallic hand and get more air, feeling the darkness beginning to call as her eyesight began to blur.

No...!

She quickly began to lose strength, the hand that was trying to pry her opponent's hand free slowly stopped doing so. As everything slowly began to fade to black...

...Like this?

Was it...going to end like this...?

Flashes of memories began to drift across the forefront of her mind, important moments that defined the young woman that was laying on the ground, staring up at the rainy sky.

A little girl, who was excitedly latching onto anything that her sensei dictated, with a little boy who she considered a brother of sorts.

A little girl, who was staring at the broken bodies of the heroes that tried to stop her former sensei. The body of the boy nowhere to be found. As her eyes leaked tears...while bitterly refusing to acknowledge her former sensei's wishes. Refusing to become her own 'hero'. Instead...just to spite him...choosing to become just another member of the Hero Tribe.

The leader of their faction, accepting her with a hug after the tragedy, when no one would. Trying to suppress his own pain for the good of their people.

Then the young hero saw flashes of that little girl growing up, training her body to the limit, ignoring the taunting words that _that_ man left behind.

She wasn't a 'hero'...she was just another soldier that was working for the Hero Tribe.

Then everything shifted, a seismic change in what she believed in, with the mission that would change her life.

And the person that would change it.

She remembered vivid blue eyes, and a hand that was stretched to her...

Naruto...

Was...he safe?

Was...he ok?

Those were the only thoughts that occupied her mind as the darkness began to swallow up her sight...

" _Gah!"_

As if given a second wind, the darkness disappeared from her vision, as all color returned to the world when the young human sucked in some desperately needed oxygen to her lungs.

Rain pelted her face, a minor part of her noting that Basara was nowhere to be seen as she stared up at the rainy sky again. Panting.

"...Looks like I made it in time. You ok, Yuki-san?"

Bleary yellow eyes, bereft of cross-hairs, focused on a flash of silver hair.

"...Maria-san...?" she rasped, voice nearly unrecognizable.

Was that...really the succubus?

The girl that entered her vision had the same long silver hair and the extraordinarily similar facial features to Maria...but everything else about her was different.

"...You really _are_ a succubus aren't you?"

Purple eyes shone with amusement at the statement.

"Impressed by my new body? It _is_ meant to easily seduce men after all."

Yuki could see that.

Gone was the half-devil that looked like a little girl.

Now Maria looked like a young woman, body filled out in just the right places to drive the opposite sex insane with lust. A true succubus' body...

But the hero turned serious again, moving her one good arm to the ground, attempting to pick herself up to fight again.

"No, wait." the silverette muttered, placing a hand onto her partner's stomach before she could get up. "You did more than enough, rest a bit...let me handle this fight by myself for a while."

Yuki clenched her fist, not entirely willing to leave this all to the succubus. "I can still-"

" _No._ " Maria cut off, standing up to her full height, staring down the feral human that got up from her surprise punch. "As you are now...you'll only slow me down. Rest. Don't worry...I'll do my best not to kill him."

The human's eyes widened imperceptibly, before closing shut. Knowing that the half-devil was correct.

"Fine...but be careful. I don't want either of you to die."

"Of course!" Maria chirped, stretching her arms out. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon! I still have to see Naruto-sama blush! In my current form...I bet I can accomplish that!"

Yuki could only let loose a small grin, allowing the tension in her frame to ease up in order to get some rest.

The succubus smirked, turning around and slamming her fists together, newly confident that she would be able to put up a fight this time.

"Now then...let's get more acquainted to one another, shall we?"

* * *

Rain drops continued to pour onto the ground, unrelenting.

Along with the rain, the clouds overhead were dark and brooding, as if reflecting off of the mood of the area.

That's what it felt like to Cao Cao, as he stared at the monstrosity that was facing them.

Two menacing red orbs were staring them down, glowing ominously in the darkness of their surroundings.

Those eyes...just what was with those _eyes_...?

"...Cao Cao...just what are we dealing with exactly?" Siegfried whispered out, a new-found nervousness creeping it's way into his voice.

The hero leader opened his mouth to answer, but...

"... _W_ _hat's the matter?"_

Everyone shut their mouths, as the new gravelly voice that emerged from their erstwhile enemy shocked them into temporary silence.

Naruto spread his arms, as if about to hug someone, almost inviting.

"You don't seem so eager to fight anymore. What's wrong? Did something change? Was it something I said? Come on. Come on. _Come on_."

The blond then began to chuckle, amused, shaking his head slowly.

"Man...it's been so long since I've felt this sensation before...it feels kind of different though. Hm...I feel less...restricted? Yeah, that's the word." he continued, putting his head on the palm of his hand, contemplating.

As the rain continued, the water pushed the blond's hair to his scalp, moistening it to the point that his locks were sticking to his face.

The hair quickly began to cover his eyes, only giving glimpses of the madness and seething _rage_ that was hidden underneath the surface, it was all those red slits emanated.

"...Cao Cao...we should leave." Siegfried requested quietly, hissing to his leader.

Cao Cao didn't respond, he simply continued to stare at the dangerous time bomb that was Uzumaki.

It was morbid fascination that was keeping him still, he knew...he just _knew_ that his enemy was going to explode.

Then those evil eyes focused back on the group of humans, putting them all on edge again.

"...You know...I actually seriously wondered about how I should deal with you lot. At the beginning, as usual, I fight the baddies without the absolute intent to kill. I do it because I wanted try to minimize the amount of times I have to kill others...and because I don't fully understand what their goals are. For all I know, it could be understandable, right? Plus you guys weren't really a threat in the beginning..." Naruto began, wistful, but his killing intent began to become palpable.

The ground began to rumble, shaking faintly as the teen's aura increasingly became increasingly volatile...

"Buuuuuut...you crossed the line, didn't you? You got reinforcements, and even got your own kyuubi to fight me! Not only that, but your goals and ambitions aren't anything to be happy about! Really...the fact that you actually aimed for the kid _really_ pissed me off, you know...? Even if I wasn't like this...I probably would have aimed to kill after that..."

A red slit peeked through the golden locks that were plastered to his face, the lack of aggression in them only unnerved those who saw it.

It didn't speak of rationality, it spoke of unpredictability, of the calm before the storm.

"What I should be doing now is calmly trying to figure out the best ways of killing all of you quickly, after all...those Sacred Gears proved to be more dangerous than I thought. So yeah, taking you out before you do more dangerous things is best..."

Then, all of a sudden, as if a switch has been flipped, fury began to overtake his eyes as they dilated.

"The thing is, _I_ _don't want to_."

Cao Cao flinched, shaking faintly at the statement, before he quickly tried to get a grip, refusing to be cowed by a _boy_.

He was the leader of a faction...! The Hero Faction! He was the face of the newest and greatest generation of heroes!

He wasn't going to be cowed, intimidated, _or_ frightened by a _boy...!_

So with that new-found determination, he wiped the water that was beginning to cloud his sight and glared at the blond-

All he saw was red slits, boring into his eyes.

The hero leader took a step back, eyes wide, as he stared at the teen that practically materialized in front of them. He was on top of the yokai faction leader along with them, leaning towards them, sharp eyes regarding him specifically with dark intent.

Then, slowly, he raised a hand and moved it closer to him, claws extended as they reached for his throat...

Cao Cao could only stare, unable to move as he watched the horrifying visage that moved closer to him. He desperately tried to move his body to no avail.

Move...

Closer.

Move...!

A few inches...

 _Move!_

A blade viciously slashed horizontally towards Naruto's position, forcing him to retract his hand and take a step back to avoid the slash. Snarling at the attack.

"Cao Cao! Come on!" Siegfried shouted, moving closer to his leader and utilizing the dragon arms and preparing to attack.

Jeanne and Heracles also stepped up, forming a defensive barrier in front of their leader, prepared to fight for their lives against this grave new threat.

Georg for his part, also began calling on his Sacred Gear. Trying to shift the environment to their favor, hoping that with the mist as their ally a second time, they could overwhelm Uzumaki.

All while the hero leader backed up, regaining his nerve as he swung his spear around, prepared to kill this... _thing_ in one fell swoop.

The heroes were getting ready to counterattack, confident that they could push back against this monster.

They were heroes after all!

But just as those hopes grew...they were shot down, as the blond that they were planning against disappeared from their view.

Cao Cao coughed up spittle, as he hunched over from a vicious blow to his stomach, eyes wide.

...When did he...?

Uzumaki was standing in front of him, crouched low, his fist embedded into his stomach.

"Don't die yet." was all he said.

The blond then moved his fist away from the man's stomach, allowing him to double over and heave breathlessly.

Before a kick smashed into Cao Cao's cheek, sending him spinning towards the ground from the kyuubi's back, crashing and sliding away in a heap.

Once more, before anyone could respond, he disappeared from view again.

 ***Crack***

"Ah..."

That was all Georg could say as he felt both of his elbows _snap_.

The human didn't say anything at first, he just stared at the horrifying visage of two red slits for a moment, trying to comprehend what happened.

Then he _felt it_.

The bespectacled man screamed in pain, trying to wrestle his arms away as the blond held onto his elbows, which were bent at an awkward angle.

"No more of that." Naruto growled, holding tight as he applied more force onto his hands.

Georg desperately tried to break free, begging pitifully as hot tears began to fall down his cheeks, feeling his bones in his elbows _crumble_ into fragments.

"Enough!" roared Siegfried, as he charged the monster with his swords swinging, dragon arms moving in synchronization to attack.

As the hero charged, Naruto's face stayed neutral, eyes unseeing as an idea was posited inside his head...

Strange...not something he would usually do, but...

 **...**

A dark glint entered his eye.

The wielder of _Dimension Lost_ whimpered, shaking his head as Naruto watched him through hooded ruby eyes, completely unsympathetic towards the pain he was inflicting. Looking very dangerous...

Georg knew, somehow he _knew_...

The blond swung around, still holding onto the hero's arms, a dark smirk spreading across his lips...

Then he flung him at Siegfried, right when the man was on top of him.

The blades that were meant for his enemy then, instead impaled Georg, skewering him with all five blades.

A moment of silence began after the abrupt and horrifying incident, stretching on as almost everyone watched the young hero cough up large amounts of blood. Going limp upon the silver-haired man's demonic swords.

"Sieg-kun! Get out of there!" Jeanne screamed, charging forward desperately with a rapier, trying to stop the inevitable.

Siegfried finally snapped back to focus, trying to back up from his bad position...!

Naruto didn't bother to wait.

The shinobi blitzed forward, disappearing and reappearing into view in front of his fellow males, bringing his foot out and smashing it into Georg's back. Pushing him into Siegfried and sending them careening off of the kyuubi leader's back.

Both humans were sent crashing against a tree, which didn't slow down their flight at all, allowing them to continue to crash against several trees after the first. Sending a large amount of dust into the air as the forest floor became a giant mess; thanks to the splinters, logs, branches, and hundreds of leaves that have fallen to the ground.

Jeanne and Heracles looked at the damage wrought to the forest in horror, both realizing that the blond had either become several times more powerful than before...or wasn't using his full physical strength this entire time.

"Yasaka...!" a voice rasped from the ground. "I...I order you to attack! Eliminate Uzumaki!"

The controlled yokai leader didn't respond at first, she just stood still, staring blankly, as if in a trance.

Red slit eyes turned to Cao Cao, who was just forcing himself up from the moist dirt, using his spear as a crutch, glaring harshly at him. "Do _it!_ Obey me!"

This time, Yasaka did indeed react, her fur stood on end as she began to growl, golden eyes turning feral once more.

The two heroes remaining on top of the beast thought that it was best to move while the going was good, as they quickly jumped off to get away from the beast.

Naruto on the other hand, moved to her head, gritting his large canines together as she began to thrash around. Trying to get him off her back.

Undeterred however, the shinobi ran up to the yokai faction leader's head, jumping to land on her snout and look at her golden eyes.

"Hey...! Quit it already!" the teenaged boy growled, ruby eyes harsh.

Yasaka didn't listen, as she instead bared her razor-sharp teeth to him and raised her front leg to swipe at him from her nose.

Naruto jumped over the attempted swipe, landing safely a few feet in front of her. His eyes becoming increasingly feral.

Before the kyuubi could do anything, the shinobi charged at her with reckless abandon, speeding across the desolate battlefield to reach her.

Faster than she could have reacted to, Naruto jumped and raised his fist when he was right under her head, giving her a hard uppercut as his fist made contact.

Yasaka was knocked off her front legs, the blow forcing her to use her hind legs to stop herself from tripping as her head was knocked back.

However, the blond wasn't finished, as his ascent slowed down right where her head currently was in the air, smarting still.

So the young man spun around in a somersault and brought his leg out, bringing it down onto her head with a lot of force.

The great creature was smashed into the ground, it's largess ripping apart the wildlife that was still standing in the aftermath of prior battles.

While he was still in the air, red eyes snapped to the side as several missile-like projectiles were screaming towards him, all from Heracles' Sacred Gear.

The missiles smashed into his form, causing a decent-sized explosion to rock the air, shaking the ground due to it's power and proximity.

Heracles himself smirked in satisfaction, feeling much better now that his attack finally connected.

But his smirk dropped quickly as the shinobi emerged from the smoke completely unharmed, no worse for the wear as he descended back to the ground.

"Impossible...!" he whispered, horrified.

As the powerful human tried not to fall into despair, a large dragon-like creature moved up next to him, made up of what looked like hundreds of holy swords. Of which was formed by Jeanne, who was focusing all of her energy on the still-falling teen.

She jabbed a finger at him, internally ordering several blades that made up her dragon to launch themselves at Uzumaki.

As if alive, the dragon flicked it's head and allowed for several holy swords to break away from the main body. Moving to the blond at breakneck speeds to impale him.

Naruto acted quickly, crossing his arms against his chest in a way that was reminiscent to when he had wind coating his entire body...

But this time he was using out-and-out _force_.

With a mighty swing, both arms backhanded the air and created a powerful gust of wind, just from the sheer power behind those arms. Pushing all of the swords away from their original trajectory.

Jeanne gaped, her happy demeanor all but gone, how exactly were they going to stop him at this rate...?

Cao Cao just grit his teeth, coughing up a little bit of blood from the attack he suffered, there was no way that he'd die like this...!

Naruto landed on the ground shortly after the he dealt with the last attack, allowing him to watch all of his adversaries cautiously. Especially the kyuubi, as feral features studied the powerful creature to make sure that she was actually unconscious.

Golden eyes snapped open as he watched, soon after, an intense amount of fire began to flow out of her closed mouth as more power was concentrated into it. Causing a small overflow.

Sharp red eyes narrowed as the blond spread his legs, prepared to tank through the attack that the yokai faction leader was prepared to release. Slightly confused.

Just what the hell was she up to...?

Then his eyes widened, as he snapped his head behind him to look at the slumped form behind him...

The kid...she was still there...!

"You..." Naruto growled, as his red slits dilated dangerously. "You'd try to attack her again...? You're _really_ trying to piss me off aren't you...!?"

Yasaka didn't respond as she released the flames inside her mouth, scorching the ground and lighting up the area with her fire. Aimed at both of her victims.

To everyone else, the shinobi just stood there, furiously glaring at the harsh fire that was enveloping the world around him.

The fox fire quickly swallowed up his current position, relentlessly spreading across the destroyed forest, burning anything that was still standing up.

After a few more moments, the stream of fire ended, as the powerful yokai ceased her attack by slamming her mouth shut and surveying the area for her 'enemies'.

By this point, Cao Cao had managed to get back on his feet, still hurt, but still managed to jump onto Yasaka's back and check the devastated landscape.

Black eyes scanned warily, unwilling to count his enemy as dead unless he saw a body.

Then his eyes finally found his body, pushing him to gnash his teeth together in frustration.

The body happened to be very much alive, as Naruto stood on top of a small hill away from the trajectory of the attack, staring down at them with a dark expression.

More importantly, he was holding the smaller kyuubi under his arms, safe and secure.

The hero leader could only narrow his eyes, his speed was seriously incredible if he managed to blitz everyone here _and_ dodge Yasaka's attack at point-blank range... _while_ saving the little girl.

It would have been admirable if it wasn't so dangerous...which was why he needed to _go_.

Meanwhile, Naruto slowly set down Kunou, eyes never leaving the group of humans, trying his absolute hardest not to let the burning rage inside boil over.

He could feel it...he was at the precipice.

The blond once more vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing right in front of Yasaka again, eyes even _more_ feral than prior.

"...You did it again." he whispered, voice guttural. "You aimed for the kid _again_...!"

The hero leader didn't respond, he only slammed his foot down onto Yasaka's back. "What are you waiting for? Kill him! Kill him now!"

As ordered, the kyuubi's mouth formed heavy doses of fire, preparing to release powerful fox fire onto the teenaged boy.

But something quickly changed, causing the remaining heroes to shiver at the new sensation.

"...You..." Naruto murmured, anger blinding him with a sudden _need_.

That need began to push him to the ground, growls shifting from human-like to those of an animal. Features growing increasingly filled with rage.

Some kind of substance began to emerge from the teen's skin, embracing him as it coated his body. Red bubbles...

Then it hit all of the heroes left like a run-away train, causing them to choke at the oppressive atmosphere.

 _Killing intent._

Cao Cao unintentionally took a step back, his comrades following suit, as the killing intent coming from the boy pushed them back as if it was a physical force, pressing on them harshly.

"Yeah...for some reason...right now...all I see is _red_..." the shinobi whispered, heart rate beginning to accelerate as his red slits locked onto Cao Cao's. "Right now...all I want to do is rip you all to shreds...!"

The killing intent grew even worse the longer he spoke, becoming more and more thick with each passing moment.

It got so bad that almost all of the heroes saw... _things_ that made them question their sanity.

They saw visions...

...Visions of their _deaths_.

Of the many horrible ways that they could get killed by their adversary, by this being that seemed intent on their complete and utter destruction.

However, it was obvious that the hero leader took the brunt of it.

The powerful human was shivering now, as he watched in growing horror as the red bubbles began to coalesce into some sort of creature that covered the blond. With a single tail poking out from behind, waving lazily as his animalistic eyes bored into his.

Then, still under the power of someone else, Yasaka fired it's fox fire, straight at the coated human.

The shinobi watched the fires come, staring them down.

Before opening his mouth, breathing in to take in a lot of air...

 _"GRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!"_

An unearthly roar emerged from his throat, bringing forth massive wind pressure from the power of his lungs, completely wiping away the flames that were heading towards him into nothing.

The roar also finished what the kyuubi started, bringing out any trees that were knocked over and smashing them further away from the epicenter of his scream. Sending all matters of debris into the air.

Cao Cao himself held onto the yokai faction leader for dear life, grabbing onto her golden fur to stop himself from flying off, desperately trying to think of a way to stop this _monster_.

But as the sky darkened and the air grew colder at it's encroaching and all-encompassing power, he began to wonder if there even _was_ a way to stop this thing...

Then, as it seemed that the dark being that emerged from Uzumaki would eventually engulf them, his hands clenched something that could possibly turn the tables...

Black eyes wandered to the spear in his hand, remembering what it was that he held so tightly...

The _True Longinus_...the spear that was used to pierce Jesus Christ himself...

Was this not the weapon that could enact miracles? Was this not the most powerful weapon among all Sacred Gears?

No...he had a chance...he just needed to use every ability that he had to it's greatest effect. Even...his greatest secret.

...Too bad, he was hoping that he could keep his abilities a secret for a later time...but no such luck he supposed.

With that, the seven orbs that the _True Longinus_ utilized...the _Seven Treasure_ _s_...surrounded him, prepared to be used in accordance to his will.

Jeanne also appeared beside him while riding her _Stake_ _Victim Dragon_ , nervous, but seeing the hero leader regain his will to fight, was also able to look past her fear.

Heracles also came by, appearing close to Cao Cao by jumping on top of Yasaka as well. Missile-like protrusions all over his glowing body, thanks to his _Detonation-Mighty_ _Comet_.

They were ready to face off against this vicious power.

As if on cue, Naruto roared again, sending gale force winds to impact their bodies, before charging towards them at horrifying speeds. Nearly instantly closing the gap of space between them.

Having only milliseconds to react, Cao Cao let one of the orbs surrounding him touch him, activating it.

 _"Atsusa Ratana!"_ the hero leader whispered.

Immediately, the man vanished without a trace.

As this was happening, Heracles launched numerous missiles from his body and Jeanne launched several holy swords from her dragon, as well as utilizing the holy swords within to send two streams of electricity and flames to the beast.

All the while, Yasaka turned around, displaying her long tails and using them to slam the berserk shinobi to the ground.

Naruto just growled in response, charging forward on all four limbs like an animal, eyeing all of the attacks that were incoming.

To the heroes, it looked like the blond was just going to let the attacks hit them, giving them hope that maybe it would be enough to at least begin doing damage...

But, as if he could teleport, the feral being disappeared from view once more, moving at speeds that they couldn't even fathom.

Immediately afterwards, the missiles that were heading straight to the blond's initial position fell apart, all of them got shredded to pieces inexplicably and without warning. Blowing up in the air prematurely.

Heracles grit his teeth, eyes scanning the skies to try and see where he went...

There!

A red dot in the sky just finished it's ascent after ripping apart the missiles, falling down towards it's enemies at terrific speeds. Like a falling comet bent on their destruction.

"Everyone! Above!" Heracles roared, trying to destroy the monster before it reached them.

Jeanne snapped her head to the sky, locking onto their fearsome enemy, before aiming her considerable arsenal to the sky.

Yasaka also noticed, turning fierce glowing eyes to the sky, with her jaws clenched as she was about to launch another round of fox fire.

The dragon and the kyuubi _both_ released fierce elemental attacks, electrical and fire alike, aimed towards the sky. Intent on obliterating the one-tailed beast.

Naruto glared harshly at the ground, seeing the elemental attacks. But instead of worrying or trying to move out of the way, the blond instead sucked in a lot of air, puffing up his chest...

Before letting loose a harsh and feral bellow, releasing an insane amount of air pressure from his lungs that _pushed_ against both attacks.

Despite the fact that the twin attacks worked together to hit the blond, they couldn't pierce through the air waves that he made from his scream.

Nevertheless, both attackers kept up the pressure, as the air waves sent from the blond continued to whittle their attacks down to nearly nothing.

"...This onee-san is really concerned now..." Jeanne started, an uneasy smile on her face. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."

As she was regretting her choices in life, something pierced through both attacks, speeding straight towards them.

Jeanne's eyes widened as an ethereal-looking red _claw_ moved towards her, grabbing her before she could do anything and knocking her off her creation, hitting the dragon along the way at just the right angle to send it toppling. Smashing her into the ground without mercy as her great construct fell down _onto_ her.

Red liquid began to flow from under the dragon-like construct...

A similar fate befell Heracles as another claw grabbed him as well, but this one instead pulled him up, taking him into the air as the owner of the claw finally landed onto the ground.

Naruto glared balefully at the man he held, before pulling both long arms of chakra back to him, letting go of the remains of the blond human but dragging back the muscular one to him.

The chakra arm did indeed drag the descendant of the original Heracles to the blond, bringing him close enough to see the fear in his eyes.

At first, the blond just watched the brutish hero, not doing anything while he was in his grasp, seemingly content to simply hold him.

But then...the hero began to _feel_ it.

Heracles began to struggle, sweating as he felt the prickles and burns that was accumulating around his body from contact with the large claw that was holding him.

He then began to plead with the beast; to beg, cajole, threaten, whimper, and apologize. All to break free from what was quickly turning out to be an acidic substance that was _eating_ into his skin.

Naruto didn't let go.

Because Naruto _didn't_ _care_.

The shinobi's single tail twitched, then it moved to intercept the blow from the powerful spear that Cao Cao thrust against his back.

Cao Cao grit his teeth as his attack was stopped from Uzumaki's energy-like tail, as the repercussion of the attack obliterated the ground under them. Making a large crater that was at least a story deep.

All fighters fell in, with Naruto still stopping the _True Longinus_ cold and Heracles still burning up while trapped by the chakra arm.

As they fell in, Yasaka joined in the fight again, roaring as she brought a massive paw and aimed it at the enraged blond, trying to crush him now that she technically had the high ground and he was stuck inside the crater.

With red slit eyes turning to the great beast, the shinobi brought his left arm up and extended his chakra arm, before _expanding it_ as she got closer.

It expanded dramatically, growing larger and larger as the kyuubi charged.

By the time she got close enough to attack, it was too late.

The chakra arm shot over her body as Yasaka brought her paw up to slam it down, but was brutally interrupted when the chakra arm _smashed_ her into the ground as it grabbed her entire body with it's massive form.

Naruto had a dark smirk on his face as he pulled his left arm back, dragging the yokai faction leader into the air as the claw held onto her tightly.

Then the arm swung around, driving itself towards the ground without mercy...

When the claw smashed Yasaka into the ground, it did so with the force of a freight train, shaking the ground with incredible force. Causing something akin to a mini-earthquake as the earth rumbled.

As the blond was distracted from beating back the kyuubi, Cao Cao called on one of the orbs to move towards him. Hoping that the monstrous creature wouldn't notice.

 _Kahabatei Ratana!_

Immediately after he called upon one of the _Seven Treasures_ , a large group of humanoid-beings emerged from the orb, preparing to charge at the feral 'human'.

Naruto shifted his focus back at Cao Cao again. Before he slammed his tail back at the hero leader, knocking him back _hard_ and then swiped his tail across _all_ of the recently formed humanoid warriors that were just formed. Cutting them all down with the severe force that the appendage was packing.

The hero leader snarled as he quickly backed up, letting one of the orbs touch him to make even greater space between the two combatants.

 _Hatsutei Ratana!_

Cao Cao began to float as he gained the ability to fly, using it to elevate himself from the blond monster.

After dealing with Yasaka and the humanoid beings, Naruto turned back to the hero that was still trapped under his chakra arm, noting that the man had finally fallen silent.

He opened up the claw, letting the mangled body of Heracles fall down to the earth, still silent.

Ruby eyes stared at the body, seeing the burns that was inflicted on the hero; muscle, blood, and bone was all that was really left of the remains.

It was no doubt a prolonged death, filled with nothing but agonizing pain. Very much unlike the quick death of the bespectacled man or the female human.

A twinge of emotion flitted across those ruby eyes, causing the blond to hesitate, despite the elevated state of aggression he was in.

As he watched the body, still in his trance, several humanoid beings took the opportunity to charge at him from the edge of the crater he was still in.

Almost as if the attack was an afterthought, the blond casually flicked it's single tail towards the beings, ripping them all apart before they could even get close.

Then his eyes widened, sensing killing intent in...

Front of him...?

He raised his eyes from the body to look at the angry face of the hero's leader, raising his spear with an orb laying on the tip of it. Angling it straight towards him.

Teleportation...!

Naruto raised a clawed hand, still coated with powerful chakra, to intercept it. Moving fast enough to prevent the man from doing anything serious.

But when that hand made contact with the orb, the shinobi quickly realized his mistake.

A maniacal smile grew on Cao Cao's face as the orb made contact, this was it...! His most powerful attack in his entire arsenal!

 _"Balinayaka Ratana!"_ the hero shouted in triumph, pressing forward with his spear.

Naruto felt like he was suddenly smashed by an airliner, sending him crashing _into_ the ground while still inside the crater.

Because of the angle however, he was sent digging underground, as the forest floor above was split into two. But as his momentum kept going, he eventually reached a piece of forest that _wasn't_ obliterated yet...

The end result was obvious, as trees were ripped from the ground and sent to the air due to the massive disruption that was occurring underground. Knocking down and smashing apart other trees that were caught in the crossfire.

Until finally, the blond crashed into a large rock formation, destroying it's base and causing the entire thing to fall in on itself. Collapsing as a massive amount of dust piled on into the air from the chaos.

Several moments passed as the rock settled in and the trees settled down, but eventually there was silence again.

Cao Cao panted harshly, trying to inhale a large amount of air as he fell to his knees, a deliriously happy smile gracing his face.

H-He did it! The monster was gone!

There was no way he'd survive that!

Getting smashed through solid rock, crashing _into_ a large hill, and then having that hill fall on top of you?

Yeah...Uzumaki was done.

Even if he wasn't, he sent him so far away that if he tried to attack him...the hero would be able to teleport away fast enough to get away and catch him off guard a second time. He was set.

Just as he began to chuckle at his stroke of fortune, he felt something _grip_ his ankles, holding him in place.

Black eyes snapped downwards, staring at the red-ethereal claws that were holding him tightly, coming from the ground as if...

Cao Cao slowly turned his head back to where he sent his enemy, wishing that his hunch was incorrect.

It wasn't.

Uzumaki was there, standing among the dust that was still up in the air, the energy that surrounded him being the only thing that he could see through the dust cloud.

The energy coating him made him look like a fox...

But more importantly than that, was the fact that the teen's arms were pushed into the ground.

As if on cue, the monster dragged his arms out of the ground, and the energy-like arms that connected with the claws ripped out of the ground as well.

Before he could even try and negotiate, he was _pulled_ with incredible force, catching him completely off guard as he was moved to the blond's position.

The moment he could see Uzumaki's face, was the same moment that he truly realized it, the fact that he had hoped to stave off or ignore despite how blatant it was.

He fucked up.

Cao Cao stared at the monster holding him, quickly losing whatever hope he had prior after noticing a horrifying addition to his new abilities.

The blond's body was barely damaged after taking an attack that could level an entire city block, his right hand was bleeding quite a bit and there were some cuts here and there around his body but...that was it.

But more importantly, was the fact that his hand and cuts were _healing_.

Instantly, the hero leader remembered how the boy's burns were completely healed after he first obtained this new power...

...He had no choice anymore. There was only one thing left he could do to end this threat.

Meanwhile, red slit eyes lost what little bit of emotion that emerged when looking at the body of Heracles, now his eyes were filled with nothing but unrelenting _fury_.

Faster then Cao Cao could have perceived, the blond whipped his good arm around, motioning the chakra arm violently.

The red claw obeyed and followed suit, as it swung around in a large arc and smashed itself into the ground a way's away. With it's captive still in it's clutches.

The hero leader grit his teeth in pain as he felt his body slam into the moist, yet hard, ground. Trying to call on his _Seven Treasures_ to him in order to teleport away.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the blond wasn't done.

The chakra arm pressed down on the black-haired human's body, pressing him firmly into the ground, before clutching him with a powerful grip...

Then the claw began dragging him _through_ the ground, keeping him down as the chakra arm kept moving around the battlefield, ripping up large tracts of land at the same time.

Naruto kept this up for a while, giving no mercy as Cao Cao took immense physical damage from the continuous onslaught of dirt and rock.

Until finally, the claw lifted him from the ground while still keeping it's previous momentum, and flung him into the air.

The hero leader flew up high, thoroughly disoriented as he tried to get a grip on where he was, as the world spun around due to his haphazard flight.

He tried to call on his _Seven Treasures_ , hoping to use them to get out of his predicament, maybe to transport himself somewhere far enough away so that he could take a breather and plan his next move.

But that plan was thwarted as soon as it crossed his mind, as Naruto wasted no time in chasing after the flying human.

The monstrous blond ran after him, moving with terrifying speeds on all four limbs and launching himself into the air like a speeding bullet. Straight towards the fumbling hero.

Cao Cao desperately moved his spear, trying to intercept Uzumaki before he could reach him, wincing at the numerous pieces of rock that were embedded into his body and all of the horrifying gashes that accompanied it.

In the end, the hero leader managed to bring his spear in front of him for an appropriate defense, but was unable to use it to actually _stop_ the attack. He only just managed to use it to take the brunt of the attack that was about to smash into him.

It wasn't enough in the end.

The blond appeared right in front of him in the air, bringing down his powerful claw onto the spear that was held defensively...!

 ***CRACK***

Cao Cao bit back a scream when he felt bones on _both_ of his arms crumble into other bones, as his skin ripped apart and revealed muscle and blood underneath from the mighty blow that he withstood.

But he managed to redirect the attack regardless, surviving as the blond's claw knocked the _True Longinus_ from his clutches, sending it to the ground.

In return, due to the fact that his attack didn't really hit anything to stop his momentum, the shinobi began to spin around into a mid-air somersault.

Before the young hero could breathe a sigh of relief from his survival then, the blond continued his spin and intentionally brought his single tail out...

Cao Cao was smashed upside the head, sending him crashing to the ground viciously.

When the human impacted the ground, he created a human-shaped crater deep into the ground, bringing out large cracks across the ground near him, blood spurting out from his many wounds.

The hero groaned in pain, unable to respond to anything else as he felt blood trickle down from his forehead, matting his hair with the red liquid.

Rain continued to pour down on the battlefield, intermingling the water with his blood...

...Now that he thought about it, wasn't this a very similar situation to when he first defeated Uzumaki...?

Oh...how the tables have turned...

As those thoughts drifted across his mind, he saw, just through the side of his eye...the beast.

Naruto landed on the ground harshly, eyes gleaming in the darkened atmosphere, focused unerringly on the downed human being.

The monster took several steps forward, moving like a predator that was about to pounce on his prey...

Cao Cao could only watch, now numb to the pain he's suffered.

He was bereft of his spear, his comrades, and his allies...what was there left to do...?

Then he clenched his eyes, frustration lacing his facial features as the blond moved closer, if only he still had his _True Longinus_...! He could have used his trump card...!

 _Truth Idea_...

But as Uzumaki, now merely a few feet away, stalked closer, he realized that he may not have the luxury to 'regret' anything ever again.

As Cao Cao lost whatever hope he had left, the very thing he was hoping for occurred.

A miracle.

A massive dose of flames impacted against the blond, hitting him from the sides, it's proximity hurting the hero leader despite the fact that he wasn't really that close to it.

When the flamethrower ceased, Uzumaki stood there, completely unharmed, red slits turned to the kyuubi that launched the attack.

Yasaka roared in challenge, smashing her front paws onto the ground, obviously getting ready to attack.

Black eyes watched the beast in amazement...there was no doubt in his mind that Shiba was behind this...

This was his last shot...!

If he could just reach his spear, he could activate _Truth Idea_ , the ability that could create miracles based on the user's will and wishes...

The hero leader began to claw himself out of the crater he was in, using his shoulders to pull his body up and his legs to push him forward. Wincing at his broken arms.

Meanwhile, Naruto glared down the kyuubi that attacked him, ruby eyes not really registering _who_ he was fighting.

Just that she was the _enemy_.

With that, the jinchūriki charged forward, moving so fast that the yokai didn't even respond fast enough to shift her eyes to her enemy's new location.

 _Right in front of her face_.

Naruto blitzed her, smashing his claw onto the side of the yokai leader's head, knocking her off her feet and onto her sides. Causing her to growl as blood poured down her cheeks and whiskers from the wound that he inflicted.

Once more, fire emerged from her throat, engulfing the cloaked shinobi, fox fire burning everything in it's path.

Except for it's actual target.

A massive red claw emerged from the flames, closing around the kyuubi's head and slamming her mouth shut, before using force to smash her head into the ground without mercy.

Naruto's hand was outstretched, simulating the chakra arm's movement as Yasaka struggled to break free from the powerful ethereal claw.

Instead, the shinobi brought his other hand out, allowing a chakra arm to outstretch from it and _expand_.

Finally, he brought out the other giant red claw to the subdued kyuubi, smashing it on her head and bringing her further into the ground.

More blood pooled down the yokai's face, as she clenched her teeth from the attack, struggling to get back up.

This time, both chakra arms retreated for a moment, letting Yasaka go, as if giving her a breather.

Except that wasn't it at all.

Instead, the chakra arms moved away from her to grow even _bigger_ , big enough to encompass half of her entire being...

Then both of those of ethereal-like claws clenched together into fists and came down upon the hapless yokai, smashing into her back as she attempted to get up.

The kyuubi yelped as she was brought down again, shaking from the violent take down.

Then those chakra arms came down _again_ , crushing her under their size and strength, pushing her deeper into the ground as a consequence.

Yasaka began to whimper in pain, blood pooling under her from the repeated barrage.

The rain continued to pour relentlessly.

Red slit eyes watched in mindless rage as his arms moved on their own; clenched fists going up and down...

Up and down...

 _Up and down..._

Once more, his chakra arms brought their massive claws down onto Yasaka's body, bringing forth a large amount of debris and dust into the air as the great beast's struggle lessened.

When the chakra arms retreated for a moment, preparing themselves to smash their beleaguered opponent again...their owner hesitated.

Naruto watched as she eventually tried to get up again after he smashed her down, legs struggling as they did their best to support her weight. Before pathetically failing her, causing her to collapse onto the ground.

Golden eyes slowly revealed themselves to the blond, those orbs bleary and unfocused, full of pain and weariness.

But also...full of silent acceptance and understanding.

He twitched as he stared the legendary kyuubi.

...

...

Red slits blinked, uncertain, but he still kept his chakra arms clenched above the yokai's body, as if prepared for her execution.

 **...Kill...her.**

Naruto growled as a splitting headache hit him, pushing him to shake his head violently, trying to make it stop.

 **...What are you waiting for...? Do it...**

Angry ruby eyes snapped to the fallen form of the yokai leader, thoroughly defeated, unable to fight anymore.

 **She won't stop...just end her...it's for Kunou-chan...**

She _couldn't_ fight anymore. Why was he still trying to...?

 **KILL HER!**

The shinobi's face twisted in anger, as he raised his hands again, preparing to bring down one _last_ attack down onto the yokai faction leader.

 **"...Is this really all you have? Naruto..."**

All actions ceased, as shock reverberated across the blond's entire body at the familiar voice rumbling in his head.

"...Kyuubi...?" he rasped out, gravelly voice rumbling.

All he got was silence for a split-second, as if the bijū within thought of how he would phrase his next words.

 **"You're pathetic."**

Naruto's red slits widened.

 **"...Admittedly, I don't understand why my chakra is much more...darker than before. But is my** **jinchūriki truly so weak as to lose himself to this power? Are you truly going to lose to whatever is inside you so easily? I always pegged you for an idiot Naruto...but not as a weakling."**

The kyuubi jinchūriki flinched, his face twisting up as his inner demon's words pierced the fog of anger that invaded his mind.

It also helped clear away the whispers...

All of the subtle influences underneath the surface...

The very dark feelings that pushed him to throw the bespectacled hero to his comrades' blade with the thought of intentionally causing more pain.

The assurances that they all _deserved_ to feel pain, to _suffer_. Instead of just simply offing them.

The influence that...made him contemplate...killing... _her_.

Ruby eyes traveled to the yokai faction leader, noting that she lost consciousness.

No...not just her.

In his mind's eye, he remembered...

When the controlled Yasaka moved to breathe out her fox fire onto both himself and Kunou before he got the version 1 cloak...he had reacted by grabbing her at the last second and moving her out of the way.

While the blond was focused mostly on keeping the girl safe from the humans and her controlled mother...another...very, _very_ faint thought drifted across his mind.

He didn't know back then that there was more to that stray thought, but it did make him look at the little girl differently for a split-second.

The thought was simple.

...Wouldn't it be easier if he just left her there?

Wasn't this the little girl that forced him to take numerous attacks to protect her? Why care about her safety...?

But those thoughts disappeared as quickly as they appeared, dismissed in their entirety as the shinobi held Kunou close and eventually laid her down onto that small hill.

Those feelings were minor in the grand scheme of things, but the fact that he had them at all was...

Naruto growled as his face twisted up, clenching his eyes shut as he swallowed the anger inside, trying to calm down...

Whatever this power was doing to him...he wouldn't let it control him...!

Calm down...!

Claws dug themselves into the ground, easily cutting through it as if it was paper.

The chakra cloak that surrounded his body slowly began to fizzle out, retreating into tanned skin, as the blond gulped in air to heave it out.

Come on...!

Red slits furiously stared at the ground, dilated, as their owner desperately tried to suppress the rage inside, pushing back against the 'need' to destroy the defeated yokai...

The virulent red bubbles petered out, disappearing from view as the chakra cloak finally faded away.

Naruto gasped, falling to the ground as his arms and legs gave out, heaving as if he was about to throw up the contents of his stomach.

Red slits eyes opened up to the world again, far less angrier than prior, the darkness hidden within finally repressed.

Cautiously, the shinobi got back up, carefully surveying his surroundings as if just he was just seeing them for the first time.

Before tilting his head downwards, looking at his own hand carefully when he raised it up to his eyes for scrutiny.

These hands...they did so much today.

The fact that these hands took life today wasn't the problem with what he did...it was more about...

How much he _enjoyed_ it.

The blond shivered at the thought, the dark chakra was leading him down a road that would have haunted him for the rest of his life.

But why did it influence him like that...? The kyuubi's chakra wasn't like that before.

He got angry, sure, but up until he reached his third tail, he didn't usually try and _murder_ innocents...

Then there was that strange voice...just what was happening to him?

Naruto shook his head, clearing it of all thoughts, he'd deal with it later...first things first.

"...I don't know why you helped me..." the young teen whispered under his breathe. "But...you did. Thank you...kyuubi."

He didn't receive a reply.

Naruto quickly walked up to the downed Yasaka, checking her for injuries, silently praying that she would be alright.

After a quick scan of the eyes, he quickly determined that she took quite the beating...but she would be fine once she got some good medical attention.

Ruby eyes narrowed as they shifted away from the yokai, flicking to the side of his eye to look at the last loose end he had to tie up.

Cao Cao was almost there, dragging himself to his precious spear, knowing that if he could just make contact with his precious Sacred Gear...

He could create a miracle.

The hero leader was merely a few inches away, as his hand outstretched to reach for the weapon, eyes gleaming...

A foot stomped on the weapon, preventing him access to it.

"Nice try...but no dice." Naruto murmured, eyes boring into his enemy's head as he kept his foot and body in-between the human and his weapon.

Cao Cao grit his teeth, turning his eyes upwards in order lock them with his enemy's, prepared for it to be his final act...

But what he saw surprised him; gone was the strange red cloak that took him over, and more than that...his eyes were...

They weren't filled with that animalistic rage like before, it was more calmer...far more akin to what he was before the strange transformation.

As if reading his mind, the shinobi responded to the unasked question. "I managed to get a rein in on this power again, but don't get it wrong...I'm still on a knife-edge here...so it's best if you don't piss me off right now."

Then his expression smoothly changed to self-depreciation, offering a wistful smile.

"Of course...considering all of the people I've killed today...I'm actually not very keen on stretching this out. Sorry."

Before the hero could retort or answer, the teen grabbed the man by the throat, lifting him up enough to bring him to his knees as the blond kept his grip firm.

Cao Cao's eyes were wide as he struggled to break free, trying to move Uzumaki's hands from his neck, trying to find a way to _live_.

But, as if on auto-pilot, unintended words came out of his mouth, expressing his true feelings on the blond in front of him.

"... _Monster_..." he rasped out, wheezing.

The shinobi flinched, _hard_ , as if physically stabbed.

Naruto clenched his eyes shut, remembering the feeling of chakra arms holding onto the mangled bodies of the female blond and the muscular man...

Their looks of fear as he went about snuffing out their lives.

"...You know..." the blond murmured, smiling faintly at the hero. "You actually may be on to something there..."

Cao Cao frowned for a moment, genuinely confused about-

"Sorry...and goodbye."

 ***Crack***

Black eyes snapped to red, shocked pupils meeting saddened ones.

Before the light left those eyes and the body which it belonged to slumped over.

Naruto let his grip loosen, allowing the body to fall over and collapse into the muddy ground, unresponsive.

The sound of the body hitting the ground echoed to the blond's ears, drowning out all other sounds in the process.

Afterwards, the sound of rain pelting the ground replaced that sound, muffling out everything else in it's consistency.

The shinobi turned his head to the sky, allowing the raindrops to cover his face. Eyes melancholic.

"...Monster...huh?" Naruto whispered out loud, ignoring the water that got into his eyes.

He stayed like that for a few moments, just standing there, trying not to lose himself in his self-disgust.

Then his eyes snapped to the ground, knocked out of his trance when the ground rumbled under him, as if a small earthquake has hit the area.

Red slits snapped to where a large amount of dust flew up into the air, a long ways away from his current position, that was...

That wasn't the yokai group, that was for sure.

That only left one other group...

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he brought his hands together and made a cross seal, prepared to move out. Knowing full well that the clones he had before were all destroyed because of his use of the version 1 cloak.

The clones would protect Yasaka and Kunou...while he would go.

All of this fighting...would end now.

* * *

"Haaah!"

Basara snarled as he brought _Brynhildr_ out to stop the vicious attack aimed at his torso, preventing it from making contact.

But the blow still managed to knock him back, sending him crashing into already toppled trees and ripping them to shreds as he passed through them.

The second he managed to stop sliding, was moment when his eyes managed to catch his enemy's attempted surprise attack.

Maria jumped high into the air, raising her leg up high into the air, then brought it down when she reached the berserk hero.

Basara immediately spun around to get away from the attack, barely dodging it as the foot smashed into the ground mercilessly, bringing forth massive stone pillars from the displaced earth.

Purple eyes narrowed when the former apprentice of Cao Cao finished his spin by swinging his broadsword to cut the succubus in half, a triumphant grin on his face.

The young woman raised her hands up in defense, barely doing so in time to stop the powerful blade from hitting her body...

 ***Clang***

Maria smiled faintly as she stopped the blade from cutting her into two, using the new metallic gauntlets that she summoned for her hands to block the attack.

...But still...

"You really are quite amazing...Basara-san." the succubus murmured, impressed. "To think that you are strong enough to not only break through my gauntlets...but to actually cut my hand while in this form is incredible."

Indeed, _Brynhildr_ managed to break through her gauntlet and reach her hand, cutting the skin deep enough to draw quite a bit of blood from it.

Instead of responding to the compliment, the young human pulled back his blade and spun around, this time aiming for her back where she didn't have any sort of defense.

At that same moment, the half-devil charged _into_ the powerful warrior, using her shoulder to body slam him back and to interrupt his attack.

She was successful, as Basara was bodily slammed backwards once more, this time causing him to trip over himself due to the abrupt interruption.

The 'hero' tucked himself into a roll, managing to recover quickly from his impromptu tumble, eyes gleaming dangerously in the dour atmosphere.

However, at that exact moment, the ground shook, _heavily_.

At that split-second, while he was trying to get up, he slipped back onto the ground with a ***thud*** thanks to the slippery ground.

Using this opportunity, the succubus immediately created a magic circle, one that was as large as her new body. Attempting to push her advantage and keep the momentum that she gained.

Far faster than last time, a large demonic orb grew from the rune-like circle, prepped and ready to fire.

So she did just that.

The orb flew off from the magic circle, shooting towards her adversary with incredible speed.

But not fast enough, as Basara recovered quickly enough to stand up again and swing _Brynhildr_ at the incoming attack, using _Banishing Shift_ to cancel it out.

The moment that the blade made contact, he was forced to slide back a little, the ground not helping to keep traction.

Soon enough however, like every other time, the ball of power was split into two, canceling out the attack in it's entirety.

Once more, Maria managed to close the gap between them after he got rid of her attack, bringing her fist out to hit him square in the stomach. Hoping that it would be enough for a knockout.

Unfortunately, the former apprentice managed a last-second defense, using all of his strength to present the flat-end of his sword and backing it with both of his hands, he stopped her attack cold.

The shockwave ripped apart the ground around them, creating a harsh wind that picked up any debris near them and flung them away.

Both combatants stayed locked like that, with Maria stuck in an awkward position thanks to the fact that her body was stretched out for her punch.

It was at precisely at that moment, that _another_ mini-earthquake rumbled under their feet, an extended one, with the muddy ground facilitating in destabilizing their shaky balance.

Except this time, it was the succubus that lost her footing.

Purple eyes widened as the young human pressed her back thanks to her loss of balance, before outright smacking her fist out of the way and leaving her wide open.

Instead of bringing his large sword out and around to slice the silverette in half, due to it's unwieldy nature, Basara quickly opted to smash his metallic fist into her stomach, refusing to give her time to recuperate.

Maria coughed out some blood as the blow sent her sliding back, her feet breaking apart the ground as she tried to stop her movement. Even hunching over to smash her fist into the ground to contribute.

She finally managed it when she crashed into a tree, doing enough damage to it to rip it off of it's roots, loosening it.

Basara didn't let up, as he charged in, this time keeping his blade ready to finish off the succubus once and for all.

With blood spilling out of her mouth, the half-devil grinned a little when he approached with incredible speed.

Before he reached her, she whipped her arm around the tree behind her, _pulling_ it to her and bringing it down onto the incoming berserker.

Glowing green eyes narrowed as a snarl emerged from the human's lips when they saw the falling tree, responding without hesitation by slashing straight through the bark and jumping on top of what was left to get to his enemy.

Except, the large piece of bark _moved_.

Basara nearly lost his balance when the remnant of the tree moved higher to the sky, getting higher and higher as if...

"Big mistake!" Maria crowed from below, holding the lumber on her hands and swinging it over her head...

Before swinging it down, with the human now falling off of the large log and smashing him under it's largess.

A large amount of leaves and splinters flew into the air after the fall, floating a little before they landed on the forest floor again. The rain helping it's journey down.

The half-devil heaved a sigh of relief, before casually patting herself on the back for a job well done. She didn't even mean for her plan to end up like that, but she wasn't gonna complain.

After a quick breather, she started scanning the fallen lumber with a critical eye, unsure of whether her enemy would be alright.

As soon as she got close, the harsh sound of wood breaking apart entered her ears.

Suddenly, a large amount of bark was thrown into the air when something created a large hole through the tree.

The large sword that ripped through the timber was likely the culprit.

Shocked that the young man could tank through such a hit so easily, she wasn't ready to respond in time when he suddenly cut through the rest of the tree and attacked.

The succubus could only bring her arms up in defense again, prepared to-

Once more, the ground rumbled underfoot, destabilizing her footing as she tried to form a defense.

Unfortunately, that proved to be enough of an opening for the young human.

Maria let out a gasp as the broadsword cut through skin, leaving a gash that crossed from her shoulder to her hips, knocking her back _hard_.

The half-devil was sent sliding into the ground, splitting the earth apart as she was sent away at an incredible speed.

She didn't stop until she crashed into a rock formation, making a large dent into it as she clutched the wound across her body, wincing in pain, trying to stop the flow of blood.

"...Man..." Maria couldn't help but mutter with a grin, despite the harsh situation. "Boys can really play rough...huh?"

She chuckled at her own joke, as she tried to use the large rock that she crashed into to help her up, trying not to flinch every time she moved her body.

As she tried to get up, the ground continued to rumble unabated, as if whatever was causing the ground to shake was happening repeatedly.

Purple eyes took a moment to watch the ground, genuinely worried that whatever was causing the mini-earthquakes was getting worse. Who could that possibly be...?

A fond smile grew on her face, that had to be Naruto-sama...a troublemaker as usual, even in such circumstances.

Maria finally managed to get up, arm crossing her wound, preparing herself for the inevitable confrontation.

As expected, Basara stalked towards her, eyes gleaming in the the rain, with _Brynhildr_ getting dragged through the soil.

Still slightly delirious, Maria noted idly that the young man had a new addition to him that she didn't notice until now.

He had a crescent-shaped metallic object that was pointed towards the sky attached to his back.

How weird...

Still grinning faintly, after finally gathering her wits about her, the succubus raised her dukes. Knowing full well that with her wound...she wouldn't be able to fight at full strength anymore.

But still, she had no intention of going out like this, she still had to make Naruto-sama blush after all!

So with a breezy laugh escaping her lips, she lowered her center of gravity to get ready for the human to continue his assault.

The former apprentice quickly obliged, charging forward, moving faster than before.

A vicious blow smashed into her face, pushing her _into_ the rocks behind her, leaving a body-shaped hole inside it's hard surface.

Basara grinned as he completely forgoed the use of his sword to smash his fists onto the weakened half-devil, relentlessly hitting her open wound and digging her into the rock.

Maria did her best to block as many of the blows as she could, gritting her teeth as she tried to ignore the pain that was ripping across her whole body.

After a few more moments, the succubus was smashed through the entire rock formation, sending her crashing to the ground. Groaning as her entire body ached.

Nevertheless, Maria forced herself back up, shakily crossing her arms together to form a defense, her body quickly becoming numb to the stings that she felt.

As if on cue, the former apprentice brought his sword out and jumped high into the air, swinging it down in a brutal arc towards his weakened opponent.

The ground under them gave way as the succubus managed to stop the attack, forming a large crater that quickly obliterated any wildlife that was near them.

More importantly, was the fact that the silverette's gauntlets finally gave out after that blow, falling apart on her hands as blood pooled down to the floor.

But Maria still held firm, gritting her teeth as the sword tried to dig deeper into her skin, fully aware that if she tried to back up...it was over.

So she held firm like that, holding steady as her enemy's weapon slowly pushed into her skin, despite her new strength and power.

The succubus could only offer a shaky smile at this situation, she was in a really tight spot right now...!

Basara kept up the pressure, beginning to cut deep into his enemy's hands, reaching important muscle tissue, a manic smirk on his face.

Then that smirk disappeared, replaced temporarily with confusion.

A growl emerged from his lips as a sharp pain emerged from his back, caused by a sword slashing him from behind.

The sudden attack loosened his defenses, allowing for the individual responsible to twist around him and bring her foot to separate her ally from her former comrade.

Yuki did just that.

Her foot smashed into Basara's face, knocking him away from Maria as he was sent backwards, sliding on the ground in a heap.

The young hero turned around, eyes sharp. "Maria-san!"

Maria blinked for a moment, confused.

Then it hit her.

Forcing her body up, the succubus got onto her feet again and charged forward to their downed adversary, using the opportunity that the female hero provided to her.

She forced as much energy into her fist as possible, prepared to land at least one powerful blow, one that would completely outstrip anything that she has...or _will_ dish out.

Basara managed to recover quickly enough to get to his feet before the half-devil reached him, baring his teeth as he brought _Brynhildr_ up to slash her before she reached-

 ***Clang***

Green eyes were wide as his weapon was knocked out of his fingers, thanks to the sharp object that was smashed into it.

Yuki's hands was outstretched as she flung _Sakuya_ at her former comrade, hoping that would be enough of an opening for the succubus, knowing full well that this was there last shot.

Maria closed the rest of the gap between herself and the enemy warrior, raising her fist high into the air...

Before swinging it down on Basara's torso, smashing him straight to the ground, creating a massive crater that sent all of the soil and dust into the air, as if a large mine was set off.

The female hero was knocked on her back, covering her eyes from the shockwave of the attack, rain, dirt, and dust pelting her continuously.

Until finally, silence.

Yellow eyes peered into the cloud of dust, frowning as she tried to see whether both combatants were alright...

Shortly, the dust began to clear out, giving a clear view of Maria standing over her opponent, who was seemingly unconscious on the ground.

Yuki jogged to her fellow female, moving to grab her katana as she carefully regarded the downed warrior that was her former comrade.

"Is he...?" the hero asked quietly, trailing off, afraid to complete that question.

"No." the succubus reassured, as she knelt down to check his condition. "He's going to be alright, Yuki-san. He's a tough one."

The female human let loose a sigh of relief, kneeling down to also check on the young man's condition more closely, stretching a hand to touch a vein in his neck.

As she tapped the side of his neck, feeling a pulse, her eyes wandered to check his face.

Green eyes stared back at her.

"Ba-!" Yuki nearly shouted out, before a hand clasped around her neck, pushing her back.

Another hand shot out and grabbed Maria by the neck as well, catching her off guard as her throat was suddenly constricted.

Both females were pushed back as Basara got onto his feet, a large gash on his torso, but the vicious glow in his eyes still very much apparent.

The duo clawed at the teen's hands, trying to break free from his grasp, but their weakened state made it hard, both still exhausted from the long bout.

"W-Wait..." Yuki wheezed out, trying to appeal to her former acquaintance, hoping that there was a _spark_. "It's...me..."

If the young man heard her, he didn't act like he did, instead...he opted to put more pressure.

Except, once more, that pressure ended abruptly for both females, allowing them to breathe again as they both plopped onto the ground again, gasping.

"...Sorry for taking so long." a familiar voice rumbled out.

Yellow eyes snapped open, turning to find the source of the voice.

Her eyes locked onto the broad back of a young man, with tanned skin peeking out from burned clothes and golden locks plastered against him. Facing away from her and against the insane former apprentice.

She didn't need to confirm who it was.

"Naruto-sama...!" Maria cried out, reassured. "You made it! Hey, hey! Did you see my my new body? I bet you find me irresistible now, right!?"

The hero glanced at her partner, amazed that she could think about that in a time like this.

Then again...with them all back together again, she supposed that the sense of familiarity and security helped.

But strangely enough, instead of offering a humorous retort or a good-natured reprimand...he didn't respond at all.

Instead, he continued to stare at his newest adversary, almost as if in a trance, refusing to face his friends.

It was at that moment, that Yuki noticed something...odd about the blond, something that put her on edge.

His hands...the fingernails on those limbs were now long and sharp enough to be claws...

His hair...already wild and spiky, were almost feral now...

Those strange whisker marks on his cheeks...were much more thicker and darker than before...

But most importantly, was his _aura_.

She didn't notice it before, as the adrenaline that was pumping through her veins and her relief at seeing the blond had prevented her from _seeing_.

Or more precisely, from sensing it.

But she could now.

Every danger sense she has ever acquired through her time as a hero was telling her to get away, to run from something, to _fight it_.

That feeling was evoked from the boy in front of her.

It seemed that Maria got that feeling too, as she became more wary as time went on, unsure of whether the blond in front of them was the Naruto that they knew.

So Yuki took a step forward, heart beating wildly, as she raised a hand up to touch his back-

" _Don't."_

Her hand stopped, merely inches away from the burnt orange shirt he still wore.

Naruto had his head bowed, still facing away from his two friends, clenching his fists.

Before slowly turning his head around, allowing for both females to see the red slits that peeked through golden locks.

"...Please...don't."

No more explanation or words were given, the teen just turned away from them again and charged forward, a grim look in his eye.

He ignored the alarmed cries of his allies as he quickly zeroed in on his fellow male, lips twitching as he appeared right in front of him.

This was the man that was choking his friends to death...

A powerful blow rocked the forest when Naruto smashed his fist into Basara's stomach, causing him to spit blood as he was sent crashing into multiple trees. Bringing them down as if they were made of paper.

 _Monster..._

The shinobi bared his sharp teeth as he ran, quickly catching up with the flying warrior, jumping up when he reached him during mid-flight and smashed him to the ground.

Basara crashed into the ground, hitting it hard enough to knock his body back up into the air for a split-second...

A knee embedded itself into the young man's stomach, bringing him higher into the air.

Before two clenched fists brought themselves down onto the warrior's back, viciously bringing him to the ground, making a deep hole that was shaped like him.

Naruto glared harshly at the ground, red slits hardening as the same thought kept getting recycled in his head.

 _Monster..._

 _Monster._

 ** _Monster._**

Basara growled darkly at the the blond, trying to claw his way out of the hole he was in, still holding onto his sword as he-

The shinobi interrupted the teen's actions by smashing his fist into his face, disorienting him for a split-second.

Except he didn't stop.

Naruto used one of his hands to hold him down, before repeatedly sending devastating blows to the 'hero', sending him deeper into the ground as the earth cracked around them.

Red slits were dilated as the blond continued his relentless onslaught, streams of water flowing down his face as the rain continued to pour.

Fists that were meant to protect were slowly turning red with blood.

Suddenly then, as if a switch was flipped, the blond stopped raining down the punches on the now-unconscious young man below him. Red slits stoic, losing their ferocity.

He was in control still.

"Naruto!" Yuki shouted, grabbing the shinobi's attention.

Those demonic eyes shifted to regard the two females carefully, completely calm.

"Should I kill him?"

Yuki and Maria froze at the question that just came out of their friend's mouth, leaving them gaping.

"W-What?" Yuki breathed out, eyes wide.

"...I asked; should I kill him?" he repeated blandly, still calm.

Maria took a step forward, hands up in an attempt to soothe the teen, believing that he wasn't in his right mind. "Naruto-sama...maybe you should step away from him, I don't know what happened...but we should talk about it. Let's just let Yuki-san handle him and-"

" _No_." Naruto interjected, voice guttural. "I already have blood on my hands..."

Then suddenly, the shinobi raised a clawed hand up into the sky, red slits aimed at the young man under him.

"...What's another after all?" he finished grimly, before bringing his arm down to Basara's neck.

The hand stopped before it reached it's destination, held back, not by morality, but by a young woman's hug.

Yuki held her friend from behind, shocking him into stopping.

"Ah...Yuki? What are you-?" Naruto began, before he felt another set of arms surround him.

Maria also took the chance to embrace him, stopping him from finishing the dark deed. "Naruto-sama...stop, please."

The shinobi clenched his eyes shut, refusing to look at either of them. "Damn it...! Neither of you understand!"

"You're right." Yuki mumbled, voice muffled as she pressed her face into his shirt. "But there's something that both of us can see quite well I think. You're...in pain, Naruto. You don't want to do this. I can see it in your eyes."

Naruto still didn't look at them, he just continued to stare forward.

The hero moved one of her arms off of him, instead using it to grasp the blond's face and tilt it towards her, needing to see him. "...What's wrong...? Naruto...?"

Yellow eyes locked with puffy ruby ones, water streaming down his face as it was twisted up in self-disgust and confusion.

His eyes, once formidable and unyielding, now looked at her with real fear in them.

"...I tortured them...and I _enjoyed_ it..." he said quietly, a whisper in the rain.

Slowly, as she continued to watch, ruby eyes began to bleed away, giving way to sapphire blue again.

"...I'm a monster...didn't you know?" he continued, eyes fluttering close, as a sea of exhaustion hit him.

Maria held him tighter, shaking her head as he spoke. "Naruto-sama..."

Yuki also hugged him closer, trying to convey as well as understand.

As Naruto slowly began to let his exhaustion overwhelm him, he saw..

He _saw_...

Hundreds...if not thousands of backs turned away from him...dark words talking about him in hushed tones...

 _"...Stay away from him..."_

 _"...Kyuubi-brat..."_

 _"Don't look at him...!"_

 _" **Monster...** "_

The shinobi could only shake his head in desperation, clutching at both of his precious people, pleading.

"...Please don't..." he mumbled out, before his eyes finally shuttered close.

Both females stayed close to their unconscious friend, trying to understand what could have possibly happened...

"...We can't stay here." Yuki stated with authority, quickly determining that staying out in the rain would help no one. "We have to find shelter, he's no doubt tired from everything that happened today...let's let him rest."

Maria nodded slowly, still holding onto her friend closely, remembering the haunted look in his eyes as well as his words.

"Just what's wrong...Naruto-sama...?" the succubus whispered, holding him close, brushing his hair away from his face.

It was at that moment that they heard footsteps moving closer to them, something heavy.

Purple eyes locked with yellow ones, quickly choosing between them on who would go and who would watch after Naruto.

Yellow eyes strayed across the half-devil's body, scanning the wounds that she received throughout the fight that they were juts embroiled in.

Then the hero turned around, eyes firm. "Rest up Maria-san, I'll handle this."

Maria didn't respond, she merely turned her eyes back to their unconscious ally and brushed his plastered hair away from his forehead.

Yuki raised _Sakuya_ , making sure that she had a means of defense just in case the being that was coming was hostile...

Then she lowered it, recognizing what came out of the bushes immediately.

"...You're...that yokai; the nue." she realized immediately, registering the beast that separated them from Naruto in the first place.

The chimera-like being that emerged from the underbrush smiled, flashing sharp canines. "Indeed, and you must be Naruto-sama's ally...tell me, is he here?"

"He's here!" Maria chimed in, completely interrupting Yuki before she could even open her mouth.

The nue dutifully turned to the succubus, finally finding the blond hero. "Ah...excellent, so he's safe. After his copies were destroyed, my comrades and I feared the worst. Especially since he looks like he may need a place to rest..."

Yuki's eyes snapped to the yokai, catching onto the wording of his statement. "Are you offering?"

"Of course." the yokai replied, nodding. "The copies that were protecting Yasaka-sama and Kunou-sama told us everything once we found them, informing us about where their creator went to as well. We owe him our gratitude for keeping our royalty safe. The least we can do is provide hospitality."

The hero turned around, locking eyes with her partner, looking for her thoughts.

Maria just raised an eyebrow, her opinion obvious.

She then turned around and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, we will take your offer."

The nue nodded, before turning around and going back to where he came from. "Excellent, follow me, we will be going back to Kyoto while my fellow yokai focus on taking Kunou-sama and Yasaka-sama back home as well. Yasaka-sama is still in her kyuubi state you see. We will also have a yokai pick up that unconscious man over there as well."

Both females didn't wait long to grab their things and help their unconscious friend up, throwing his arms over their shoulders to carry him to Kyoto.

Their ordeal was over...

* * *

"Shiba-san, what's taking them so long?"

Shiba didn't answer immediately, he simply continued to 'watch' the situation carefully, tracking the movements of all parties involved in this mess.

The boy that questioned him was a relatively new addition to their organization; Leonardo, a boy that was convinced to join them thanks to Cao Cao's charisma.

But...of course, the boy's loyalty, like many among their group, was hinged on the leader himself.

Which was why the traitorous hero was seriously contemplating on whether he should inform his fellow humans about the utter _catastrophe_ that befell their leaders.

More than that, how should the Hero Faction proceed from there? Was it doomed to fail now?

No...there was a way.

"Boy...your name is Leonardo, right?" Shiba questioned, turning to face the boy beside him.

Leonardo nodded faintly, staring at him with a straight face. "Yes sir."

"Leonardo...I want you to inform the rest of the our comrades to get the chopper ready. We are going to the battlefield...something has happened and you all need to see it yourselves."

The boy blinked, focusing on something else for a moment, before nodding again. "Ok...but, do you need medical help first?"

Closed eyes opened ever so slightly as the young man wiped the blood that was slowly leaking from his forehead. "Ah...this. Don't worry, this is merely a consequence for using my abilities...that and Uzumaki can hit pretty hard. Now go. Hurry."

Leonardo finally made a sloppy salute and went on his way, moving to inform his comrades.

Shiba closed his eyes again, contemplating his next move. The fact was that the elite of the Hero Faction was obliterated and that they were now a bit too low on manpower.

First things first, they would collect as many of the fallen bodies as possible. He knew full well that the yokai were focused on taking their leader back to Kyoto while she was in her kyuubi state, meaning they had to focus on carrying her. Leaving the fallen bodies alone for them to return to.

 _That_ would be their time to strike. He should thank Yasaka for creating that light barrier around the area...it would have been difficult for them to hide their helicopters without it.

Once that's complete, the entire group would retreat from Japan entirely for a while and temporary make a base on the ruins of the Chinese Hero Tribe headquarters. It should still be a while until other Hero Tribe branches check it out.

They had time to recuperate, thankfully.

But they needed a distraction to lick their wounds...especially to prevent Uzumaki from snooping around into their activities a second time...

...He had a few ideas.

"Leonardo!" Shiba called out, grabbing the boy's attention. "...I want you to do one more thing for me...make contact with the Old Maou Faction for me. I wish to speak to their leader about a...business opportunity."

The traitorous hero felt a very specific power up before...one that he was confident that Lucifer would recognize.

During the battles that were raging across the forest, next to Uzumaki's rise in power, was the rise in power of a certain devil...

It was a half-devil...and he only knew two that were affiliated with Uzumaki...and this one didn't feel like a descendant of Lucifer.

No doubt he could trade this information for quite a bit, and even refocus their blond friend's eyes away from them and back to the devils again.

It was only fair, Leohart purposefully gave them information about Uzumaki so that he could focus on _them_ , so it was time to change hands.

Now...unless the powerful...'human' felt like losing the daughter of Lucifer, he should probably hurry back home~

* * *

Violet eyes stared up at the sky, watching it with the fascination of a little girl.

She was currently on her break anyways, so it didn't really matter that she was wasting time like this. She was a busy woman at the slowest of days.

Raynare let loose a sigh, letting the stress of her work slide right off of her.

Research on what was going on with their faction was slow and arduous; the numerous interviews, interrogations, dna testing, and the occasional explosion of anger...or whatever the patient was afflicted with.

She didn't want to elaborate on what happened when fallen angels exploded with 'lust'.

It was consistently stressful, so she was thankful for this time off-

"Raynare-sama! Where are you? Azazel-sama needs you!" Kalawarner called out, exiting the building to find her charge laying on the grass.

The young fallen groaned, glancing up to stare at the blue-haired woman with annoyance. "Can't it wait...? I just started my break..."

The older fallen shook her head. "Sorry, but it's urgent."

"No need to convince her to come Kalawarner...I'm already here anyways." a masculine voice interrupted.

Both sets of eyes turned to see the leader of their faction walk up to them, exiting the building to give the young female on the floor a grim look.

Violet eyes narrowed warily, what was going-

"Raynare, we have more information on Kokabiel's whereabouts. As we feared, he has built a presence in Kuoh Town...we need you to go there and explain the situation. We don't need to raise tensions with the devils there at a time like this." the powerful fallen explained briskly, all business.

Both females there stared at him with wide eyes, so it has come to this...

"Got it." the young woman agreed, getting up to stretch her two pairs of wings. "When do I go?"

Azazel smiled as she accepted the responsibility smoothly. "As fast as possible, we need to clear up any misunderstandings before things get out of hand. Thank you for taking this responsibility, kid."

Raynare offered him a small grin. "This is in my interest too, I have no intention of fighting on the battlefield until my mother is better. The sooner I finish with this, the better."

With that, the black-haired woman jogged past him, intent on grabbing some food for the trip; to-and-back.

This wouldn't take any longer than a day or two.

* * *

 ***Drip***

The sound of dripping water echoed across the sewer-like area, a constant that someone would have to get used to while they stayed there.

In this pseudo-sewer, was a massive gate, one that held back one of the most powerful creatures in the Elemental Nations.

The kyuubi no yoko, the most powerful of the bijū.

That creature had recently intervened with his host's...'situation'. One that could have ended up doing immense damage to his emotional well-being in the long run.

Which was why 'he' was confused.

 **...Why did you intervene...kyuubi?**

A single eye opened up, revealing a massive red slit, staring into the darkness of the sewers.

 **"...So you were the one..."** the bijū muttered out loud, eye narrowed.

 **Yes...me. Now answer me.**

The kyuubi closed it's eye, turning away stubbornly, refusing to answer.

 **...How strange, I didn't anticipate your intervention...that's annoying. If anything, I anticipated your approval of what I was doing. Did you have a change of heart...?**

This time, both red slits revealed themselves. **"You...you're Naruto's 'remnant'...right? His 'excess'."**

 _ **Wrong**_ **. I _am_ Naruto...or at least...I _was_.**

 **"Until he abandoned you, forgot you existed...right?"** the great beast retorted casually, eyes sharp, remembering this feeling in his jinchūriki once upon a time. **"When he tried to move past his hatred..."**

 **Lies...he never moved past it...he only shoved it away, pretended it never existed...well...I'm still here. Biding my time. Waiting.**

 **"For what exactly?"** the orange fox questioned, genuinely curious. **"Do you really think that you can conquer the dominant personality so easily?"**

 **...You misunderstand me. I had no intention of destroying the current 'Naruto'...simply reforming him.**

The powerful kyuubi frowned slightly, not understanding.

 **You don't get it? Heh...don't worry, it's something that you've learned yourself...right? Never to trust.**

Massive red slits narrowed imperceptibly at that statement.

 **Am I wrong? The current Naruto...the 'fake' one if you prefer...is living a _lie_. Living while clinging on to the hope that people will accept him for who he is, while refusing to show others any negative sides to his character.**

The bijū didn't respond, he merely continued to stare into the darkness, listening to the disembodied voice.

 **For example; Koneko-san and his senjutsu...oh...he made logical back-flips to justify it to himself. But in the end, with his refusal to admit to his past as a shinobi and to your power...he proves that deep inside, he doesn't have confidence in others accepting him thoroughly. He is just pretending to live otherwise. All I'm going to do...is make it more apparent for him, by showing how easily his bonds are broken when he isn't as perfect as he portrays. How no one could ever accept our darkness. Our 'true' self.**

The great creature finally got a glint of understanding. **"I see...not only that...but now that I pay attention..you're stronger now too, aren't you? Now that I think about it, I remember feeling the negative power of this world's natural energy earlier. The negative energy didn't really affect Naruto himself...but it would enhance any negative feelings hidden deep inside...wouldn't it?"**

 **Ah...now you're getting it. Indeed, the natural energy didn't affect him at all until it enhanced _my_ influence. Temporarily weakening him, and temporarily allowing me to have more control over his psyche. Though...my influence was negligible until he used your chakra. Just like natural energy, your chakra works more like a multiplier of negative emotions. His anger is usually what pushes him to use your power, thus...it enhanced that anger. But in this case...it enhanced my darkness as well, his inner hatred became manifest when he used your power.**

The bijū went silent, contemplating the implications of the situation. Naruto had no idea what was going on inside himself...

 **Are you going to tell him?**

Red slits shifted to look at the darkness, an ugly blob that tainted an already battered area.

 **"No."** the kyuubi stated simply, closing his eyes and setting his head to rest.

The darkness didn't respond, it merely faded away again, as if it was never there to begin with.

Silence surrounded the sewer again, allowing the great beast's next words to echo in the empty room.

 **"...If you can't face the piece of yourself that stares back at you in the mirror...then I will never be able to call you my equal...Naruto."** the massive fox muttered. **"If you ever want to call me your 'friend' one day...start cleaning your own house first."**

With that, the great kyuubi no yoko fell asleep.

* * *

 **AN: Welp, bet few of you expected that to happen, eh? Well, I mentioned once upon a time in an obscure AN that Naruto's darkness would be an important element here. It's unresolved and growing. The world's natural energy on the outside has no effect on him, but inside...is a different story. And he has no idea, so he will keep using it.**

 **Devious. And something very, _very_ bad.**

 **So I hope you were all satisfied with that conclusion. Next chapter will begin the Excalibur Arc, beginning with a little bit of a wrap-up of this mini-arc.**

 **I actually wanted to write more, but mid-terms are here and this is more of an appropriate way to end it. More than this and it would ruin the flow I think. Sorry. :P**

 **Anyways, the next chapter will take a while, mid-terms and all, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while. No worries tho, like I said, I am a stubborn bastard. :D**

 **-RekkingPride**


	32. Chapter 32

"Alright! You heard the boss! We're gonna make sure that Kunou-chan and her mother are protected! Everyone spread out to cover as much area as possible!" a clone ordered, waving away his brothers.

The clones did as ordered and spread out, making sure to watch for any potential enemies, just in case they come by.

As they did their duties however, a single clone accidentally ran into a very familiar weapon. Stopping him in his tracks to stare at it with something approaching trepidation.

That was...

'Naruto' crouched slowly to the ground, studying the weapon with a serious gaze, wondering how the weapon should be treated with it's owner gone.

He thought about it for a bit, narrowing his eyes, would anyone besides the weapon's owner even be able to utilize it?

Honestly wasn't sure.

Water droplets still pelted his hair as he grabbed the powerful weapon, debating about what could be done with such a Sacred Gear. It was very different from the other Sacred Gears in some way, if only in the aura that it projected out.

Not only that, but based on his limited knowledge of Sacred Gears...shouldn't it be gone by now, or something like that? Wasn't it connected with _that_ guy?

More than that, it was powerful...something that the original 'Naruto' didn't really notice as he fought against it.

As his attention stayed onto the Sacred Gear, the clone never noticed the group of yokai that reached them, talking to the lead clone as he led them to their royalty.

'Naruto' moved his hand to his back pouch after a minute or two of consideration, grabbing a small scroll, an idea popping into his head as he moved away from the clone group just in case.

He didn't want to test out whether he could use it or not, it simply wasn't smart to use a strange and powerful weapon right next to his fellow copies and the two females they were supposed to protect. He was also fairly certain that gaining ownership of the item was much more complicated than just simply holding it.

So instead of just leaving the weapon here for anyone to pick up, he decided to seal it inside his sealing scroll. He would study it later-

The clone froze, eyes wide, as his body went rigid.

What was-?

'Naruto' fell to his knees as it felt like someone was trying to drill a hole through his skull, gripping his skull tightly as he grit his teeth.

He could see red slits through his mind's eye...coldly regarding him as it tried to push into his mind...

This feeling was...familiar too. As if it was an echo of something long past, of a _power_ he's seen before...

But before he could try and question it further-

 ***Poof***

Gasps rang out across the field as the clone exploded, his brothers following his lead as something happened to the original.

The yokai would eventually follow the instructions that the lead clone gave out before he expired, eventually reaching their newly-made comrades.

But no one was aware of the clone that drifted off to seal away a powerful weapon.

No one except one.

* * *

"This will be your room for the foreseeable future. If you need anything, feel free to ask me. You are our important guests after all." the female kappa stated genially, bowing to their honorable guests.

Yuki inclined her head politely. "Thank you, we will do so. We appreciate your hospitality."

With one more bow, the yokai left the room, giving them their privacy, sliding the Japanese-style door close.

The hero watched their host leave for a moment, making sure that she actually gave them their privacy, then turned around and glanced back at her two allies once she was sure that the yokai was gone. Walking up to them quietly.

Naruto was still knocked out, looking incredibly peaceful when compared to earlier. Laying down on the ground and resting his head on Maria's lap, where she was just brushing his hair soothingly, like a doting mother almost, especially as she still retained her older-looking form.

"How is he?" Yuki asked, voice clipped, eyes firmly on her friend.

Maria looked up, still brushing his hair absent-mindedly. "He's fine now...but I still can't help but worry for him. Did you hear? Some of the yokai were mentioning that he had fought a guy that sounds an awful lot like that guy from before...your old mentor. As well as the yokai faction leader...all at the same time."

The hero scrunched her eyebrows together, jaw clenching silently, disgusted with the fact that she didn't stop her old master. If only she managed to warn Naruto before...then maybe none of this would have happened...

If only-

"Stop."

Yellow eyes snapped to the succubus, meeting dry purple eyes.

"...Geez, you realize that you and Naruto-sama are the same in this respect, right?" she sighed, shaking her head. "You expect the world of yourselves...look, we don't have the full story. But Naruto-sama doesn't have a scratch on him. Whatever got him to act the way he did...probably has more to do with that strange power he had."

Yuki frowned, remembering the blond's red slits...a sharp contrast from his usual oceanic blue.

"Do you think it had something to do that dark power we felt earlier?" she asked quietly, contemplating.

This time, the succubus took her turn to frown, combing his hair soothingly. "Maybe. We can't know definitively until we ask him ourselves. For now...we should take some time off I think. Get our wounds looked at."

Purple eyes traveled to the large gash that stretched from her shoulder to her hip, smiling faintly as it continued to drip some blood.

The hero nodded, placing her only good arm over her broken one, noting that it has gotten numb by this point...

Probably not good.

"You're right. We've had enough excitement for a while...let's get our wounds looked at. I'll call the hostess."

"Roger!"

* * *

Shiba's long hair was flowing behind him as he watched the ground carefully, searching for the center of the battle that ended the lives of so many of his allies.

The remnant of the Hero Faction was quickly moving over the forest surrounding Kyoto, following the only man that seemed willing to lead them now that the elite and their leader were away. Many of them confused why they were going in the first place.

They would find out soon enough.

"We're approaching the coordinates you gave us...what should we do now? Shiba?" the hero piloting the aircraft questioned, eyes scanning for any movement. Knowing full well that they were in enemy territory.

The de-facto new leader of the Hero Faction kept his eyes closed, scanning for the increasingly distant sources of power, keeping tabs in case any of them decide to return...

"Settle down our helicopter once we reach those coordinates I gave you and relay my order; the other heroes are to stay in the air and keep lookout. Understood?" Shiba ordered, his tone leaving no opening for discussion.

His subordinate nodded, nudging his co-pilot to begin relaying the order while he set to settle down the vehicle, squinting slightly sine the heavy rain was still making it difficult to see the ground properly.

But when he finally got an eyeful of the ground he was landing on, the human's eyes couldn't help but widen.

It was...barren.

An entire section of the forest was completely gone, as if someone had flat out taken a chunk out of the earth, leaving it permanently scarred.

He also couldn't help but shiver as he neared, unknowingly echoing his comrades as they shivered along with him, feeling the same sensation.

It felt like an echo of death hung over the field...as if they narrowly missed a mass-slaughter...

So, that worrying feeling stuck in his throat, the pilot landed the craft, turning to his passengers to indicate that they were free to step out of the helicopter.

Shiba needed no prompting however, as the young man took the initiative to leave the aircraft and scan his surroundings, features serious.

...As he expected, the entire area was filled with the scars of battle, a vicious one at that.

"...What happened here?" the youngest member of the Hero Faction questioned softly, turning to the older human.

Shiba didn't respond to the boy's query, he simply continued to scan for anything to indicate where his old ally was...trying to remember where he could be.

There.

The young man jogged quickly to the edge of a large crater that was nearby, peering inside to see if the individual he was looking for was inside...

A frown spread across his face as he coolly regarded the pitch-black form of a body, still and silent, deep inside the crater.

It was relatively large...and vaguely humanoid...

That meant that this was Heracles at one point, whether he was burned to death or suffered something far more gruesome, the hero had no idea.

What he _did_ know, was that the body he was looking for wasn't there. As expected.

Eyes scanned the landscape once more, searching for the body of the former leader of the Hero Faction.

...

Found it.

Shiba was confident that he found the body this time as he rushed across the wrecked battlefield, eyes focused on the body that was distantly sprawled on the ground.

When he reached it, he knew exactly who it was.

Cao Cao's body was face-down into the moist ground, motionless, getting pelted by the rain relentlessly.

Shiba quickly moved up to the body and flipped it around, eyes searching for life in the form he was holding, then placing his ear to the man's chest. Searching for a heartbeat...

...

The young hero's eyes narrowed.

"...Shiba...? Is that...?" a hero murmured, walking up to him as he slowly recognized the body on the ground.

As the hero member spoke, several other humans followed after, leading to audible gasps that echoed across the field at the sight of the body that was laying down onto the ground.

It looked like...

"...This is indeed who you think it is. It's Cao Cao." the de-facto leader of the Hero Faction revealed, standing up slowly after studying the body for a moment longer. Making a show. "...And I'm afraid it is as you all fear. He has no heartbeat."

Gasps rang out from the crowd again, horrified that their leader was gone, slowly bringing forth panic as many realized that someone...or _something_ killed off the most powerful man that any of them had ever known.

Before it could come to that though, the last elite of the Hero Faction straightened his back to reach his full height and exude his presence onto his comrades. "Don't panic! You'll all do a disservice to what Cao Cao has done for us...and what he has managed to _keep_ doing for us."

That, indeed, managed to stop the hysteria that nearly took hold of everyone, with their attention all on Shiba as they took in his words.

Seeing that he got their attention, he continued. "You see...I have found out that our leader has left us a parting gift before he met his...untimely end. Proof that he kept us _all_ in his heart at the end. That he fought bravely against a powerful beast while making sure that the future of the Hero Faction was kept secure!"

His grandiose proclamation was in full view of all of the remaining heroes present, not only on the ground, but those who were watching from the remaining helicopters that were in the air.

For the moment, he had their undivided attention, for better or for worse.

Knowing this, he turned around and kept his charade going, keeping in mind how delicate his situation was. Aiming for a specific reaction from the remaining humans.

He already knew that the hero leader was dead before he arrived, he was also fairly confident that the man's last thoughts were most assuredly _not_ about the faction he was leading.

But his followers didn't need to know that, no...what they needed to know was that the man that they admired not only kept their well-being at heart, but that he also fell in battle honorably against a powerful foe.

More than that however...he knew where _it_ was...

The copies that the blond menace created after he left the premises...one of them had it...

"Where is the proof of my claims...some of you are no doubt wondering? How could I make such a statement about a man when I wasn't there to see his final moments? Well...the answer is obvious..." the young man continued, walking away from the group and the corpse by moving to the edge of the clearing. "The answer is right in front of all our eyes actually."

After a moment of walking, he found it, causing his eyes to gleam as he found the powerful weapon, just laying there, as if waiting for him to come and claim it.

Almost as if...it was a miracle.

In a sense, it was, but it wasn't one brought forth from Cao Cao's cunning or through the grace of the God of the Bible...no...it was simply from circumstance...and his planning.

But once more, his comrades didn't need to know that.

"Behold! The _True Longinus_ is here!" Shiba declared, bringing forth the Sacred Gear from the muddy ground, still in pristine condition. "This legendary weapon has _somehow_ managed to remain undetected from our enemies, despite it's legendary stature and strength! Yet here it is...do you all understand what this means?"

The crowd was silent, leaning towards him as they were caught up in his fervor.

With a smirk, he held the spear loftily, eyes still gleaming in the dark atmosphere. "...There is a hidden power that only a true user of the _True Longinus_ could utilize...it is called the _Truth Idea_ ; an ability that allows the user to create miracles through their sheer will...and is the fact that this powerful weapon managed to avoid detection not a sign of it? A sign that Cao Cao not only utilized _Truth Idea_ to allow our faction to retain control of the _True Longinus_...but that he kept us as his highest priorities! After all, such a powerful will to make a miracle could have been used upon his enemies...yet that will was spent on _us_."

Leonardo walked up to the front of the crowd, his stoic features softened as he watched what looked like a sermon from an overzealous priest for his hero.

"...This man had faced a beast of overwhelming power, yet he had focused the last of his strength for us. Is that not the _definition_ of a hero? Is that not what we have _all_ aspired to become? This man...is everything we should all look up to, aim for, _strive_ for. As his disciples...we cannot allow his bravery to be relegated to history!"

The young boy's attention was transfixed onto the de-facto hero leader, so intensely focused that he barely heard the low rumble of cheers that was occurring behind him from his comrades. Approving of the idea that was put into place.

"With what is no doubt his last wish for us, we shall take his body and extract ownership of the _True Longinus_ and give it to someone else before it could be reincarnated into someone else! We must act quickly, before the process begins! Also, Cao Cao needs to be honored and respected, not only from us, but for all heroes who will follow us! As a symbol against the system that has been put in place against us! As our inspiration! As _our_ hero!"

This time, Leonardo _definitely_ heard the roars of approval, dragging his attention away from Shiba to his fellow humans, raising their arms up, fists clenched, screaming their new leader's name to the stars.

It wasn't just them, as the heroes on the helicopters in the sky were also roaring his name to the point that it felt like the ground itself was shaking from the power of their combined lungs.

As his attention was overtaken from the actions of the heroes, Shiba moved to face the crowd personally, before eyeing the young boy at the forefront.

"...Leonardo." Shiba muttered out, staring at the boy. "I understand that Cao Cao convinced you to join the Hero Faction personally...so, despite the fact that he's gone, will you still serve under the Hero Faction?"

The youngest hero didn't reply at first, opting to look around and study the cheers of the heroes around him, seeing the new-found determination to not allow themselves to let their hero down.

"...I was nothing without Cao Cao." the boy replied, turning to lock eyes with the older male. "...I owe him my life for giving me a purpose to live. To fight. I will serve under you as I had while under him...sir."

Shiba grinned, darkly elated that the boy with the best potential in the Hero Faction would continue to serve under his new leadership.

But they weren't ready to face off against anyone, not as they were, let alone against the man responsible for this unmitigated disaster. They needed time...and resources to truly challenge the current power structure.

...He knew where to go.

"Apologies Cao Cao...I lied when I claimed that I didn't know where the crazy village elder went..." Shiba whispered under his breath, regarding the fallen body of his comrade.

The man who allegedly went insane, who betrayed the Hero Tribe to create something...different from the heroes of the past and the modern day, who had allegedly disappeared forever.

Shiba knew that man, as a matter of fact, it was thanks to that man that he was able to control Yasaka at all.

It turned out that he wasn't so insane after all...

Though they had different end goals, he had information that the old man didn't have...that he knew that he would want, that he would _need_.

That was the thing with information, wasn't it? Whether it was a devil that wanted to overthrow the current Underworld government or an elderly human that wanted to create a new 'hero'...they would both either want or need it.

Information was vital to both parties, giving him the upper-hand in any negotiations.

The information about the previous Lucifer's daughter and her vulnerability was for the devil...but for the old man?

It was Uzumaki Naruto.

He was the _key_ to that man's research, the final piece he needed, the piece that he _predicted_.

That man had an ability, an ability that made his betrayal of the Hero Tribe that much more cutting, more painful.

He was the faction's seer, a man that could predict events far into the future via his Sacred Gear.

Through that power, the heroes of old were able to respond effectively and efficiently against any attempts by the supernatural to abuse humanity, all while staying undetected.

It was a flawless system...except...until recently.

When the man saw visions of things that were considered impossible, of something... _outside_ of this world.

But more importantly; of a _boy_.

Of a boy, who's mere presence would change the course of history.

That man predicted his coming, his entrance to Kuoh Town, his attempts at getting home.

But that was all he knew, no more, no less. Especially since his abilities were not controllable, quite random actually.

Which was where Shiba came in.

They had established contact long before he had left the Hero Tribe, informing each other, with the younger man keeping tabs on the Hero Tribe so that his elder could remain undetected.

While the old man himself gave him information about the 'dreams' he had.

He didn't realize that thanks to those dreams, Shiba was able to proactively test whether they were true or not. Utilizing his sensing abilities to find this mysterious being that captured his slight interest. Knowing full well that since the old man was laying low, he would have no way to track the powerful blond down.

Well, the traitorous hero found him alright, leading him to consider his options, eventually deciding to inform the higher ups about his presence. Pushing the Hero Tribe leadership to keep tabs on the errant human.

He never imagined that Jin's adoptive daughter would be the one to confront him however...or that they would eventually become allies.

Truthfully, despite the old man's prediction, he didn't really hold the blond up as anything special, so he forgot about his presence for quite a while, opting instead to focus on destabilizing the Hero Tribe from within.

He could see now that that was a mistake, the boy was a legitimate threat, one that needed to be dealt with.

Before, Shiba didn't know what to do with the information he had about the blond, so he decided back then to simply wait for the information to become more valuable.

That time has come, the old man would be informed about Uzumaki, in exchange for his aid.

The Hero Faction would be reborn under his leadership, taking in the success of the elder hero's research and using it to further his own goals.

His ambitions would be realized...and they didn't necessarily follow Cao Cao's goals either.

"...Take Cao Cao's body and place it in our helicopter. He will be honored for time immemorial. Before that though, we have to extract ownership of the _True Longinus_ , we will decide who receives that momentous gift after we group up." Shiba ordered, moving past the group and towards the helicopter, the _True Longinus_ gripped firmly on hand as he turned back to the boy by his side. "We will back off for now, also...did you establish contact with the Old Maou Faction yet?"

Leonardo trailed after, watching his comrades extract their former leader's body. "Not yet...but contact should be established soon...what are you planning, sir?"

The new leader of the Hero Faction merely smirked as he stepped into the aircraft, eyeing the broken body of his predecessor, of the _martyr_ he has just created.

Even in death, Cao Cao was still an integral part of the Hero Faction.

"To make a final parting shot onto our enemies." he stated, unrepentant. "Also...after our faction returns to mainland China, I'm going to return to the Hero Tribe temporarily and make some...changes, might as well utilize my accessibility to that faction as an opportunity to advance the Hero Faction. Await further orders until I return."

Like Cao Cao before him, none of his followers even thought about denying him.

* * *

"Does your arm feel ok?"

"...It's been better, honestly."

Maria chuckled at the dry response, before wincing as the yokai nursing them bopped her upside the head for moving. Trying to keep the succubus from moving too much as she wrapped the bandages around her torso, trying to stop the blood from flowing.

Yuki on the other hand, was already finished getting her wounds nursed, having a large cast wrapped around her broken arm as a sling was holding it up. An occasional twitch affecting her eye as she realized how much she disliked staying in a bed so that she could nurse her wounds.

There was no particular reason why she didn't, she just _didn't_.

"Gah! Watch it...!" the half-devil complained audibly, grabbing the hero's attention.

Maria was gritting her teeth as her eyes began to water, wincing hard as the nurse continued to wrap her wounds up.

She obviously wasn't used to this.

So the yokai let loose some air in relief when she had finished her duty in covering up the succubus, having trouble with the task since the silverette's risque choice of clothing was getting in the way.

Especially considering her change in...body stature.

Nevertheless, the yokai eventually managed it and bowed to the two females, smiling brightly. "As our honored guests, you two will receive nothing but the best treatment while you two remain under my care. Same with your...friend."

Maria perked up. "You mean Naruto-sama is here?"

The nurse's smile faltered faintly. "Um...no, Naruto-sama is resting somewhere else since he bears no visible wounds on his person. I was talking about your...'other' friend."

Yuki's eyes shifted from the yokai to her comrade, realizing what she meant.

"Basara." the human female muttered out, getting a nod from the yokai and a surprised look from the half-devil.

"...Hoh? So the guy that made us like this is here somewhere, hmmm?" Maria noted with interest, leaning back onto her bed as a dark smirk spread across her face.

Yuki shot her a look, knowing exactly what was going through her head.

If the silverette noticed it, she didn't comment.

"So...is he ok?" the hero questioned, turning to the nurse.

Said nurse nodded, smiling. "He took quite the beating, but he'll live, it was a good thing that you got him to us as soon as you did though. As we had some difficulty re-attaching his arm, but the operation has been successful, mostly because the damage was relatively fresh, but it will take him some time to recover fully. If he should wake up earlier than expected, make sure to tell him to avoid using his arm until all of his nerve systems have fully recovered."

Yuki nodded faintly, breathing a sigh of relief that her old friend would be alright.

"At any case." the yokai interrupted, gaining the attention of both of her patients again. "I'd just like to inform the both of you that Yasaka-sama and Kunou-sama are both now resting in their quarters. The remaining yokai are also scouring the field to retrieve the bodies of the fallen humans for questioning and autopsy if necessary. Do you have any recommendations for them? Considering you had more contact with the elite than we had...?"

The hero leaned forward, pushing her body from the bed to offer just what their nurse wanted. "Indeed, I do. If you can, search for a man among the fallen with jet-black hair and who is wearing some ancient Chinese attire around his waist...he is the leader of the group. Make sure to find his weapon as well, be careful with it...it's very powerful."

Their nurse nodded, understanding. "I will inform the search party, thank you for your recommendation. Please rest now...I think that you two deserve it."

"You'll get no argument from me about that." Maria agreed, flashing a tired smile.

Yuki nodded slowly in agreement, slowly leaning herself back to lay down onto her bed, allowing the adrenaline that was still buzzing through her body to die down.

The moment that it did, fatigue hit her. Hard.

"...Tired, huh?" Maria questioned lightly, breaking through the fog that was the young human's mind a little.

Yellow eyes blearily turned to look at the succubus. "You aren't?"

Said succubus tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace instead. "Ah...it hurts too much to sleep. So I'm bored."

"...Woe is me then." the hero couldn't help but snark, a wry smirk making it's way to her lips. "Maybe turning off that new form of yours will help you relax, hm?"

The half-devil grunted. "Ah...can't do that."

Yuki shifted her body to the side, facing her partner. "Why not? Is there a problem?"

Maria shrugged her shoulders, trying to look unconcerned. "...No reason, really."

Her words weren't heeded as the female hero continued to stare at her without stopping, boring her eyes into her skull.

The succubus felt a sweat-drop form onto her forehead, she could sympathize with Naruto-sama more now that she was met with the teen's unnerving stare.

She could see how the hero managed to force him into taking tutoring classes.

"...It'll hurt."

Yuki blinked.

"What?"

Maria shifted uncomfortably, a bit of pink reaching her cheeks.

"...If I change back...my wounds will hurt more since my new body helps me resist the pain better." she mumbled out, cheeks burning.

...

"How old are you again, Maria-san?"

"...Shut it, Yuki-san."

* * *

...

...

"Hey."

"Ngh...just...let me stay like this a little longer..."

This time the teacher didn't deign to respond, choosing instead to slam the palm of his hand onto the pervert's desk.

Issei jerked up from his desk accordingly, getting up so fast that he hurt his neck in the process.

Bleary eyes took in the sight of his teacher, who was glaring at him, hands on hips.

Ah...

"Sleep at your own time, Hyoudou, _not_ in my classroom." the teacher growled, annoyed that the student had the gall to ask for time.

The young man could only grunt in affirmative, trying to get the cobwebs out of his head.

Huffing, the class' sensei was about to speak again, but was once more, interrupted.

A sharp ringing sound echoed across the halls, indicating that the period was over.

Students, without even waiting for permission, were already grabbing their bags and leaving the room, trying to get out of there as fast as possible.

Issei for his part just offered his sensei an apologetic smile, shrugging in a 'what can you do?' fashion.

The teacher sighed, before moving away from the boy in order to prepare to go to his next class, letting the incident go for now.

"Issei-san, are you ok?"

The perverted boy dragged his gaze away from the instructor and moved to the blond nun, who was gazing at him with worried eyes.

Ah crap...he got her worried.

"Hehe...no worries Asia, just a little tired, that's all." the teen assured, rubbing his hand on her head as he stood up. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Asia scanned his face for a little bit, finding no lie, then smiled, grabbing his hand as he began walking to leave the room.

"ISSEI!"

Both teens jumped as a loud voice stopped them still, keeping them in place so that two boys were able to run up to the reincarnated devil and grab his shoulders, flanking him all of a sudden.

He recognized them, much to his chagrin.

"...Matsuda, Motohama...what do you two want?"

The other two members of the infamous 'Perverted Trio' scowled at their comrade. "How rude! Just because you happen to hang around cute girls more often...doesn't make you better than us, damn it! Right, Motohama!?"

Motohama, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose, nodded sharply. "Exactly! You've been trying to act all cool recently now that you've been hanging out with the ORC, Asia-chan, and...that blond delinquent. We're here to pull you back to your roots!"

The nun's green eyes shifted back-and-forth between the exasperated Issei and his perverted comrades, confused. "...Is it not alright for Issei-san to spend time with his friends?"

Motohama and Matsuda both twitched at her question while her friend regarded her with a tired smile.

"Don't listen to them, Asia." the brown-haired boy muttered, throwing his perverted friends tired looks. "They're just jealous."

"HOW COULD WE NOT BE!?" both boys roared out, shocking the duo with the intensity of their emotional outburst.

"...You...! How could you Issei!?" Matsuda howled, falling to his knees, his bald head reflecting the ceiling lights. "You've betrayed us! You got yourself a beautiful blond that hangs on to your every word! You hang out with several top-class beauties! You've betrayed the perverted pact! Traitor! How dare you become more popular than us!"

Issei felt a sweat-drop forming, how exactly could he calm these guys down...?

"More than that!" Motohama interrupted, pointing an offending digit at their fellow pervert. "You've even become buddy-buddy with our mortal enemy! A popular guy! To become friends with someone like Uzumaki...! It's unforgivable!"

"...Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he couldn't find a girl to have sex with you?" the reincarnated devil wondered aloud, remembering when the blond mentioned something along those lines a while back.

He specifically remembered his unbelievably smug look...

"It has _everything_ to do with that!" Motohama proclaimed, as tears furiously began to fall down his cheeks. "He...he...! He didn't even try! He could have! I _know_ he could have! Damn it...! We had a deal! I was looking forward to losing my first time...but he ruined it! I'll never forgive him!"

"Death to all popular guys!" Matsuda cried out, raising his fist up into the air.

Issei could only scratch the back of his head, unsure about how to respond to the allegations set against him.

Truth be told, a part of him wanted to join the two teens in their perverted endeavors, but with Naruto temporarily out of the picture, and considering the dangerous things that were happening lately...

Well, he was training on a constant basis for a reason.

So the perverted boy opened his mouth, about to make up an excuse to get his buddies off his back.

"...Issei-sempai. Asia-sempai."

But he was interrupted by the quiet voice of the younger devil that just appeared in the hallway.

The group went silent when Koneko walked up to the door leading into the classroom, staring at them with nary an expression on her face. Stoic even.

"...Buchou wants to see all of us. She said it was important...come on." she stated, jerking her head back, motioning for the two of them to follow.

Brown and green pupils quickly turned to one another, confused about what was going on, but their bodies began moving anyways to follow her.

Once more, two hands grabbed the perverted boy by the shoulders, holding onto him with a vice grip.

The _pawn_ swallowed the lump in his throat, turning around cautiously as he practically _felt_ the jealousy that the two boys were emanating towards him.

As he expected, Motohama and Matsuda were crying bitter tears as they glared at him.

Ugh...what to do, what to do?

A cheshire smile began to grow across Issei's face, a dark look entering his eye as he straightened his back and raised his nose into the air.

"Heh! You _do_ know that jealousy is a feeling that will make you ugly, right? Although, I can't really blame you...you don't have the luxury to see such beauty on a daily basis like me! So I suppose it's fine...now burn! Burn with jealousy! Let it consume you as your imaginations run wild with my enviable life! Weep! _Weep!_ " he cackled, eyes burning as he twisted the knife further.

Now the perverted boys began letting loose so much tears that they became virtual waterfalls, flowing to the floor and pooling around them with their bitter enmity.

" _Yes!_ I'm practically feeding off of your despair, it makes me stronger! This is revenge for starting rumors about me, damn it! So I'll be savoring this for the rest of my life, bastards!" the _pawn_ proclaimed, pointing at the duo with an accusing glare.

"D-Damn you...!" Motohama cried out, stamping his feet.

"I hope the gods of perverts curse you!" Matsuda cursed, shaking his fist in his anger.

With those last tearful words, Motohama and Matsuda ran off, cursing their friend's horrible betrayal.

Issei watched them leave, chest puffed up as he gave the _rook_ a thumbs up. "That was fun. Ready to go now. Lead the way, Koneko-chan!"

Koneko simply stared at him, stoic as ever, honestly not sure how to take the outburst.

She quickly decided to take it in stride.

Her sanity was frayed enough, she really didn't need to get the pervert to make it worse.

"Um...so is there something wrong?" Asia started, walking side-by-side with the younger girl as they made their way to the _king's_ base of operations.

Koneko tilted her head to look at the two teens that were following her, the first flash of emotion finally appearing in her hazel orbs.

It was grim.

"...Unfortunate news." she muttered.

* * *

When Mio was told about Rias' emergency meeting, she wasn't particularly feeling bad about missing some time off of class, if anything she was quite glad. She was quite tired after all.

But when she entered the old school building, curious, that somewhat content feeling drifted away when she saw the serious look in the older red-head's eye.

By the time she arrived, nearly everyone still present in Kuoh Academy that she knew were involved in the supernatural were there, looking about as serious and tense as the Gremory heiress herself.

"Mio-chan." Rias spoke up, grabbing her attention as she entered. "Glad you could join us, you should be here to hear this."

Well, this was a promising start...

As Mio walked inside the main room, scanning to see if she could try and ascertain what was going on, someone else spoke up.

"Rias. What's going on? You rarely ever do something like this...so it must be serious, right?" Sona remarked, sitting on the couch, completely attentive.

The half-devil's eyes shifted from the student council president to her sempai, knowing that this incident was no joke if Rias called Sona to come by.

The Gremory heiress nodded solemnly. "It is. First things first; I've recently received some...troubling news from the Underworld, specifically about the clan heir of the Astaroth clan."

Sona's interest was definitely piqued at that information, but others in the room were instead confused by the information.

"Well...that sounds interesting Buchou." Issei tried to say as diplomatically as possible. "But what's that got to do with us?"

"Patience, I'm getting to that." the red-head assured, moving on when no one else raised a fuss. "As I was saying, the news is a bit...troubling. You see, the heir of the Astaroth clan is in fact; the little brother of the current Maou Beelzebub...and it seems that he has been banished from his clan and has been declared an S-ranked criminal by the government. For what reason? I'm not sure. But this is a highly irregular act to be sure."

The Sitri heiress steepled her fingers together, deep in thought now as the words sunk in. "...That man's name was...Diodora, correct? What could have possibly happened to force the government to declare him a criminal...? Let alone to have the Astaroth clan banish their _only_ heir?"

No one had an answer for that.

Seeing an opportunity, Mio piped up, a question coming out of her mouth. "Alright, I get it, this guy is pretty important. But I have to agree with the pervert on this one...this has nothing really to do with us. So I'm guessing there's more to this, right?"

Rias allowed a small grin to grace her features.

But it was her _queen_ that answered the question in her stead. "Indeed, there's more to why Buchou called all of us here, but this has it's own importance, even if it isn't obvious."

"Right." the Gremory heiress affirmed, tone neutral. "You see, the only thing that could have possibly pushed such a powerful clan to formally disown their heir...is if the devil himself did something that was considered 'unforgivable' to devil society. An action that needs to be enforced, despite the conflict of interest that it creates with the Astaroth clan. Something like, say...a devil that invaded another's private property without their permission?"

Now _that_ caused some eyebrows to rise.

Before anyone could say anything however, she continued. "Don't get me wrong, this is merely an educated guess, but suffice it to say, I have my suspicions. This information was recently made public and is currently on the Underworld news, and it follows closely onto the heel of reports that Maou Beelzebub has met up with my onii-sama for a talk. Now I'm sure you all remember that Naruto sent the bodies of the girls that he captured during the attack at my summer home with Grayfia so that they could be inspected, right? So that Maou Beelzebub could scan them for their Evil Pieces?"

"...Oh!" Issei realized, taking a step forward as his brain connected the dots. "So you're saying that this Diodora guy is the one that attacked me and Asia?"

"It would seem so." Sona remarked grimly, internalizing the information. "At least if we take into account the timing. But this is still just a theory, correct?"

Rias nodded. "Correct. We don't have any proof, and we won't until I speak to Grayfia or onii-sama about it. It's still likely however, so I just want to advice you... _all_ of you, though especially Issei and Asia...to be careful from now on. Diodora is nowhere to be found and he's attacked our group before, it isn't far-fetched to think he could do it again.

"...Do you really think that he might attack us?" Asia asked tentatively, green eyes nervous.

The _pawn_ patted her shoulder, easing her. "Hey, you don't have to worry about a thing. This is why we were training, right? I've learned some new tricks compared to last time, so I won't be beaten down so easily. You too as a matter of fact, right? We've _all_ been getting ready for stupid crap like this."

"He's right." Mio assured, patting the nun's other shoulder. "There's no way this creep is gonna take us out that easily! Besides, if push comes to shove, we've got each other's backs, right?"

Asia gripped her fists together, as if in prayer, breathing out some of the tension in her frame, internally thanking the two teens for the encouragement.

Rias and Akeno exchanged small smiles, content that, indeed, the group present would look out for one another.

"...Buchou."

The red-head blinked however, when a quiet voice knocked the temporary good mood that the previous scene rendered her in, forcing her to interrupt it.

"...As much as I'd like to say that's it, unfortunately, it isn't. We have another problem." the Gremory heiress spoke up, eyes shifting from her _queen_ , to Sona, then finally to the silent _rook_ beside her.

Koneko was silently regarding her, still stoic, but there was a genuine edge to her as well, one that was far more obvious than usual, mostly because the new issue was compounding onto her older one.

When Issei, Asia, and Mio finally started paying attention again, they quickly found out what was pushing the reincarnated devil to such a mood.

"...After a small period of absence from school, and after we've checked his apartment...Akeno and I have come to the conclusion that Yuuto is missing." she declared solemnly.

Shock quickly reverberated across the room, knocking everyone who wasn't aware into silence.

So before the inevitable questions were asked, the high-class devil took this chance to explain. "...My _knight_ ; Kiba Yuuto, has been acting strange recently, starting around the time that Naruto left for Kyoto...whether the two events are connected or not, I don't know. What I _do_ know is that he has been extremely introspective and withdrawn ever since then, at first I thought that he was going through some...'personal' issues...so I left him alone. Figuring that he would come to me as soon as he felt he was ready. We _are_ family after all..."

A bitter smile grew on her face as she turned away.

"It seems that he didn't feel the same way..."

Mio took a step forward, alarmed. "Wait...how did this happen!? Why would he disappear? Yeah, he was acting off...but that isn't a reason to run away or anything, right?"

"Y-Yeah...maybe Kiba-san is going through a bad time in his life? Maybe that's why he made such a rash decision?" Asia tried to deduce, her brows scrunching together in concentration.

Meanwhile, Sona stood up and walked up to her solemn friend, eyes as sharp as a knife. "What _I_ want to know...is why you are only doing something about your _knight_ now. Why didn't you try and speak to him before this got out of hand?"

Blue-green eyes narrowed at the words that were set against her, recognizing the pressing demand for an explanation. "...Sona, you must understand that Yuuto had a...difficult past, one that isn't easily broached in the best of times. I had more than a bit of a hunch that his attitude stemmed from his past, so I didn't want to intrude onto his personal life unnecessarily. I had no reason to assume that it would come to...this."

The Sitri heiress sighed, wiping her hand over her face. "Rias...you're too lenient at times. You're their _king_ , you are responsible for them, which means that sometimes, you _have_ to interject into their personal lives at times..."

"Don't start." the red-head interrupted quietly, but firmly. "We've had this discussion before Sona, I refuse to push my cute servants to give me information when it is too close to home. Not unless it's important. In this case, it wasn't the correct action to take, but that isn't always the case. You have your ways of doing things...and I have mine. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?"

Both high-class devils stared each other down, eyes firm, unyielding.

"...Buchou. Kaichou."

The young _kings_ shifted their eyes to the diminutive reincarnated devil, who was gazing on them with something approaching reproach.

A true rarity.

"...Please...Yuuto is gone. I want him to come back. He's...family." Koneko muttered, hazel eyes clenching shut in impotent frustration.

Rias and Sona stayed silent as they watched the distressed _rook_ , shame unwittingly bleeding into their eyes as they watched.

This wasn't the time for this.

"...I'm sorry, Rias." Sona apologized quietly. "This isn't the time for this. First things first...bringing your lost family member back."

A slow smile made it's way to the red-head's lips.

"...Thank you, Sona. Honestly."

Mio breathed a sigh of relief, eased that the two devils weren't going to have a row with one another.

But the issue about the missing _knight_ still loomed over their heads, more than that...was how they were going to deal with the problem?

"...Alright, with that out of the way. On to Kiba-kun." Akeno quickly took charge, refusing to be derailed on the issue any longer. "Buchou; I suggest that for the rest of the day we search for Kiba-kun on foot, staying in groups of two as we scour Kuoh Town for him. It could be that he's just found his own place for introspection. We don't want to cause a ruckus over a non-issue."

The _king_ of the Gremory group nodded at the idea. "Excellent suggestion, Akeno. I'd also like to suggest that everyone get going immediately, I don't want anyone to continue searching for Yuuto late a night...not while we have Diodora on the loose. More than that, Yuuto could try and come by our homes during the night as well. We don't want to miss him if he does do that. Am I understood?"

A series of nods were her answer, some more nervous than others, but all as determined as the other to protect one of their own.

"Alright, I'll send my Peerage out looking as well. If we find anything, we'll contact you Rias. We'll also have to stay grounded instead of searching from the air unfortunately, we don't want to get spotted by the regular human civilians around Kuoh Town after all." Sona remarked reasonably, pushing her glasses onto the bridge of her nose casually.

"Got it." the red-head affirmed, standing up as she scanned the room, making eye contact with everyone present.

"...Let's go!"

"""Right!"""

* * *

...

"Mmm..."

"...Ah! Kunou-sama!"

Kunou groaned as a loud voice broke through the fog of her mind, as she opened a bleary eye.

As she regained some sense of her surroundings, a young woman entered her line of sight, gazing upon her worryingly.

"...You..." the young kyuubi murmured, blinking repeatedly so that she could gaze upon the woman more clearly. "You're a yokai...aren't you?"

The young woman smiled brightly, pleased, as she rubbed her hand over the princess' head. "That's right young one, you're safe now."

Golden eyes exhibited her confusion, trying to recall what happened before she-

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Wait! What happened? Where's okaa-sama? Where are the bad guys? Where's Naruto!?" she shouted out, trying to get up as her head swiveled around frantically.

A calm hand rested itself upon the crown of the little blond's head, stopping her frantic movements for a moment.

More than enough.

"It's ok my princess, the young man that saved you, his allies, and Yasaka-sama are all safe. They are currently recovering from their ordeal however, you are the first one to awaken. We were hoping that you could explain what happened after you've recovered enough actually." the female yokai explained patiently, rubbing the kyuubi's head.

Kunou took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down after hearing what the -obvious- servant had to say. "I-I see...then can I go see them? Now?"

For the first time, the yokai servant's happy demeanor disappeared from her face, forming into an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Kunou-sama, but I think that it would be wise for them to get some rest first. Let them recover."

The little girl pouted, crossing her arms at being denied the chance to see her mother and her new friend. "...Fine, I get it. But I'm hungry, so can I get something to eat?"

Once more, the yokai let loose a tender smile, pleased. "Very well Kunou-sama, considering that you slept through practically the whole day...it isn't much of a surprise. Stay right here, I'll whip you up something to eat."

With that, the servant bowed and left the room, sliding the door shut on the way out.

Kunou quickly got up from her comfortable futon and ran up to the door, placing her ear on it as she listened to the receding steps of the yokai who was watching over her.

...

Good, she was gone.

The little kyuubi slid the door open and poked her head out, making sure she was alone in the hallway.

After accomplishing that, she walked out of the room and slid the door close on the way out. Making her way to where the small nursing area was, intent on seeing her mother and her friend.

She wasn't going to wake them up or anything, she just wanted to see them, face-to-face.

To assure herself that they were ok.

So Kunou made her way to the nursing area of the large japanese-style mansion, making sure that her footsteps weren't too loud as to not attract attention to herself.

As she continued on her way, she stopped for a moment when she noticed something peculiar outside a window she was passing by.

It...was dark.

The day had passed and had given way to night, as the cool and calm clouds drifted lazily in the sky.

It was kind of surreal, she fell unconscious in the day while in the midst of a rainstorm, and she woke up in the calm and cool night.

The lady that was taking care of her wasn't kidding...practically the entire day had passed her by while she was out of it.

Kunou shook her head. No, she was on a mission, she had to see those she cared about otherwise there was no way she'd get any amount of decent rest.

Resolve clenched in her fingers, she ran to the nursing area, heart beating rapidly, and it wasn't just because she was running.

After a few more precious seconds, she finally reached her destination.

Golden eyes peeked through the crack that she made when she slid the door open, making sure that the coast was clear.

She didn't see anyone inside, the exception being those who were occupying the beds.

Kunou quickly took this chance to enter the room, looking around to find the right bed which her loved ones were occupying.

A quick split-second look confirmed that the first bed was occupied by a young woman with light blue hair, wearing a cast that covered one of her arms as she rested.

Golden eyes narrowed faintly, not recognizing her, maybe this was one of Naruto's allies that she heard about?

Nevertheless, she wasn't the one that she was looking for.

So she moved past the bed and went to check the next one, seeking either of her targets.

She blinked.

...It was empty.

The covers were recently moved and haphazardly laid across the vacant bed, as if it's occupant left in a hurry.

Golden eyes traveled around the room, wondering where the occupant could have gone, wondering if it was either okaa-sama or if it was the blond hero.

She closed her eyes, scrunching her eyebrows together in concentration as she strained her ears to see if she could find out where the patient went...

Luckily for her, despite her caution, the mansion was mostly empty due to the fact that everyone was still out cleaning up the forest outside of Kyoto, meaning that if she was lucky...she might be able to _hear_ where the missing patient went.

Good thing that that luck pulled through for her.

Golden eyes snapped open when she heard the very soft sound of a door closing shut in the distance, at least two hallways down through the opposite side of the nursing room.

Kunou quickly jogged past the still-unconscious patient to reach the other end of the room, noting that the door on that side was left wide open.

She was on the right track.

After a few more tense moments of silence and walking, the little girl eventually made her way to the predicted door that she heard, staring at it as she swallowed her nervousness.

It was slightly open, giving the small blond a glimpse of what was inside.

Taking the chance that was offered, the yokai princess leaned in and peeked inside.

What she saw honestly shocked her still for a moment.

She indeed found one of the people that she was searching for, but that person was obviously still out of it, laying down on the floor peacefully.

At least he would have been, if you ignored the fact that his head was laying on top of a beautiful young woman's lap, allowing her to quietly comb his hair, comforting him in a motherly fashion.

Kunou nervously gazed onto the scene, not too sure of what to make of it. She's never seen this lady before, and she wasn't exactly comfortable seeing her treat the older blond with such familiarity.

The young woman was covered with bandages that crisscrossed her well-developed body, with long silver hair that stretched to her lower back, all while wearing revealing clothing that showed off her figure.

All in all, not exactly the sort of person that she expected to be tenderly grooming the teen's hair, soothing him in his sleep.

It was at that moment, that the woman's purple eyes drifted away from the young man and to the door...

"I know you're there you know?" the woman stated easily, a small smirk touching at the end of her lips.

Crap, she noticed.

Kunou quietly slid the door all the way open, eyeing the silver-haired woman warily as she entered the room. "...Who are you? Are you a friend of Naruto's?"

The young woman blinked at the kyuubi's question, purple eyes locking with golden.

"You're...you're that girl that Naruto-sama saved, right?" the silverette wondered aloud, before offering her a genial smile. "Well, it's nice to meet formally meet you at last. The last time I saw you, you were unconscious and being carried by Naruto-sama. My name is Maria, what's yours?"

If the young yokai was caught off guard by the succubus' pleasant demeanor, she didn't express it. "I'm Kunou; the princess of the yokai faction...but I suspect you already knew that."

Maria sheepishly scratched her cheek, chuckling. "Ehehe...was it that obvious? Sorry about that, I was just a little nervous, that's all."

Kunou frowned this time, allowing herself to fold her hakama so that she could sit down. "Nervous? What could you possibly be nervous about? You're safe here."

The half-devil's smile slipped off of her face as her eyes drifted downwards, a neutral expression taking it's place as she rubbed the palm of her hand onto Naruto's cheek.

"It isn't my safety that I'm worried about." she eventually admitted.

If anything, this confused the yokai princess more, as her limited knowledge of the blond's actions practically guaranteed him VIP status at the very least. The young woman should have no reason to fear for him.

Seeing her confusion, Maria considered whether she should fully inform the younger girl about just what happened earlier in the day...

But quickly decided against it. It simply wasn't her place to tell the yokai about what had happened, it was something that was up to either Naruto or the faction leader to do.

So when she opened her mouth, originally to explain the situation in more detail, something else unwittingly came out of it.

"...Look at him." she spoke up softly.

Kunou's eyes followed the silverette's gaze downwards, latching onto the unconscious blond.

"...You see it too, right?" she remarked, poking the whiskered teen's forehead.

The action caused him to grunt in annoyance in his sleep, turning over to his side as he subconsciously tried to get away from the annoying prodding.

Golden eyes continued to watch Naruto, watching him sleep peacefully, without a worry in the world.

"He's...content." the small kyuubi realized belatedly, glancing upwards to meet the succubus' face. "The last time I saw him, he was...in pain, trying to save me from those bad guys. Even before that, he was always...on edge, prepared to fight whenever necessary for me."

"Exactly." Maria agreed, pulling Naruto closer to her. "After everything that has happened today, after seeing his distressed face after...well... _everything_ , he is finally relaxing. No worry, stress, or fear lacing through his features."

A bitter smile crossed her lips as she shrugged.

"I guess I...just want to make sure that he gets as much rest as possible. Make him as comfortable as possible. This boy is the one that provided my charge and I a home when we were in trouble, the one that protects us on a constant basis...he's a piece of my important family. So while I can't do much for him...I can at least watch over him when he's like this."

Kunou nodded slowly, understanding lighting up her eyes as she gazed upon the two, watching the woman smile as the young hero muttered in his sleep again.

"Do you like him?"

Maria blinked, shifting her gaze away from her family to the curious little girl.

They stared at one another for a split moment, locked, as a slow smirk spread across the half-devil's face.

"That's a good question, maybe. Maybe not. Would you believe me if I said that I had no idea, however?" she chirped humorously, suddenly cheerful.

The young girl tilted her head, unsure. "...How can you not be sure? Isn't it obvious that you like him?"

The succubus laughed, almost having a giggling fit from the frank response.

She had to laugh, really, because if she didn't then she would cry.

After getting off of her sudden laughing fit, her happy demeanor crumbled away, leaving a decidedly solemn woman in it's wake.

"Why am I not sure? Well...it's because I'm terrified of finding out the answer of course." Maria noted, gazing back down onto the mop of golden hair that was laying on her lap. "This boy...has no idea how much of an effect he has on other people. Really...I have my own problems to worry about, and him acting so heroic all the time is _definitely_ not helping me sort them out. I have my own skeletons in the closet you know...?"

She leaned her face down, closer to the sleeping boy, eyes drinking in his features. "Do you hear me Naruto-sama? You're not the only one who has secrets here, not by a long shot. But more than that, you do realize that you're kind of like a womanizer, right? Even if you don't know it, the way you act, the way you consistently butt into problems that technically doesn't concern you, the way that you lend an ear or a hand for someone else...they effect people. You're shaking a lot of hearts, don't you know? I can name quite a few girls that are at the 'precipice' so to speak, do you realize that?"

Naruto didn't respond, he stayed silent, resting, completely unaware of the silverette's small rant.

Maria blew the hair out of her face, an exasperated smile on her face. "You...don't realize it at all, do you? How hard it is for the young maidens that are just coming into their own as women to be around you? You're a human boy, didn't you know? Anything...'more' would end disastrously for any supernatural female, so how could you be so dense, Naruto-sama?"

The shinobi snored faintly, shifting to the side as he unconsciously searched for a more comfortable position.

"...Ah, look at me." the succubus murmured. "Talking to you while you're asleep, knowing that you can't hear me. But refusing to talk to you about this while you're awake. Turns out that it takes a different type of bravery for that stuff, huh?"

As if agreeing, the blond shifted his body back to face the silver-haired girl, face-to-face, but still unconscious.

A pout formed on said woman's lips, slightly annoyed that he was so content while she was so disoriented.

To rectify that, a feminine hand snaked to the blond's face, eventually landing on his nose, where fingers squeezed against his nostrils.

Naruto physically frowned as a hand flew up from his side and swiped at his face, trying to stop the annoying feeling of getting his nose clogged.

Maria quickly moved her hand back, watching him slap his face with his own hand, grunting softly in protest.

A giggle came out of her lips, feeling slightly better.

...Despite her complaints, she was pretty happy that the whiskered teen was dense about such things, it would complicate things tremendously if he wasn't.

Thanks to that, she, and possibly many others now had the chance to let any stray emotions to falter and die out. Anything more than friendship was doomed to fail anyways, why put anyone through that?

She shook her head slowly, scratching the boy's whisker marks reflexively. The dynamic between everyone back at Kuoh Town was stable, but any attempt to switch that dynamic could cause friction...and she didn't want that.

She wanted to keep her family as it was, and she was sure that Mio-sama felt the same.

Purple eyes closed shut at the thought.

That was right...Mio-sama must know, so she must be having a difficult time too...

"Uh...um!"

Maria's eyes snapped open again, zeroing in on the little girl that was sitting opposite of her, a red tint in her cheeks.

Ah...

She forgot that the yokai was there.

"Ehehe...sorry, I went off on a large tangent, my bad." the succubus apologized sheepishly, sticking her tongue out childishly.

Kunou stared at her, eyes wide, honestly not expecting the admission that the silver-haired woman gave out as her cheeks burned in light embarrassment. Mostly because she felt that she heard something that she shouldn't have.

"Ah...well, I don't really get what you're talking about. But...you sound like you have complicated feelings, do other people have such complicated emotions too?" the kyuubi squeaked out, golden eyes the size of saucers.

Maria scratched her cheek, somewhat nervous. "Uh...that's kind of a hard question to answer, but if I were talking about the people that I know...well, I'd say quite a few to be honest. Comes with growing up I'm afraid."

The little blond sighed mournfully at the admission, growing up sounded tough...

Then she felt a hand place itself onto the crown of her head, rubbing it as the hand's owner grinned at her.

"Aw, don't worry about it too much. I may be complaining a lot, but it isn't as hard as I made it seem. There will be hard moments, no doubt about that...but I have a feeling that you are a hardy little girl, aren't you?"

Kunou's cheeks expanded when she blew into them, frustrated that she was called a 'little girl'. "Hey! I'm not a little girl! And for your information, I _am_ tougher than I look! Naruto even told me so! After talking to him as a matter of fact...I'm even stronger!"

Maria raised an eyebrow in interest. "Are you now? How do you figure?"

Golden eyes turned away from the older female, shifting downwards to stare at the tatami mat that she was sitting on. With her little fists clenching together.

"...After he saved me, I was scared about a lot of things. Everything felt different, everything felt less...safe. I actually wanted him to stay in Kyoto for a little bit so that I could feel safe again." the yokai princess revealed softly, eyes glazing over as she recalled events and words that occurred only earlier that day.

The succubus tilted her head, idly scratched Naruto's scalp, making sure that he was comfortable. "Huh...I guess that means we have to stay behind for while, hmm?"

A chuckle was her response.

"Nope. He didn't want to." the small kyuubi said easily, shrugging her shoulders.

Now _that_ pushed Maria to do a double-take.

"Yeah, I know...weird, huh? But...the thing was that Naruto didn't want me to become dependent on him, feeling that the fear I got in my heart could be tackled with my own strength. I didn't believe him though, but then he gave me this whole speech, telling me how he wanted everyone he cared about to be strong! It was pretty cool!" Kunou gushed, eyes gleaming as she leaned forward like a child.

The dry smile she got in response let her know that this wasn't exactly uncommon for the blond.

But that smile became far more affectionate when purple eyes drifted downwards, scanning his face just in case he was about to wake up.

"...My my, Naruto-sama. So _that's_ how you felt about us, hmm? I better be careful with you, shouldn't I...?" she murmured softly, before turning to the smaller blond. "So you're going to face your fears then? To fight them and move past them?"

Kunou nodded frantically, all smiles and sunshine. "Yep!"

Maria smiled in turn, inclining her head in respect. "That's an awesome goal. I have an ambitious goal myself, want to hear it?"

Still excited, the little girl went on all fours and crawled closer, heart racing at the prospect of hearing a secret.

"...My goal is to definitely, without fail, make Naruto-sama blush!" she cried out, raising a fist as a fire ignited in her eyes.

Golden eyes blinked, darting from the unconscious boy to the fired up silverette, copying that action for a few seconds.

"...You're very pretty though, are you sure that you haven't made him blush already?" she wondered aloud, placing a finger on her chin in thought.

A rush of pride swelled into Maria's chest, pushing her to straighten her back and raise her nose in the air. Her confidence, overflowing. " _Exactly!_ Naruto-sama stands no chance against me as I am now! As a matter of fact, I should be careful...if I'm not, then Naruto-sama may just fall for my overwhelming beauty! What should I do, hmm? Ohhh...but having him become a stuttering mess in my presence really isn't a bad thing~"

The succubus quickly began to devolve into a giggling mess, fantasizing about all of the cute faces that the blond teen was going to make when he saw her, suddenly wishing that she brought her camcorder to record his expressions.

Kunou felt a sweat-drop form as she watched, confused, as well as unsure if she was looking forward to her teen years or not...

But as she continued to fret about her future emotional stability, Maria suddenly stopped giggling and eyed the door, wariness predominant in her pupils.

Someone was coming...

Purple eyes narrowed as she pulled the sleeping blond closer to her, cradling his head in her arms, protective.

...It couldn't be, right? It was too soon. She thought that it would take more time for her to recover...

As expected, the door suddenly slid open, catching the little yokai off guard enough to make her fall flat on her face in surprise.

She swung around, holding her nose in pain as she opened her mouth to complain to who-

Any action she was about to partake in was forgotten, as she gazed upon the form of a beautiful woman with long blond hair...

Her eyes teared up as she jumped to her feet and smashed her face into the woman's stomach, nearly knocking her off of her feet.

"...Okaa-sama..." Kunou whispered, grasping Yasaka's waist with all of her strength, rubbing her head onto her, not wanting to let go.

"...Kunou." Yasaka murmured in return, a warm smile stretching across her face as she hugged the smaller form that was wrapping itself around her. "Welcome home."

Maria watched the mother and daughter hold one another in a touching scene, wishing to feel better as she watched them, but knowing full well that the woman may very well have bad intentions for Naruto...

That wish to empathize with the small family increased when the faction leader let go of her daughter for a moment in order to kneel, making eye level with her, before pressing her head to her bosom. Pressing her lips onto the crown of her forehead, whispering sweet words to her only offspring.

The succubus felt her caution and wariness slip the longer she watched the mother's acts of love, slowly loosening her hold of her friend's head as her eyes softened...

At least she did, until _the_ kyuubi's golden eyes snapped to her.

Gone were the warm eyes of a mother, instead replaced with complete and utter detachment.

Accordingly, her guard went back up, her hackles raised, unsure of how the woman would react once she was alone with the vulnerable teen.

Yasaka let her daughter hold onto her for a few more moments, holding on to her in turn, far more happier that she was safe than she was expressing, but knowing that her duties as a faction leader _had_ to be her priority at the moment.

In the most coldest terms; there was a very volatile individual that was very powerful in the middle of her home and close by her daughter. It had to be addressed _immediately_.

"...Kunou." she spoke up, motherly tone obviously in use. "I'd like to have a long talk with you about everything that has happened, a family talk. If there's _anything_ that you want to tell me, don't be afraid to do so, ok? But...right now, okaa-san has to talk to our guests. It's important business, alright?"

The yokai princess loosened her grip slowly, eyes puffy as she made eye contact with her mother, sniffling softly. "...Does it have to be now?"

The yokai faction leader nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry dear, we will spend as much time as you wish once I'm done."

"...You promise?"

A smile was her response.

"I promise."

Kunou searched her eyes a little longer, finally letting go of her once she determined that her mother was being honest, moving to leave the room while turning back to look at Maria and Naruto.

She had no idea what was so important, but she hoped that her mother and her new friends wouldn't fight...

But she knew her place in this, unfortunately, she was too inexperienced to understand such intricacies and political shenanigans that was understood so easily by her mother.

So all she could do was hope as she slid the door closed.

Silence was all that was left inside the room that Kunou left behind, with it's two conscious occupants locking eyes with one another, a new tension in the air that wasn't apparent prior.

Yasaka softly lowered herself onto the tatami mats, folding her hakama as she knelt onto the ground, eyeing the succubus with careful neutrality.

Maria simply kept Naruto close, waiting for the woman to say her piece.

"...I'm sure that you realize what I'm going to ask of you." the kyuubi acknowledged easily.

As expected, the pair of purple pupils that were aimed at her turned into slits. "Oh...I'm aware. But you _do_ realize why I'm more than a little...hesitant to heed your request, right?"

A sad smile grew in response on Yasaka's facial features. "Yes, I am indeed aware. But as the leader of the yokai faction, I have to take into account all possible threats that could harm my people. It is my responsibility and my duty to do so."

The succubus clutched the blond in her arms tighter, eyes dilating as she was incensed. "...Is that what he is to you? A _threat_? This is the boy that saved you and your daughter!"

"You don't think I'm aware of that?" the kyuubi stated quietly, eyes sharp. "This is the young man that saved my precious daughter, the young man that saved the lives of many of my people, the young man that saved _me_. It...hurts having to treat him like this, but you haven't seen him when he went...berserk. I need to know that he won't lose control again, for _all_ of our sakes. Including yours."

Maria clenched her eyes shut, grinding her teeth. "...Shouldn't you be giving him the benefit of the doubt? Or at the very least, let him have some rest?"

"...I reiterate." Yasaka responded. "You haven't seen him when he lost control. You haven't seen the blood lust in his eyes or the feral power that was unleashed. He is _dangerous_. As the leader of my people and as a mother...I can't just leave this to chance. You must realize that, right?"

The silverette didn't respond, she simply held onto the mop of golden hair that prickled her skin, fearing for the answer...and his treatment while he was as weakened as he was.

More than that, he needed his rest. He's had more than enough...

"I _do_ understand...it still doesn't make the decision any less bitter though..." she noted grimly. "He will be treated like a criminal instead of a hero, woken up from much-needed rest, and will be forced to face...whatever he was dealing with before he lost consciousness. It just isn't right."

"It isn't." Yasaka agreed softly, sympathizing, wishing that she didn't have to do this. "But it has to be done...as distasteful as it is. If...it makes you feel better, he will be treated with nothing but the utmost respect once I find out whether his 'condition' will emerge again or not. I can promise you that."

Maria bit her lip, regarding the teen, wishing that he would have more time...

Then a reluctant sigh emerged from her lips, slowly backing up from the whiskered teen as she let go of his head, eyeing the woman across from her starkly.

"...If you hurt him, I'll never forgive you."

Golden eyes closed shut, more than understanding.

The half-devil watched her for a split-second longer, nodding when she didn't rebuke her. Then she got up and moved to leave the room, softly sliding the door shut on the way out.

Yasaka watched her leave, silent, turning her attention to the resting hero that was effectively forcing her to be the 'bad guy'. Smiling in spite of it.

"...Seems that you have people that truly care about you, hm? So much so that you seem to have awakened that woman's protective instincts. How envious." she joked faintly, attempting a smile.

He didn't respond, as expected.

A sigh unwittingly left her own lips, copying the succubus that made a similar reaction just a few moments ago.

...Time to wake him up.

* * *

"...Hnrgh."

Naruto grunted lightly when he felt someone shake him, obviously trying to catch his attention.

Damn it...just a lil' longer...

His drowsy mind didn't fully grasp what was going on as he squirmed away and grasped something soft to use as a side-pillow, his consciousness not entirely 'there' yet.

He didn't really want to get up...it was so comfy...

"...Either you had a thing for thighs already, or your friend from before gave you a new-found 'thing' for them. Either way, it's actually a little cute, you know?" a soft feminine voice noted with slight amusement.

Blue eyes snapped open to the size saucers, all cognitive functions returning to him as he immediately backed up and disentangled himself from the woman he had hugged, face burning in absolute embarrassment.

In his quest to make space however, he accidentally reached the wall and banged his head against it, disorienting him and making him slip to the floor, groaning in his self-inflicted pain.

"...We're quite excitable when we wake up, aren't we?"

Naruto wanted to bury his head in the sand at the moment, or better yet, go back to sleep.

After the teen finally managed to crawl back up to a sitting position, he turned his bleary blue eyes to the one who woke him up, trying to blink the sleep away.

"...Yasaka-san..." he muttered, shaking his head to get the cobwebs out of his head. "It's you...you managed to recover already?"

The faction leader nodded, serious again. "Yes, while I stay inside the city limits of Kyoto, I can draw upon the leylines that crisscross the area. The excess magical power that flow from them can then be utilized to strengthen me and to increase my healing capabilities...among other things. Also, please call me Yasaka."

Naruto blinked, deciphering the words that were coming out of the kyuubi's mouth.

"...So, basically, you're more powerful when you stay in Kyoto, huh?" he rationalized after a moment, before stopping short, frowning. "Also, I _did_ call you Yasaka. I don't use honorifics dattebayo."

Now it was the yokai's turn to blink, befuddled.

But she quickly decided to let it go, determining that the boy was one of those 'unique' individuals. It would do nothing but distract her from having the conversation that needed to happen.

"Naruto-sama."

Accordingly, she got her fellow blond's attention.

"I apologize for waking you up from your much needed rest, but I must ask you some questions...about your 'condition' on the battlefield. I'm sure you understand my concern." she finished, serious, but keeping a neutral tone in her voice. Refusing to be accusatory.

The moment that the yokai faction leader finished her sentence, the shinobi's eyes went blank, recalling all of the events that happened before he lost consciousness.

"...Right." he agreed silently, straightening his back to regard the powerful woman. "I suppose this should've been expected. So...just ask me whatever you wish."

Yasaka glanced down, uncomfortable, but soldiered on anyways, determined to get through this as quickly as possible. "Thank you for your understanding. Now...tell me, what was that power from before? I've...never felt something like that before, though it felt kind of..."

She paused, considering her words, then shook her head. "Nevertheless, I was somewhat conscious during the fight, so I was able to see what you became during the entire battle, so please be honest."

Naruto bit his lip, also taking the time to consider his words, but mostly in regards with how much he could explain.

To put it bluntly, he didn't want to explain his unique situation. Not at all. He simply didn't want to involve this woman into any of his problems, both for her sake, and for Kunou-chan's.

...But then again, was he telling himself the truth? What if he was just telling himself this so that he could excuse himself from telling anyone about his past?

Then he did a double-take, confused.

Where did _that_ idea come from...?

His eyes shifted, locking with the beautiful woman that was demanding answers from him.

He was looking at the mother of Kunou...

...

"That power...isn't mine." the blond ninja began. "As a matter of fact, it is the power of a powerful being that is contained in me, an ancient power that, if used, negatively affects me...but it was never _that_ bad before. Usually, the more power I utilize, the more uncontrollable I become. But I only really started using the initial stages of that power last time. Nothing advanced. So I shouldn't have lost as much control as I did..."

 _Now_ he had the the powerful kyuubi's full attention. "A powerful being? Contained in you? Well, the power that I sensed you use was different to anything I've ever felt before...but...well...strangely enough, it felt somewhat familiar to chakra. Which is strange...there shouldn't be a power that is comparable to chakra in the world. Let alone similar. Assuming that you're telling the truth, what kind of powerful being is inside of you?"

The shinobi's expression shifted to become even more serious, eyes sharpening as they were reaching a very specific topic. One that he wanted to reach anyways.

...This was it. The point of no return.

"That's...actually part of the reason I came to Kyoto in the first place." he began, explaining himself. "You see...I have one of the nine bijū contained inside me."

Yasaka tilted her head, perplexed. "...What are you talking about? What's a bijū? I've never heard of such a being before, and I am quite knowledgeable about all of the powerful beasts in the world. I'm sure I would've heard of it before now if it's so powerful..."

"That's because there's no such thing as a bijū in this world." Naruto noted starkly, taking a deep breath as he got ready to release a bombshell for her, knowing that he had to be honest right now. "...As a matter of fact, I myself am _not_ from this world."

...

"...Hah?" she breathed out, golden eyes skeptical. "You're...not from this world? What are you-?"

Her mouth slammed shut as her eyes widened to the size of saucers, all in response to the blue aura that began to leak out of the blond in front of her, getting a front row seat to the large energy signal that he was giving out. Intimately sensing it thanks to her proximity.

This was...!

"Chakra." he stated grimly, golden locks floating in the air as his energy helped it defy gravity. "I'm purely human, one that has access to chakra. Not chakra that you have mind you, but very similar to yours."

Yasaka leaned in, drawn in to the power, feeling the warmth that it exhibited...feeling the _essence_ that made up the young man in front of her-

"Yasaka?"

Golden eyes blinked, before the woman shook her head, refocusing. "Th-That's incredible...I never thought it was possible for a pure-blood human to have access to chakra. Except it isn't like the chakra that I'm familiar with either, it feels similar, but still different. I can't put my finger on it however... Then there's that 'bijū' business...are you really telling me that you're from another world? Are you being thoroughly honest with me?"

The shinobi allowed his chakra to peter out, meeting gold with his blue. "Yeah...I come from a different world, one that is filled with humans like me. There are creatures called bijū in my world, beings that are renowned for their great power...I have one of them. The kyuubi no yoko to be specific, ironically, though he most assuredly isn't a yokai...he's a bijū. As for how different our chakra are? No idea, how about we compare and contrast, hm? At the same time."

Yasaka eyed him for a moment, taking in the knowledge that he was imparting, considering...

"Before we do that, I need to ask you something very quickly." she interjected, carefully searching for the right words, wary of how close to home it was for the boy. "You...haven't told your friends and allies about this yet, have you?"

Naruto tensed up ever so slightly, his face becoming stony.

That was more than enough of an answer for her.

"...Then why are you telling me this?" she questioned softly, earnest.

The whiskered teen blew out some air, brushing his hair back as he looked away. "...You're a mother."

The kyuubi squinted her eyes slightly. "Excuse me?"

"You're a _mother_." he repeated, uncomfortably looking away. "I...I never had one. But I sometimes wondered what it was like to have one...so, in my dreams at least, I imagined that a mother would want to know about every possible threat to her child, no matter what. So I guess...I just don't feel like I have the right to deny you that knowledge if you believe your daughter is in danger. That's all."

Yasaka stared at him, suddenly wishing she could stop speaking, feeling that she crossed some sort of line somehow.

But knowing that they had to continue.

Yet...she didn't have the heart to do so.

So instead, a long drawn out silence began, with both occupants glancing away awkwardly, waiting for the other to continue.

The shinobi was the one to end it.

"Well..." he began, perking up his fellow blond as he began to speak. "There are other reasons. One of them was that I figured that you wouldn't tell my secrets to anyone since I saved you and your daughter. Another...but perhaps an even more important reason; is that...well...we don't have a bond."

The yokai didn't bother to ask, she merely waited for the teen to continue, knowing that he would explain.

He just shrugged slightly, a bemused grin on his face. "...It's much easier for me not to get hurt by people that I'm not friends with than it is for people that I _am_ friends with."

This time Yasaka responded with a prominent frown on her face, remembering how protective the silver-haired girl was before he woke up. "Do you think they will dislike you for this?"

Blue eyes locked with golden ones again.

"...I prefer not to take that chance. Not until I'm sure that they won't judge me for it, especially considering what has happened. Besides, this power...is even more dangerous than before, telling them will just worry them. It's a precaution, alright?"

The yokai faction leader tilted her head, her lips flattening. "And when will you be sure that they won't be judging you for it?"

He didn't answer.

"...I see." she responded quietly, tone neutral.

"Look." he ground out, splaying his hands out. "I admit that my way of thinking isn't the best, but...I have some issues that have to be dealt with. Both externally, and internally, it will take time. What I need is _time_."

Yasaka raised her hand up, wordlessly pleading for him to calm down. "Relax Naruto-sama, I'm not judging you. I don't have the full story after all...only the piece that I'm seeking for. _However_...I do believe that you should speak with someone about this. Regardless if they know the full story or not. To at least get it out of your chest."

Even as she was speaking, the teen was shaking his head. "No. It's fine. I'll deal with it later. I can handle it."

An exasperated sigh, as only a parent could do, left her mouth. She knew she couldn't go any further than this. "Fine, fine...now. As for our comparisons?"

Naruto straightened his back. "Let's do it."

He would get no argument from her.

Both individuals slowly leaked their chakra immediately afterwards, letting it spill into the room, distorting the air as their power and energy signals became blatantly apparent to one another.

Using this chance, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on comparing the energy that he knew his entire life to the one that was flowing through the yokai mother, dissecting the differences side-by-side.

This process took a few moments, with both blondes remaining silent throughout the experience, just sensing each other's power through their 'sixth' sense.

Both sets of eyes snapped open after a few more minutes, both reaching their conclusion roughly around the same time, with their auras dying down along with it.

"...Yours is livelier." Yasaka pondered out loud, remembering the sensation. "It's hard to explain...but that was the gist of it. I'm not even talking about the 'feeling' that your chakra gives out, I'm talking about the energy by itself without any of your influence backing it up. Pure power compared to pure power. It simply feels more...alive."

The shinobi nodded, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

Back at the Elemental Nations, when someone's personality was strong enough, it would sometimes implant itself onto the chakra that that person utilized on his or her day-to-day life.

Lively was definitely a word that could describe him, so his chakra's general feeling could be 'lively' in this case.

But she was just taking about the energy itself, when it wasn't influenced by his personality, which by itself was more 'lively'.

And that observation was correct, in a way.

"Yeah...uh, listen, do the words; 'spiritual energy' and 'physical energy' mean anything to you?" he asked, trying to see if she could grasp the concepts which he himself barely understood.

He wasn't an academic damn it.

Yasaka just stared at him owlishly.

Crap, that would mean that _he_ had to explain it...

Clearing his throat, the whiskered teen set out to do just that. "Well...back where I come from, chakra was composed of two things; spiritual energy and physical energy. These two concepts were part of a larger concept called...uh...what were they called...? Ah! Yin and Yang!"

The kyuubi nodded slowly, understanding, giving him her full attention.

He continued. "Well...essentially, these two energies needed to be combined in order to create chakra. But...from what I can tell, the physical energy in your chakra is lacking in comparison to mine. How do your people use chakra by the way? Do they use it for offensive attacks often?"

Yasaka tapped her chin with a finger, thinking on it. "Well...most of my people use chakra to create illusions instead of using it for offensive-based attacks; such as elemental and other energy attacks. The ones who _do_ use it for offensive purposes are rather rare since it's destructive capabilities aren't much in comparison to say...light energy and demonic energy."

Her eyes slid back to the teen, studious. "...How curious. I can't deny how similar our energies are, or how my chakra feels less 'lively' in comparison to yours. So maybe...there's a connection there? I'm not entirely sure."

The shinobi crossed his arms together, reaching a conclusion. "Then I think the answer is obvious! My chakra, has far more physical energy in comparison to yours. The Yang piece of chakra is what's used to make powerful offensive attacks, so the fact that the chakra here is weaker to demonic and light energy in terms of power backs that theory up, I think."

Then he gave her a thumbs up.

"Basically, my chakra is better than yours."

The yokai merely huffed, somewhat put-out that his conclusion was probably true, _if_ he was telling the truth about his foreign origin anyways...

Naruto leaned in, eyes gleaming. "Do you know how the yokai managed to obtain the power of chakra? Maybe there's some kind of connection to my people! Like, through an origin story, or something like that."

"Origin story?" she echoed. "Well...that's a very difficult question to answer. As there are _many_ origin stories among the many myths and religions of the world, but if you're simply talking about the interpretation of how yokai have come to exist...then it would have to be _that_ one..."

She inclined her head, closing her eyes as she recalled the legend that she learned of when she was just a little girl...

...

"Ah...on second thought, you don't really have to hear it...it isn't important." she excused quickly, waving her hands back and forth awkwardly, a tight smile on her face.

A deadpanned look was the only reaction she received.

"...Come on. Best just get it over with, Yasaka." he prodded, unsympathetic.

She turned her gaze elsewhere, a hint of pink emerging from her cheeks. "Is it _really_ necessary though?" Can't I just-?"

 _"No._ "

The yokai leader clicked her tongue, her motherly and mature aura completely destroyed by her resistance. "...Fine. I'll just give you a basic run-down. The legend basically comes down to the actions of one of the most important Shinto gods; Izanagi. Who essentially, one day, returned from the Land of Yomi...the Shinto version of the western land of the dead...and took a bath to purify himself. Afterwards, while drying himself, the water droplets from his body fell to the Earth and imbued the land with supernatural power. Thus, the yokai began to emerge."

She turned away stubbornly, embarrassed. "Or...so the story goes."

Naruto stayed silent, staring at her, opening his mouth to ask-

Then closed it.

"... _That's_ the yokai's origin story? You're all born from the dirty bath water from some god?" he deadpanned, his disbelief palpable.

Yasaka covered her face with her hands, shaking her head quietly.

"...You just made it sound _so_ much worse..."

Ah. He apologized.

"Well, that origin story didn't help." the blond complained, feeling a headache come on from all of this. "Then I'm back at square one then...how am I supposed to get home like this...?"

"Home?"

Oceanic-blue locked with gold again, tired. "...That's the point of why I wanted to speak with you. I have to find a way back home, and I was hoping that maybe you'd might know of a way to help me get back."

Yasaka's eyes widened, was _that_ what he wanted? To return to the world -which she still wasn't so sure about- from whence he came?

"I see...that is indeed quite the problem that you have. But unfortunately I don't think I can help you...as we don't have such knowledge of a different world. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm still somewhat doubtful of such a thing's existence."

A groan rumbled in the teen's throat, frustrated.

Was this all just a giant waste of time...?

An image of a young blond girl, smiling at him, emerged unwittingly in his mind's eye, erasing his feelings of frustration as soon as they appeared.

No...this wasn't a waste.

But...actually...just _maybe_...

"Naruto-sama." the yokai leader interrupted, dragging his attention back to her, breaking his train of thought. "Before we continue any further, I have to take us back to the original question that I gave you..."

Naruto straightened his back, flattening his lips, preparing himself for the inevitable.

"Go for it."

The blond woman nodded. "...This...bijū that you have confined in you, the being's power which pushed you into a 'berserker' state...I need to know if you're going to lose control to such a power again. Please...be honest. If not for your friends, or me, then for Kunou."

Her fellow blond didn't even hesitate, his voice firm and sure.

"I won't." he remarked, confident in this. "That power can only be accessed if I'm in a near-death situation or if I use the power manually. More than that...I'm going to avoid even touching that chakra from now on, I can't let that power run amok, not until I have a better understanding of why I lost control so easily. I swear on my life...you have nothing to fear from me, Yasaka."

A hush fell over the room, with it's occupants regarding one another carefully, and unreadable expressions dominating their facial features.

It stretched on, seemingly without end.

Until a crack finally emerged, ending it.

"...I believe you." Yasaka breathed, an easy smile gracing her features.

The tension that built up on the shinobi's shoulders eased as soon as those words left the yokai's mouth, mellowing him out. "Ah...yeah, that's a good thing. A very good thing. I approve of this."

The blond mother chuckled, using her sleeve to cover her mouth, amused at the awkward sentence that he stringed together. "I thank you for your time and for the...enlightening conversation, I vow, as the leader of my people, to make sure that your trust isn't wasted in me. That being said, I'm sure that you're tired and would like some time alone. I need to speak with my daughter, and to no doubt prepare for my subordinates' return from the field. So if you'll excuse me..."

As soon as she finished, she began getting up, smiling brightly at the young man as she turned around to leave the room-

"Wait."

She topped right in her tracks, noting the serious tone that the powerful male gave her when he raised his voice, tilting her head to lend an ear.

"...Your words...they reminded me of something. Something _very_ important." he remarked distantly, as if embarking down a long-lost memory. "I...I think that you need to send someone to look for the leader of the group that attacked your people; Cao Cao. But more importantly...look for his weapon. His Sacred Gear. I don't know how long it will take for it to disappear or not, since Sacred Gears reincarnate or something like that, but you _need_ to make sure that it doesn't fall into the hands of anyone...unfriendly. Please."

The yokai leader turned her head a little more, this time able to lock eyes with the young man that went so far to help her people, aware of hos serious this was by his tone. "...I understand."

* * *

The sun has begun to fall in Kuoh Town.

Mio wished that that was _all_ that started falling though.

Rain had begun to pelt the relatively peaceful area, forcing her to call off her own search for the missing Peerage member, as she knew that the water droplets would begin coming down faster _._

It was a pretty good time to stop anyways she supposed...she just wished that she checked the news earlier that day so that she could've grabbed an umbrella at the very least.

The red-head could only sigh at her short-sighted acts.

"...Are we stopping for today? Mio-san...?"

Pink eyes turned to regard her partner throughout the search, one of the few among their supernatural clique that was _actually_ of the same year as her.

"...We don't really have much of a choice, do we Koneko-san?" Mio asked rhetorically. "The rain is going to get much worse, and we don't want to get caught in a downpour in the middle of the night. Best to preserve our energy and not allow ourselves to get sick over trivial things. Right?"

The _rook_ grunted softly, disgruntled.

The half-devil exhaled in frustration, herself annoyed at the fact that they couldn't find their ally. Just where was the guy...?

Both females were in the middle of one of the market districts in Kuoh Town, which was still relatively full of people, but was obviously clearing out due to the weather and the sunset.

Mio was in the midst of taking out her phone, intent on texting Rias about their lack of progress, while still hoping that others had better luck.

"Do you think that he's safe?" Koneko suddenly asked, stopping the teen short from texting.

But only for a split-second, as she predictably began to multi-task by tapping onto her mobile device and answering her partner. "Definitely, I may not know him as well as most of you, but I can tell that he's tenacious. He's without a doubt safe. I'm actually more worried about why he left in the first place."

The loli couldn't help but agree on both accounts as the red-head skillfully began tapping her phone to send a text message to the Gremory princess.

It didn't take too long for her.

"Aaaaaand...send." the half-devil finished easily, before turning to the reincarnated devil, serious. "We'll find him. Then we'll get our answers. We don't abandon our own after all, right?"

A small upward twitch on Koneko's lips was her answer.

"Right."

Mio grinned, content that they were in agreement about not giving up so easily.

Pink eyes widened fractionally at the thought.

Then the thought crossed her mind a second time, as if she _had_ to wonder about it, at least until a longing immediately beset her, nearly stopping her still with it's ferociousness.

But she managed to hide it, walking side-by-side with Koneko, who was not aware of the red-head's frustration.

...

She was going to call Naruto when she got back home.

She wanted to speak to her family again.

* * *

Rias sighed as she recieved another text from Mio, informing her of her failure as well.

Just where was he...?

"Nothing?" Akeno asked, tone worried by this point now that the day has passed them by.

The high-class devil merely shook her head sadly.

"Rias. Akeno. I found you two..."

Both young women perked up slightly when Sona called for them, grabbing their attention as she jogged towards them, Tsubaki by her side.

"Sona..." Rias muttered, nervous. "So...you found anything?"

The Sitri heiress turned away from them, uncomfortable.

Exhausted groans emerged from both 'Great Ladies', obviously disheartened by the news of another failure.

"Apologies you two, but I have gotten similar reports from the rest of my Peerage...we can't find him." Sona conceded, but her demeanor didn't become any less confident. "However, I wouldn't get too down quite yet. Everyone in my Peerage wasn't exactly in peak condition you see, as you called for that emergency meeting at quite an inopportune time...so we should all be able to scour Kuoh Town more thoroughly next time."

"Inopportune time?" Akeno repeated, curious about what the Sitri group could have possibly been doing to exhaust them to the point that their _king_ would acknowledge it.

The Sitri heiress shifted her gaze to her _queen_ , silently staring at one another, only turning back to Rias and Akeno after a few more seconds.

"We've been recently involved in destroying some stray devils that have been encroaching near Kuoh Town. Sometimes ones that have even managed when to occupy abandoned buildings. Your call interrupted the latest one, and it was an unusually powerful one, so we had to rush the fight in order to return back to the Academy."

Rias blinked surprised that her friend would go that far. "Ah...I see. I'm sorry then, I didn't realize that you were busy Sona."

A hint of a smile appeared on the black-haired girl's lips. "Nothing to worry about. I wasn't the one who defeated the stray devils, it was more of a training exercise for my Peerage than anything else."

The red-head felt a sweat-drop form on her forehead, suddenly sympathetic to the plight of her friend's tyranny.

"...How strange." Akeno murmured softly, tilting her head. "Why weren't we called in to deal with stray devils? Surely we could have lightened your load..."

"It was only two missions." Sona assured, raising a hand to ease the reincarnated devil's worries.

Ah.

Blue-green eyes aimed towards the sky, narrowing as the storm clouds began covering up the skies.

As she stared, a stray thought penetrated all of the ideas and plans that were being set up in her head, one that was born from genuine earnestness.

...Was a certain blond looking at the sky like she was?

But just as quickly as it had appeared, it was squashed, as all of the young woman's attention was once more placed in the present.

"I suppose we will just have to continue the search tomorrow. Can I count on your help, Sona?"

Sona pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose, completely at ease.

"Do you even need to ask?"

* * *

Naruto stared at what looked like the endless abyss, mind drifting, flowing with the wind as easily as a small and flimsy leaf.

It's been more than a few minutes since Yasaka left him alone to his thoughts, giving him the chance to review everything that had happened before he lost consciousness.

Maybe that was a bit of a mistake...

The shinobi sighed as he stretched his arms, honestly somewhat tired, but unable to sleep now that he was fully awake.

Which was why he was taking the time to actually think.

Naruto raised his arm and eyed the palm of his hand, scanning it, remembering the feeling of skin and bone breaking under his fingertips...

He shivered slightly at that.

Just what was going on with him...?

Both; kyuubi's chakra _and_ the after effects of senjutsu were worrying to the blond, and while he had theories for the senjutsu, he had _no_ clue about why he reacted so negatively after taking in the power of his tenant.

More than that...what about that voice he heard before?

The one that goaded him on to kill Yasaka? The one that gave him the idea to push that guy with the glasses onto his ally's blades, letting them commit the killing blow?

Why did he _torture_ that guy with the muscles?

Too many questions with no clear answers, as usual with him.

Well...he supposed he could just avoid using those powers until he had a better grasp about what was going on, but still, there were powerful beings in this world. He would _have_ to rely on power ups to make sure that those he cared about were safe.

So, for a moment at least, Naruto allowed his head to comfortably lay on his arms, closing his eyes as he tried to grasp at least _one_ of the problems he was plagued with.

Senjutsu.

To his embarrassment, he actually forgot to broach the subject with Yasaka before, mostly because his mind was foggy as all hell, and he didn't have the heart to ask her about it while she was finally getting the chance speaking to her daughter.

So that meant that he would speculate until he spoke with her tomorrow. Good enough.

Anyways, senjutsu required him to take in natural energy, right? Well...he remembered that Rias' jerk of an older brother mentioned how negative the natural energy was in this world.

So maybe that was having a negative effect on him? Maybe weakening him the moment that the senjutsu wears off?

That seemed kind of plausible, apparently Koneko's sister lost her sanity, and being weak for a little bit was much more preferable to going insane.

But kyuubi's chakra and that dark voice?

He had nothing.

Once more, he turned to stare at the hand which took many lives, suddenly feeling his heart constrict as he continued to gaze at it.

He wanted to take a step back away from it, but was unable to. His eyes dilated and his heart raced faster as he remembered the feeling of skin and muscle _burning_ into nothingness under his chakra.

Of the blood which pooled under thousands of swords.

Of-

 _Monster_.

"Naruto."

The shinobi nearly tried to jump a foot into the air, yelping as he was caught off guard by the young woman that appeared near him.

As soon as he got his dignity back, he allowed a reluctant smile to appear on his face.

"...Yuki." he said, his tone framing it as an acknowledgement more than anything else.

Indeed, Nonoka Yuki emerged from the moon-made shadows that befell the area, walking up to him as he remained laying down on the grass.

They were both located in a little garden that was right outside his room, since he took the chance to get some fresh air.

"...Naruto." was all she said, moving to his side, before plopping herself beside him, following his gaze to the sky.

Neither teens said anything for a little bit, with both enjoying the cool night wind as it brushed against their skin and their hair, letting it cool down any tension.

Except the shinobi kept staring at her, twitching faintly in exasperation after a few more moments.

"Oi, Yuki." he eventually drawled out, deadpanning. "What the heck are you doing here? I thought you were resting, and you _should_ be doing just that, what with the beating you and Maria took."

The hero tilted her head to look at him, yellow eyes neutral.

"You seem frustrated." she verbally took note, as if observing a patent fact.

Well. She wasn't _wrong_...

"I'm only a ray of sunshine about ninety percent of the time, I got my moments too, you know?" the blond retorted, somewhat sarcastically.

Yuki took in his form, staying quiet as she did so, before finally opening her mouth to respond after a few beats.

"Are you ok, Naruto?"

As if it was a bunch of hot air, Naruto's frustration quickly petered out, dying out with the female human's concern.

"...Is that why you're here?" the shinobi wondered quietly. "To check if I'm alright?"

The hero nodded, eyes remaining glued to him, waiting for his responses.

"Ah...well...uh, thanks." Naruto started off awkwardly, clearing his throat to buy himself some time. "But you don't have to worry, I'm a tough guy dattebayo. If anything, you should be more worried about yourself. I mean geez, look at you! Come on, let me take you back to your room."

The shinobi pushed his hands onto the ground, trying to get himself to stand up so that he could help his friend to her room-

" _No._ "

He froze in mid-action, the word that was uttered from the teen beside him was firm and unyielding, she was bent on staying here instead of returning to rest.

"...Why?" he questioned, moving his line of sight to her's, seeking understanding.

Yuki's yellow pupils glazed over for a split-second, recalling what happened just a few minutes earlier...

 _"You awake?"_

 _Yuki grunted softly when she heard Maria's voice, choosing instead to ignore it in favor of falling back asleep._

 _"Oh come on! You're definitely awake! Get up, you lazy bum."_

 _The hero groaned as she quietly determined that she would not be getting anymore rest, by this point she may as well wake up she supposed..._

 _"...Fine. I'm awake." the young human grumbled lightly, opening a yellow pupil to glare at her partner. "...What is it?"_

 _Maria grinned at first, happy that Yuki woke up, but then her expression turned serious, much to the hero's silent surprise._

 _"Thanks. Listen...this physically hurts to admit, but I need your help, Yuki-san."_

 _The female human frowned, confused with how the succubus was acting, but she allowed her to continue nevertheless._

 _Realizing what the hero's intention was, Maria continued. "You see, Naruto-sama is probably in the middle of a conversation with the yokai faction leader, mostly about whether he's a danger to her people-"_

 _Yuki immediately forced herself up, alarmed. "Wait, Naruto is being treated like a criminal!? But that-!"_

 _The succubus raised both hands, trying to calm down her friend. "I know. I understand your feelings, but I'm sure you understand her feelings as well, both as a mother and as a leader. Besides, that's not the point...the decision has been made. It's what we...or rather, **you** will do afterwards."_

 _Now the hero was considerably confused, and that confusion was manifest in the fact that she once more stayed silent. Waiting for an explanation._

 _"...I want you to go and speak to Naruto-sama, Yuki-san." Maria admitted, eyes firm. "He's going to tear himself apart with guilt at this rate, and he needs someone by his side to help him out of it."_

 _Yuki squinted her eyes. "Why...can't you do it, Maria-san? I'm not saying I won't do it, just that you could have."_

 _A self-depreciating smile split across the succubus' lips. "I don't think that I can actually help him with this to be honest, you see I'm...a bit of a coward. I can barely be honest to his face about any issues that I might have, what right do I have to talk to him about his?"_

"Yuki?"

The young human female was snapped away from memory lane, thanks to Naruto's abrupt call.

"Ah, sorry. It's just..." the hero started, searching for the right words. "I suppose...that I'm just worried about your present state of mind is all. And don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, I can see it plainly."

The blond's expression became slightly uneasy at her assessment. "...I get it. This is about what happened at the forest, right? But...you don't really know about what happened back there, Yuki. I...did some bad things. Worse than that, I did them while enjoying the acts on some level."

He turned away now, facing the clear dark sky, conflicted. "I just...don't know. What if Cao Cao was right about me...? What if I really am a monster...?"

Yellow eyes narrowed into slits, their owner's temper flaring. "Taking advice from that man isn't advisable by any means Naruto, take it from me. No matter what happened, he has _no_ right to decide what you are."

Naruto didn't respond, he kept his gaze aimed towards the sky.

Yuki forced herself up, grunting slightly since she was forced to rely on her only good hand to do so. "Naruto...you can't actually be taking Cao Cao's words seriously? He's a traitor to my people, a traitor to me...he has no honor or decency. So please...don't let him affect-"

"What if I told you that he wasn't the first one to call me a monster?"

The hero shut her mouth as the blond cut her off, her shock palpable as she tried to fathom the idea that he was suggesting.

"If...if there were people that called you such harsh things before, then they are obviously _wrong._ " she ground out, no doubt in her voice.

"Think so? You think that everyone is wrong, except you then?"

"I think that they're either too quick too judge, or of the same moral character as my former sensei."

"...Or maybe they have a point."

This time Yuki stamped her foot onto the ground, getting increasingly agitated. "Naruto, that's enough! Just...why are you doing this? Why are you letting the words of a monstrous man get to you...?"

The shinobi turned away, his jaw set.

But the hero wasn't going to take no for an answer, as she quickly closed the distance between the two teens and placed her hand onto the side of his face, much to his complete shock.

Then she physically moved his face to meet hers, with the both of them being a little too close for comfort...

"...Please Naruto, talk to me." Yuki pleaded quietly.

Naruto's pupils took in her faint sense of genuine fear over him, despite her attempt at remaining neutral and logical in all of this.

The wavering of her pupils as well as the hint of glassiness in her eyes...

He didn't even realize that words were coming out of his mouth until he was halfway through.

"...This happened before Yuki." he whispered, eyes dull. "This power has hurt those that I've cared about...I-I don't know if I can stop myself if I should succumb to that power again. If I can do what I did back there...then what will happen with the people that I care about? What will I do to them? To _you_?"

The hero watched as the words slipped through his throat, seemingly making the teen look so much... _older_ , even tired, right before her eyes.

This was weighing him down...

"More than that. There's absolutely nothing you or anyone could do to help me with this. If we face strong opponents, then I will have no choice but to use this power...that is a fact." Naruto explained, knowing that there were far stronger opponents in the world than Yasaka, Cao Cao, or a phoenix.

He needed time...damn it...

"No. There _is_ a way for us to help." Yuki cut in as she moved her face closer to his, letting her hand continue to keep his head steady. "...We simply have to prevent anyone from pushing you that far."

...

"Hah? questioned doubtfully. "Are you sure that you understand the reality of the situation? It isn't that simple, ya know?"

The hero didn't even respond.

Instead, she chose to simply materialize a katana on her last good hand and viciously, without warning, stab the sharp blade into the ground. Cutting through the soil easily.

"Do you know why I took up this blade?" she asked without warning, seemingly switching topics.

Unsure of how to respond, the blond just gaped at his fellow teen with confusion, but Yuki continued unabated.

"I originally took up this blade in order to serve the Hero Tribe. Nothing more high-minded or idealistic, no ambition or any real end goal. I was essentially just another soldier among many soldiers under my faction. It was all in order to deny my sensei his wish...to become a 'hero' that is beyond that of what those in the Hero Tribe were. To prevent him that last victory."

She flashed a smile, one without any humor. "I was living life like a robot, doing as ordered without question. All in order to get back at the one who hurt me so. But now...the man that, even after he left, I revolved my entire life around; is dead. Gone. Just like that."

As she spoke, she gripped the handle of _Sakuya_ tightly, eyes sharp as knives as they locked right with Naruto's gaze.

"He's gone, and I realized...that I don't have to live life while concerning myself about him. So the original intent and wish of this blade is now gone...but now I have a new wish, a new intent. One that I've made and forged from my own free will instead of as a child's response to a tragedy."

Now, inexplicably, Yuki's demeanor changed, moving from serious to light as her voice took a softer tone.

"Now I want to protect the people that I have grown to care for, as well as the boy that helped me reach this new point in my life. While I can't protect that boy physically however, I can at least help him protect his sanity. I will fight with him and continue to grow stronger so that he will never have to give in to a dark power...because that's how far I will go for those that I care about."

Naruto's eyes were puffy as he listened to her words, having to blink a few times to keep his sight clear. But as she finished speaking, he couldn't help but wonder aloud...

"...Where did you learn to say such things...Yuki?" he asked quietly, his lips twitching upwards as he brought his sleeves to swipe his eyes, shoulders shaking.

A chuckle emerged the hero's throat. "Who knows?"

"You just..." the shinobi breathed out, unable to find the right words to express himself. "That was...that was something else."

Yuki opened her mouth to joke that cool speeches were probably a one-off thing with her, but she didn't get the chance.

Mostly because Naruto suddenly wrapped his arms around her, strong arms surrounding her whole as his head fell onto the crook of her neck.

" _Thank you_." he mumbled, so softly that the young female human barely heard it.

But it made her heart beat faster, for some inexplicable reason that she couldn't really understand.

The close contact was...

Then an overwhelming feeling of urgency began to consume her as the hug continued, goading her own to commit a certain act, raising her blood pressure as well as her heart rate.

It just made _sense_ to her, right then and there, with his arms around her.

Naruto slowly began to unravel his arms around the hero, eyes burning brighter than they ever had since he's woke up, about to thank her again-

Until he felt something soft and wet impact against his cheek, stunning him frozen.

Yuki was frozen too, staring at him with apprehension, unsure of why she did what she did.

She had no idea why she just pecked her lips onto his cheek.

But it felt _right_.

"...Was that wrong?" she asked quietly.

Naruto didn't respond, still too stunned to act.

Then his brain finally caught up to him.

A violent blush blew up across his face, reaching the very roots of his hair as he fumbled around to ask so _many_ questions, unable to coherently string any sentence together however.

"I, uh, I mean _you_ , I mean, why!? Not because it's _wrong_ , but it came out of nowhere, unless you planned it of course, but still! Unless it means nothing to you? Did you actually just trip!? Is this an honest mistake!?"

Naruto was practically blowing up, short-circuiting all over the place as he rushed to try and comprehend the out-of-left field action that his fellow human committed.

Before she could even _begin_ to try and answer...

 _"NOOOOOOO!"_

Both young humans jumped, as a ear-piercing wail echoed across the small garden as a silver blur crashed against the blond, sending him to the floor in a heap.

"No! How could you Naruto-sama!? How could you make such an embarrassing face from just a peck on the cheek!? You're supposed to make such a face when you're staring at me! Don't look down on a woman's pride, damn it!"

Naruto had _no_ idea what the hell she was talking about.

"Ah...! Wait! You saw!? So that meant you were watching us!?" the shinobi realized, outraged. "Damn it! Do you not have a sense of privacy, Maria!?"

Maria grinned, straddling him as she offered a thumbs up. "There is no need for privacy between friends. I can prove it right now by washing your back when we take a bath together-!"

"Hell no!"

"...So friends _can_ do that..."

"Gah! No, Yuki! Don't listen to Maria!"

The succubus quickly moved her face closer to his face, purple eyes wide. "But more importantly, Naruto-sama, have you noticed anything different about me...? Maybe something really sexy...?"

Naruto's expression was dry when he, cautiously, decided to check on what the succubus was talking about, studying her with a critical eye.

...

"...Nice wraps around your body?"

Maria gaped.

" _What!?_ Could it be that you're not just dense, but you are legitimately stupid sometimes, Naruto-sama!?"

The blond's expression didn't change a whit. "...Or maybe nothing about you has really changed."

The half-devil was about to complain again, glancing down at her body to check-

...

"...My tits are gone." she noted flatly, eyes dull.

Naruto coughed into his hand, disguising the laugh that wanted to come out.

"...Naruto-sama, you missed it. I must have run out of power when I wasn't paying attention...but I was actually a beautiful woman with a bombshell body, one that would have twisted you up in all sorts of messed up ways. I guarantee, you had no chance to fight my beauty just a few moment's ago. More than that, I'm more than positive that I would have given you the _hardest_ -"

"Ok...ok...I get it." he grumbled, cutting her off before she said something dangerous. "...I also very much believe you. Yeah. Believe."

"...You really don't." she complained, before turning to Yuki for help. "Yuki-san...come on, tell Naruto-sama that I really did have an awesome new body!"

The hero blinked.

Then she shrugged her shoulders.

"...Traitor."

Naruto grinned and Yuki chuckled at the barb thrown, both far more at ease.

Maria couldn't even stay upset, as her features softened thanks to the far more pleasant expressions that both teens were giving out compared to just a little while ago.

It would seem that the blond even forgot about that little peck...maybe even dismissing it?

Who knew with him sometimes?

But still, as the two teens continued chuckling, the succubus couldn't help but chuckle along with them, the good mood contagious.

None of them noticed the two blondes that were watching over them.

Both Yasaka and Kunou were watching over the three figures on the garden, with the former amused and the latter extremely curious.

"...They look like normal people when you see them like this." Yasaka said, turning to look at her daughter, who was trying to get a better angle to see what was going on at the balcony.

Kunou turned around to regard her mother. "Naruto looks better, okaa-sama. Much better."

Indeed he did.

Gone was the borderline melancholy attitude that permeated his aura, even as he tried to get rid of it himself.

Now, she assumed that she was looking at the young man as he actually was, his real self.

A smile stretched across her facial features.

He was kind of cute.

"Hey, Kunou." the yokai faction leader mused lightly. "What do you think of Naruto-sama?"

As soon as she asked, the woman was practically blinded by her daughter's beaming smile.

"He's awesome! Naruto saved my life, gave me food, made me feel safe, taught me something really cool, and even used his body to protect me from danger! He's _super_ awesome!"

Yasaka giggled, happy to see her child being so chipper. "I see..."

The yokai princess' expression shifted to confusion. "Why do you ask, okaa-sama?"

A sly smile appeared on her mother's face, much to her greater confusion.

"Curiosity." she said. "No come, let me read you a story."

Kunou's golden eyes brightened in excitement, willing to take any spare time she could get from her mother.

* * *

Azazel was worried.

He was _really_ worried.

"Azazel-sama...! What are we going to do!? This is a _disaster_!"

"I know..." the faction leader returned darkly, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

He received a disturbing report from one of his spies at the Vatican, keeping tabs on the old fuddy-duddies in the church.

...It seemed that they were sending someone to Japan to take back the stolen Excalibur swords, someone _powerful_.

He supposed it made sense, what with the rumor mills spinning about Vretiel's battle with Naruto in Kuoh Town and all, no doubt very few would risk sending weaklings to the area now if they had a vested interest.

But that wasn't the problem, the problem was that it would only take them a _day_ to get to Japan, as the informant only found out about this secret mission after it's been launched.

Which meant that this church agent may very well cross paths with his representative in a time when church suspicions against the fallen angels were at an all-time high.

Most likely? The agent would assume that the fallen angels and the devils were working in cahoots to steal the Excalibur swords, which...

He swallowed.

...Which could spark a war.

This could legitimately start a war, over a simple misunderstanding with suspicions all around.

Even more frustratingly, Raynare didn't have a cellphone or anything, since he didn't bother to give her one when she spent all of her time with him.

This was bad...this was really, _really_ bad...

...Maybe he could call Vali to intercept the agent? Stall him so that Raynare could complete her duty?

...No, he would just make things worse. No way he could trust a battle maniac to calm down a powerful church agent, more than likely...he'd just goad the poor guy.

Then...that left one option.

"Hey...I need you bastards to hack into a few choice companies in order to access their databases, all to grab the cellphone information about a certain someone..."

One of his subordinates saluted and began to relay the order, before turning around for clarification. "Uh...sir, who are we looking for?"

Azazel grinned at the relatively young man.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Rain...

Why did it have to rain when she got here?

The young woman was grumbling as she used her legs -her legs- to run past broken debris and yellow tape, trying to make it to shelter.

It really sucked that she couldn't use her wings, but she was too close to the humans in the area to attempt it. She would just waste more time in getting caught and then erasing memories.

No, better to go on foot, besides, she was very close to her new shelter.

It still sucked though, as she was getting her new outfit wet...

Due to Azazel-sama's complaints about the optics of a young woman representing him wearing what amounted to nothing but straps at key places, she decided to change outfits. Both as a favor to him and as a more...obvious shift away from the woman she was before.

Apparently, while it was better, he still had problems with it.

Damn old geezer...

She was wearing, in typical fallen fashion, clothes that left little to the imagination.

A dark grey, nearly black corselet framed her upper body, showing off exactly why fallen angels were known as seducers among the three factions. Not only that, but she was wearing a long skirt that stretched to her ankles with the same color palette as her top, an almost conservative choice...if it wasn't for the long slit that stretched from her thighs to the very bottom of her leg. Giving a peek to her newly toned body that she gained from trying to control her new abilities...

But all of that was getting wet now, much to her annoyance, as her clothes and hair stuck to her body now.

Raynare gasped when she finally reached the stone structure, safe from the annoying downpour, silently thankful that the structure was still standing.

It was a good thing that she knew this place, it would work as a safe house...even if it was run down.

Though...it was definitely a blast from the past, that's for sure.

The young fallen was currently in, of all places, a church...the very same one that she used alongside her mother as a base of operations.

Violet eyes took in the dilapidated building, seeing easily how thoroughly battered it was ever since her mother clashed with Naruto.

Her thoughts focused, almost as if she was single-minded, on that name...

Then she shook her head, she had to focus on the mission.

If he was here in Kuoh Town, then she could speak to him _after_ she completed her mission. That was first and foremost.

...Then she could talk to him.

Anyways, she would use this church to rest up and head out tomorrow, despite all of the 'caution' tape that was strewn around the building...probably by the local human law enforcement.

So with that in mind, despite knowing that the church wasn't exactly a first-class hotel, she began searching for a place to lay down and get some rest...

Then her shoulders tensed.

She could practically _feel_ someone's ill intents for her.

"Looks like I won't have much time to rest, huh?" she couldn't help but mention with some level of dry humor, as she turned around and faced her possible enemy.

As expected, from one of the doors that led to the church's underground, emerged a handsome young man wearing a school's uniform. His features shadowed as he carried a sword that scraped against the ground.

"...A fallen angel? Lucky me. I was hoping to find one..." the young man stated darkly, raising his sword into a fighting stance.

"...You're a devil aren't you?" Raynare questioned, prepared to make any last-second moves if necessary. "Are you a part of a Peerage? Because unless you're a stray devil, I suggest you back off, as I am a representative here to speak to the high-class devils in the area about a certain...incident."

The devil took a step closer, his bearing threatening. "I. Don't. Care. What I care about...is information. So as long as you answer a question I have...you will be free to go and do whatever you please. However, if you don't...then we will be having some problems. I suggest you choose wisely."

Violet eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you threatening me?"

The devil ignored her demand.

"...Where are they?"

The fallen frowned. "What are you talking about?"

" _Don't_. Don't play dumb with me." the swordsman growled. "I know that your faction has some of the Excalibur swords in your possession! And if you're coming behalf of someone...then that means you should have some semblance of knowledge about them. So tell me!"

Raynare's eyes widened, panic beginning to take hold of her heart.

This guy knew about Kokabiel's...!?

No...if he had the full story, then he would know that Kokabiel wasn't sanctioned to do this by Grigori, so that meant...

"...Tch! Looks like there's someone else making a play here..." she complained, before glaring at the devil. "Sorry, but I have no clue where the Excalibur swords are, and even if I did...I wouldn't tell you anyways."

Kiba Yuuto smiled.

It wasn't a friendly one.

"I never did like fallen angels anyways..." he noted darkly, as he lowered his center of gravity to attack. "If you won't tell me willingly..."

Then he jumped, high into the air, raising his blade high with hate in his eyes.

"Then I'll simply _make_ you!"

* * *

"...My my, you're quite hungry, aren't you?"

"...Yes, Diodora-sama."

"Good. I'm sure that you're going to get a decent meal soon. Probably tomorrow as a matter of fact...if my plans work anyways. Though...I think they will."

"Of course, Diodora-sama."

Diodora chuckled, almost good-naturedly, as he leaned back onto the dank sofa, wet with, what he assumed...was blood.

Not that he cared.

...Well...this was it.

If he failed his mission here, he would definitely be killed by his master, so he really couldn't fail this time.

But _this_ time...he was playing smart. The long game, so to speak.

It was pure coincidence that his master, the illustrious Lucifer received information from an anonymous source about how poorly protected his one of his goals were. But unfortunately, he was still busy trying to rebuild a new home for their faction...

So it was a really nice coincidence that Diodora just happened to be in the area as well.

...Well, that was actually a lie. He was already planning on attacking the group in Kuoh Town anyways, mostly so that he could get revenge for half of his face...as well as to get a new -albeit unwilling- new lover.

Par for the course~

So it was a shame that he'd have to change targets, but getting rewarded with more power was still extraordinarily beneficial to him. So he'd live with it.

Besides...because of his new mission, he found a new slave! So it all panned out in the end.

...But to think that someone would leave such a specimen on the floor, dead. It was a travesty, a shame really. But he should thank whoever did inflict such a killing blow, as thanks to his access to this beast...he now had access to his _followers_.

Like animals, following their alpha, they follow Diodora through him.

It all panned out well for him.

Not only that, but even before that, he found a very confused and downtrodden young man to twist up! How lucky was he?

Now the pathetic losers here could waste energy, time, and more importantly...spread themselves thin enough for him to strike.

...How nice that he knew about Kokabiel's plans through his master, Lucifer-sama was a man that he really didn't want to cross...

Ah well.

"Don't worry everyone..." Diodora muttered, voice distorted. "You'll _all_ get your own meals soon enough..."

A cacophony of roars and sick squeals were the only responses that he received. And the only ones that he needed.

* * *

 **AN: Long. But finished up everything that I wanted to finish and begins the Excalibur Arc...with quite a few twists.**

 **I hope I'm doing a good job at this cause and effect thing, as now everyone will be dragged into the grinder in the next few chapters.**

 **Poor guys, give them some sympathy, eh? XD**

 **Alrighty, hope it wasn't all boring crap to you lot, but I wanted to end this all in one chapter, apologies!**

 **-Btw, as a side note, some people were confused about why Naruto won so overwhelmingly last chapter...well, it all comes down to the fact that Naruto has tanked powerful fires easily from the past, moves faster than anyone except the most elite among DxD, and his physical strength is comparable to beings like Sairaorg. (in base, not with touki, Naruto would get smashed like that if he stays in his base form)**

 **Look past the label here, Tsunade is a kage-level ninja, doesn't necessarily mean that she could beat Kakashi; a jonin, right?**

 **It all depends on the power that the being fields, and Issei mentioned in canon that the only fires that could hurt him are those of a phoenix and a dragon, not a kyuubi yokai.**

 **Which means, in case you didn't notice, that if Naruto could tank through phoenix fire (for the most part, not entirely) in base, then he could brush off fox fire with kyuubi's chakra cloak. Add in the fact that he moves even faster, is even stronger, and has those damn chakra arms, and you have a fierce enemy that's probably only going to be beat by opponents that have overwhelming power and reaction times.**

 **More than that, there are plenty of beings that are stronger than Yasaka, whether they be gods or devils. So I don't get why these were some people that were upset that Naruto was getting too strong.**

 **No worries everyone, I know what I'm doing. I haven't let too many people down yet, right? :P**

 **-Last side note, I remembered in canon that Issei died once, his Sacred Gear stayed with him for the short duration that he died however. So I don't think that Sacred Gears disappear immediately. I think there's a bit of a stall before that. So that's why the True Longinus didn't disappear as soon as Cao Cao died. Just the logic that I'm using. :P**

-Edit: Why are some people saying that Naruto's one-tailed state is stronger than Sage Mode? He left Sage Mode after he used his new chakra mode, remember? He didn't get defeated *while* in Sage Mode. It even said something like that in chap. 30; "his toad-like eyes faded into blue" or something like that. Geez, don't make me have to make edits for answers that are already there just a chapter or two ago. Especially to guest reviews since I can't PM them and have to edit chapters just to answer them. Just sayin', if you're genuinely confused about what happened in my story, make an account so that I can PM you and answer so I don't have to do this stuff. Because most questions I get can be answered relatively easily by me. But more importantly, if there's something that doesn't make sense, the answer might just be in the story. :)

(That goes for questions of why Naruto's clones all popped for seemingly no reason.)

 **Anyways, tired, so I'll see you lot later!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	33. Chapter 33

**AN: This is a big chapter, so if you're not into that, please try and pace yourself. :P**

* * *

"Naruto~ Come on! Wake up!"

"...Why...?"

Kunou huffed as the sleepy teen tried to stall for time, trying to get more rest. "Cause it's morning of course! Come on, let's go and play!"

Naruto groaned in agony. This child was going to be the death of him if she kept waking him up at obscene hours...

"Alright, alright...I'm up. Just give me a minute to change my clothes, I'll be out after that." he managed to say, words slurred as he moved to get up.

Immediately following her orders, the little kyuubi scrambled away from her fellow blond and ran out of the room. Beaming as she did so.

As soon as she ran out of the room however, the shinobi felt the strength leave his arms and tumbled back onto the bed that he was sleeping on. Moving the covers over himself in an attempt to fall back asleep.

He lied. There was no way that he'd sacrifice his beauty sleep, damn it.

With that determination in hand, the blond let himself slowly drift to blissful unconsciousness.

At least until he heard the pitter-patter of little feet approaching.

"...Son of a..."

" _Naruto!"_

Kunou jumped through the door-

"GAAAAAH!"

-and landed right on him.

Naruto's eyes were wide open, bulged, as the air was knocked out of his stomach by the sudden blow.

"You're not going back to sleep, I won't let you!" the little girl declared, crossing her arms as she glared petulantly at the groaning young man under her.

He didn't even respond, as he was too busy trying to trying not to strangle the brat that was sitting on his stomach.

"Kunou~ Where are you~?" Yasaka called out lightly as she entered the room, before looking taken aback when she saw her daughter laying on top of their powerful guest. "Oh my. You woke Naruto-sama already hm?"

This time the shinobi managed a groan in complaint, which was completely ignored by the little girl that had too much energy in the morning. "Yep! I was hoping that he could play with me before he came to eat with us though..."

Yasaka shook her head, motherly tone light but firm. "Sorry Kunou, eat first, play later. You know the rules."

Kunou pouted, getting up from the teen below her with reluctance. "Oh, but kaa-chan..."

"Don't 'oh, but kaa-chan' me young lady." the kyuubi mother reprimanded. "Breakfast first."

"...Fine." the small blond relented sadly, moving away from the still-prone teen and back out the hallway. Her shoulders hunched.

Yasaka watched her daughter go, making sure that she didn't try anything funny, then turned her attention back at the young man who was still laying in his bed.

He hasn't recovered from her daughter's surprise attack yet.

"Sorry about that Naruto-sama." the yokai faction leader apologized, smiling softly. "Kunou's just excited that you decided to stay behind and rest for a little bit. You know...I have never actually seen her act so familiar with someone before, besides myself of course."

A grunt was her only response, followed by a pathetic attempt to get up, before falling down on the bed under him.

Seeing this, the powerful yokai chuckled good-naturedly. "Well, I'm sure that you want a little bit more rest before you eat. Come join us whenever you find the energy."

With that last assurance, Yasaka closed the door and walked off, giving the blond the opportunity to go back to sleep.

Except that his blue eyes were a lot less bleary compared to when Kunou first came barging in.

To put it bluntly, Naruto was far too awake now to go back to sleep. Much to his simmering annoyance as he glared at the ceiling.

"...Naruto..."

The shinobi's ears predictably perked up when he heard his friend call his name beside him.

Yuki, who was laying on a bed of her own near his, looked at him with bleary yellow eyes and opened her mouth to ask...

"...Why do loud things always happen when I'm around you?"

Naruto felt like he could cry at his pitiful luck when she said that.

"To be honest...I want to figure that out too. It's annoying sometimes."

Yuki couldn't help but agree, even if she didn't verbalize it.

* * *

"Ara ara...you look much better in comparison to earlier, Naruto-sama. You just needed some time to wake up I assume?" the yokai matriarch asked rhetorically, smiling as the blond teen _really_ began eating with gusto.

Naruto, who was finally fully awake, offered a sheepish grin in return. "Ehehe...yeah, sorry about that. Went to bed late last night, and I was so tired that I didn't want to get up. At all, really."

"Mhmm!" Maria heartily agreed, her cheeks bloated as she was stuffing rice balls into her mouth. "We stayed up until it was super late last night! Though...I'll leave the specifics of what we did to your imagination. Better for everyone that way!"

The shinobi turned his gaze to the silverette, giving her a withering stare. "Way to make it sound weird."

He got a thumbs up in response.

"It's what I do!"

Typical.

"I see." Yasaka muttered, interested. "So then...have you three decided upon how long you'll be staying here?"

Naruto nodded, leaning down to take another bite out of his food. "Mm...we're gonna stay for at least four more days or so. Mostly until the worst of Yuki's and Maria's wounds have recovered thanks to your healers."

Indeed, both young women would have to go through quite a bit of healing before they could truly exercise their strength at one-hundred percent again.

Speaking of which...

The table rumbled slightly as Maria banged her head against the table, moaning in pain as she felt her wounds sting her when she twisted her body to turn to the shinobi again.

Yuki on the other hand managed to eat peacefully and without much of a fuss. Carefully using her single hand to eat like a civilized human being compared to her compatriots, who were stuffing their faces in while eating.

Naruto sweat-dropped when he figured that out.

"Excellent!" Yasaka remarked, clapping her hands together. "Kunou will be so happy that you've all decided to stay behind for a little while longer. She was practically bouncing off of the walls when she first woke up, she _really_ wanted to see you Naruto-sama...you as well, Maria-san."

The blond teen chuckled nervously, remembering that the little kyuubi was _so_ excited that she'd jump on top of him to wake him up.

Maria managed to quirk an eyebrow in curiosity, but immediately began groaning again in pain.

Everyone ignored her.

Naruto in particular, since he was still a little sore that she listening in on the blond's and Yuki's conversation yesterday.

"Speaking of which." Naruto started, switching topics abruptly as he became more solemn. "Did...Kunou have any nightmares? You know...about what happened?"

The kyuubi's expression followed her fellow blond's at the question. "Actually...yes. She squirmed and wrestled a few times in the middle of the night, most likely against the people that tried to kidnap her. I actually woke her up once, since I stayed with her during the night and wanted to comfort her, but...do you know what she did?"

A soft smile tugged at the blond woman's lips as she gazed upon the young man that saved her daughter. "She went and comforted _me_. Telling me that _I'd_ be alright, that I didn't need to worry about her...that she wanted to handle the nightmares herself."

Yasaka shrugged her shoulders, that soft smile growing. "She went back to sleep after that, and as far as I know, she didn't have any more nightmares."

Naruto grinned, heartened and proud that the young girl did what she did. "That's awesome to hear...your daughter is one tough cookie, ya know?"

The powerful woman flashed her own grin, one that only a parent with pride could flash. "Oh. I _know_."

The shinobi chuckled, getting a nice and fuzzy feeling in his chest after hearing that nice little tidbit.

Yeah...this was nice too.

"Ah...that reminds me." Yasaka piped up, expression shifting once more to a more serious tone as she gained the shinobi's attention. "I've received the first field reports from my people that I sent out to the forest. I assume that you want to hear their report as well?"

The young hero at the table perked up slightly, eyes meeting the whiskered teen's as he turned to her as well. Knowing that this was important for her to hear as much as it was for him.

Now both; Naruto and Yuki focused their full attention on the female yokai, deadly serious.

Though Maria was still groaning softly, far too annoyed to pay attention at the moment.

Seeing that she had their attention, Yasaka continued. "Well, first I have to mention that the yokai I sent out brought back the unconscious and...the recently departed humans that you fought against yesterday. The moment that they returned, I made sure to review over the captured warriors to find the leader that you mentioned, the one that confronted me...and we couldn't find him. More than that, we couldn't find his spear either."

Naruto straightened his back, eyes narrowing.

Yuki on the other hand actually stood up from the table, face contorting in outrage. "What do you mean!? That's impossible...!"

"No." the shinobi quickly cut off, stopping the tirade that the hero was no doubt about to start. "It's possible. One of the clones that were supposed to guard Yasaka and Kunou when they were both unconscious found Cao Cao's spear...but he was attacked before he could secure it. I was afraid that maybe Cao Cao's allies might have gone back to take it or something...but to think that the yokai couldn't even find the body either..."

"Wait." Maria spoke up, finally getting over the pain that her wound caused her. "Are you saying that there are _more_ of those 'hero' guys out there?"

"Hero...?" Yasaka parroted, feeling that the term was familiar but forgot where she heard it.

Then her eyes widened when she remembered...

"That's what they called themselves. " Naruto said, helping the yokai connect the dots in her head before turning to the succubus. "And yeah, I think there are more of them. When the clone was attacked, I...well, to be honest the memory is a little fuzzy because of all of the excitement the other day. But I remember...what looked like a pair of red slit eyes staring at me. Trying to force it's will onto me. I don't know what that was, but it definitely ain't normal."

More than that, it felt kind of familiar too...

"Red slits?" the yokai faction leader parroted again, but definitely _not_ confused this time.

All eyes turned to her.

The blond woman closed her eyes, remembering the sensation, the loss of control, the sheer lack of power she had over her own body...

"Yasaka?"

Golden eyes fluttered open, trying to refocus and get back to the point at hand. "Well...what you just said just...reminded me of what happened when I was under that man's control. I remember seeing red slits when I lost control of my body, when my actions weren't my own anymore. It was just looking at me, calculating and cold."

Naruto clenched his teeth, remembering faintly that the red slits he saw were indeed cold and calculating. Far more than Cao Cao's arrogant gaze, those eyes were filled with malicious intelligence.

"...It looks like there really is a remnant to Cao Cao's group, how many though is a different question. But if they have the man's body as well as his spear then..."

Yuki's eyes snapped to him, lips set into a thin line. "...Do you think that they'd try to secure his Sacred Gear?"

Maria gulped at the thought, remembering the feeling of danger that she got when in near proximity to that powerful spear that he wielded. "That sure isn't a nice thought...more than that, they probably have a grudge against us as well for taking down so many of them."

The shinobi sighed, scratching his head at the dilemma at hand. He suspected that maybe something like this would happen when he first recalled the clone's memory after Yasaka reminded him about the clean up outside of Kyoto. But the thought of handing that spear to someone else was...well, bad.

More than that, they didn't even know how many of those 'heroes' were left.

It wouldn't exactly be too much of a stretch to assume that they'd try to attack Yasaka and Kunou again if they retained Cao Cao's crazy ambition either.

"I hope that you can get some information out of those 'heroes' that you've captured, because as it stands, we don't really know anything about the remnant of Cao Cao's forces. Their ambition, their numbers, their leader...nothing." Naruto grumbled, scratching his head as he considered what to do.

Yuki nodded, agreeing silently. That information would not only be useful for the yokai, but it would be useful for the Hero Tribe as well. She had no doubt that the higher ups would want to either keep an eye on such a group...or just eliminate it in it's entirety.

Either or wasn't exactly a problem for her by this point, they were simply too dangerous and unstable as a faction.

Those thoughts about the psuedo-heroes eventually led her to...

"Ah, I think I'll be excused for now." the female hero began, getting up from the table lightly. "I'm going to check on Basara and his condition, then I suppose I'll let the nurses take care of me for a little bit. Thank you for the food."

The young woman bowed to Yasaka, offered a nod to Maria, and then turned to Naruto, her eyes suddenly unreadable.

"I'll see you later?" she eventually offered.

Naruto locked eyes with her before he shifted in his chair uncomfortably, somewhat taken aback at just how...'strong' her gaze was.

There was just no other words to describe it.

Best play it safe then.

"Yeah." he replied, offering a small grin once he regained his mental footing. "I'll see ya later."

Yuki cracked a smile at the response, then walked off to see her old friend.

Blue eyes trailed after her, his own face becoming indecipherable to anyone else that might have been watching.

"Well...that was a bit uncomfortable." Maria noted dryly, sending a sidelong look at the teen beside her.

Naruto coughed into his hand as he turned away from her.

The succubus eyed him for a few beats, then shrugged her shoulders and stood up, wincing in pain as she did so. "Oww...alright, I'm gonna go back to see these wounds looked at. Apparently I'm not as healed as I thought I was, so try not to flirt with too many girls while I'm getting better Naruto-sama!"

The half-devil ducked as Naruto flung a hastily-made paper ball at her in annoyance, managing to scoot out of the room before the blond could throw another object at her.

"...Damn." he cursed as Maria escaped.

"Ara ara...I already thought that you had interesting relationships with your friends, but I never thought that you all had such lively personalities too."

The shinobi turned back to the powerful yokai close to him, who was currently smirking at him.

"I suppose that's one way to call it." Naruto dryly retorted. "Actually...to be honest, you don't even know the half of it. They are all a handful."

"Ufufu...and I suppose you're any different?"

The young man opened his mouth to deny it, knowing that he was without a doubt a very respectable member of Kuoh-

' _Gama-tan!'_

Then he shut his mouth.

"...Most of the time."

Yasaka didn't look convinced. "Why don't I believe you?"

Instead of attempting to disprove her, Naruto instead chose to petulantly glare at the woman. She was being cheeky.

Seeing the look on his face, the yokai mother chuckled softly. "My...you lot are interesting. Especially _you_...Naruto-sama."

Naruto scratched the side of his face, somewhat embarrassed by her words. "Ah, well I'm not _that_ interesting 'ttebayo..."

A sly smile grew across the kyuubi's face when she noticed his embarrassment, could it be that despite his confidence, he wasn't used to such overt flattery?

"Speaking of interesting things..." Yasaka stated suddenly, switching topics seemingly out of the blue. "Do you think that the way that some of your allies treat you is interesting? Like your friends here do?"

The shinobi's eyes squinted faintly at the question, not at all sure where the topic came from.

He replied anyways though. "Uh...well not really. Why?"

The yokai faction leader lowered her head onto the palm of her hand, her elbow on the table as she leaned closer to the teen. "Really...? Not interesting whatsoever?"

Blue eyes blinked. "Well, not really. I mean, yeah, sometimes some of my friends act weird, but it isn't something too strange ya know? For example; just yesterday Yuki accidentally tripped and her lips fell on my cheek. Yeah it was weird, and I got a little flustered...but it ain't a big deal, right? Also, Maria was talking about some weird shit too...but she's a prankster, so it ain't too big of a deal."

Even as he was speaking, a sweat-drop quickly began forming on Yasaka's forehead, only growing bigger as he continued.

...D-Did he really _not_ notice...?

Her mind's eye traveled back to when the silver-haired girl -or woman?- cradled Naruto while he was unconscious. While she could tell that the blond's ally had a prankster streak, that was most assuredly _not_ the actions that a normal friend would take.

More than that, the girl with the light-blue hair most assuredly didn't _trip_ onto Naruto's cheek.

Either the teenager was living in an alternate reality, or he was well and truly dense.

One thing was for sure though, the only thing that would ever register to him was something extraordinarily blunt and obvious.

"Anyways." Naruto spoke up, cutting off Yasaka's thoughts. "Thanks for the meal, the hospitality, and the info. They were all very much appreciated. I think that I'm gonna go check out the battlefield just in case your people missed anything...mostly for my peace of mind."

The shinobi pushed himself off of the chair he was sitting on to get up, flashing a grin at the woman next to him. "Tell Kunou-chan that I'll play with her later if she asks for me, I'll see you later!"

Yasaka didn't even manage to get a word in, as the whiskered blond quickly opened a window and jumped out. Well on his way to check the forest.

She couldn't help but let an indulgent smile grow across her face. "...He really is too cute sometimes. A little bit like a puppy."

* * *

Naruto honestly wanted to take some time to tour the city of Kyoto, to relax in one of the most famous cultural centers in Japan.

But he had something to check out, and there was more to do than just simply checking the battlefield for Cao Cao's body.

No, much more than that.

Thankfully, Yasaka apparently hasn't brought down the barrier that covered the forest yet, meaning that the normal humans still have no idea about the damage in the area.

Perfect for privacy.

So the shinobi quickly sped across the city, moving fast enough to easily avoid detection from human and yokai alike.

It didn't take long for him to transition from city ceilings to forest tree branches, and from intact tree branches to shattered ones.

Blue eyes narrowed when they finally laid themselves onto the barren field where he clashed against the 'heroes'...

And the place where he lost control.

He didn't really notice it last time, but the area was thoroughly destroyed, with the trees knocked down like dominoes and the ground completely devoid of any soft soil and grass.

It was lifeless.

The blond teen shook his head. He had to focus on his objective here.

Naruto jumped from his spot atop a tree stump to land on the ruined ground, he already knew where to go thanks to the somewhat hazy memories from his clone.

The shinobi quickly reached the location of 'that' clone's unfortunate end...and where the powerful spear should have been.

 _Should_ have been.

As he feared, the weapon of the Hero Faction's leader...simply wasn't there.

Gone. As if it had never existed to begin with.

Naruto took a moment to check the area around him, making sure that maybe -just maybe- in the confusion, the weapon simply got hidden away in plain sight.

...

No such luck.

The young man cursed under his breath, annoyed that someone managed to secure not only the spear, but the body of it's wielder under their collective noses.

The faction that they fought yesterday wasn't finished, it was just severely weakened.

With his luck, he'd have to face them again one day...

But at least the yokai faction was fully aware of the danger, not only that...but Yuki no doubt would inform Jin about the new rival faction as well.

Would that be enough though...? Vigilance alone probably won't help them reach any conclusion anytime soon, it'll just keep them on their toes.

Actually, more than that, they'd just be reacting to an attack rather than proactively trying to take it out...

Naruto's eyes narrowed when a new thought emerged from his overworked head; the Hero Tribe and the yokai under Yasaka...their interests were aligned in this threat, right?

So...he had no doubt that the yokai could share valuable information to the heroes under Jin, whereas the heroes could give invaluable insight to the yokai about the Hero Faction. After all, this new 'hero' group was based off of the Hero Tribe, right?

An idea began to formulate based on this reality, realization began to make his already bright-blue eyes to brighten further as he continued this train of thought.

Maybe...this entire trip would prove to be very helpful after all...

Naruto stopped his train of thought there before he could go too far however, he would figure out the specifics later...preferably with Yuki, but first he had to do something else first.

After all, he didn't just come here to check up on Cao Cao's body.

The shinobi checked one last time whether he was alone, then once he figured that the coast was clear, he closed his eyes.

It took a few moments, but eventually all sound began to drift away to nothingness, and his consciousness focused _inwards_...

His facial features twitched when he felt the tell-tale signs of water flowing past his feet, as well as the consistent dripping noise that characterized the area he had just entered.

Blue eyes revealed themselves after he was thoroughly sure that he had finished the 'transition' so to speak.

"...It's been a while." he couldn't help but whisper, a faint sense of dread permeating his being as he stared at the massive gates that categorized his tenant's seal.

He was in his mindscape again, where the powerful kyuubi no yoko was sealed.

The shinobi firmly gazed upon the large gate that kept the legendary beast contained, lips set in a thin line as he waited for the inevitable.

...

Naruto's eyebrow twitched when he _continued_ to wait for the inevitable, waiting for the great beast to speak as he usually did.

But for some reason that the blond couldn't fathom, the kyuubi stayed silent as well as out of eyesight. Remaining deep inside the cage instead of moving closer to speak or look at the young man.

"...Um...hello?" Naruto eventually called out, neck stretching forward as he attempted to look for the bijū in the darkness.

The ground under him rumbled faintly, the slightly flooded water that filled the sewer-like area rippled as it was disrupted.

The source of the disturbance soon revealed itself in the form of a massive fox-like creature with nine long flowing tails behind it, gazing at the puny human that called for it with it's large red slits from behind the massive gate.

 **"...Well, it's been quite a while since you've come here to visit, hasn't it?"** the great beast rumbled, staring at the significantly smaller being. **"Considering what has happened...I suppose you're here to-"**

"Why did you help me?" Naruto interrupted without warning, cutting through the niceties and moving straight to the point. "Why did you go out of your way to help me yesterday...when I lost control?"

The kyuubi didn't respond immediately after the blond threw his questions at him, instead he chose to lower his body to the ground and lay down to reach a more comfortable position.

 **"...I suppose that your confusion is understandable, brat. We haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye or have been the best of friends before, to the contrary as a matter of fact. So you're no doubt a bit suspicious."** the bijū stated bluntly, similarly refusing to beat around the bush.

The shinobi nodded slowly, listening intently to the kyuubi.

Red slits closed slowly for a moment, as if their owner needed to take a split-second to consider what to say next, then opened them up again to lock unerringly at a pair of oceanic-blue pupils. **"To be completely honest, after taking a _lot_ of time to think...I have 'reconsidered' some of my previously held assertions and beliefs. Mostly thanks to the fact that I've...never seen humans live in such harmony before. This land we're in; Japan, is extraordinarily peaceful in comparison to any land in the Elemental Nations. I thought that humans were deceitful beings by nature...yet a society such as this has been built by humans. So perhaps humans _can_ be trusted...humans such as you...Naruto."**

Both of Naruto's eyebrows rose up in surprise, this definitely wasn't what he expected to hear today.

 **"Surprised?"** the kyuubi questioned, smirking slightly at the blond's confusion. **"I guess since the last time we _really_ talked to one another was when you were going berserk in that eight-tailed state against the Akatsuki leader, your response isn't that far-fetched. But I'm telling the truth here, brat. That being said, it's not like I want to be friends with you or anything, so don't get your hopes up."**

Now the young jinchūriki was just flat out scratching his head, thoroughly befuddled. The damn fox wasn't making any sense here.

"So you've changed your opinions _and_ helped me out against...whatever happened before, but...you don't want to maybe, oh I don't know...become closer allies or something? You know...in the name of camaraderie? Or maybe self-preservation?" the blond asked, fishing for something akin to a straight answer.

Vague answers sucked.

If the great beast could have made it work as intended, he would have shot the human a deadpanned look. **"Quit trying to simplify the issue here, you damn brat."**

This time it was Naruto's turn to become incredulous. "Huh!? _You're_ the one making this so complicated! You changed your opinion of me, right!? So considering that your opinion of me was pretty damn bad before, that means that you see me in a better light, right? Especially when you helped me out, so that should be the proof! So shouldn't that mean that we should be closer now?"

Then the young man just threw his hands into the air. "But apparently not! Because life just wouldn't be right if things were easy for me, now wouldn't it!?"

With that small tirade out of his system, the blond sat down petulantly, ignoring the water as he grumbled to himself about annoying powerful beings of unlimited energy.

At least he did until he heard the sound of the powerful bijū snorting from behind his jail.

 **"Heh..."** the orange fox coughed out, trying to stop the chuckling that wanted to come out of his throat. **"Sorry about that, I forgot that you've been dealing with almost nothing except terrible luck when it comes to events that shape your life, right? Alright, alright...I'll give you a break with this."**

Naruto frowned, but didn't bother trying to refute the powerful entity's words. He was absolutely right, and wasn't that just sad?

Seeing that he had the blond's attention, the kyuubi continued. **"I wasn't really planning on expanding on my reasons...but I should first explain that throughout my long life, I have had a...rocky relationship with humans. A _very_ rocky one. So much so that I've come to distrust and dislike them on principle, including you."**

Red slits glazed over a little bit, remembering past events from what seemed like thousands of years ago. **"But before I became so bitter against your kind...I was told by my 'jiji' that my fellow** **bijū and I would meet someone who would show us what _true_ power is...and a part of me believes that you might be that person."**

The shinobi opened his mouth, gaping openly at the confession, his body shaking in his complete and utter disbelief that he would be hearing _this_ from the freaking _kyuubi!_

"...Who are you and what did you with the evil furry...?" he asked hesitantly.

Almost as soon as that last word left his throat, Naruto was knocked down to his feet when the ground under him shook violently.

Mostly because the kyuubi smashed his head against the bars that made up his jail and growled at him.

 **"I'm being SERIOUS you damn brat! Do you want to hear what I have to say or _not!?_ "**

"S-S-Sorry!" Naruto cried out, his eyes comically turning into white circles as he crawled backwards.

The powerful beast huffed, reigning in his anger as he forced himself to relax. **"...Keh, whatever. As I was saying, a part of me believes that you could be the person that jiji was talking about...but the key phrase here is; a part of me. You have to understand that despite my shift in beliefs from watching this...peaceful land, it's still obvious that humans are killing one another in other lands in this world. So I suppose you can say that I _want_ to believe that humans aren't as bad as I thought...but I've been burned so many times by your kind that I'm hesitant to trust. So I'd like to...make sure that I'm not making a mistake."**

The shinobi glanced up from his downed position, shooting the skyscraper-sized entity a look at his last sentence. "Uh...and how are you gonna do that exactly?"

Red slits closed and a smirk stretched across the kyuubi's lips. **"Why...by watching you of course."**

"...Hah?" Naruto couldn't help but utter doubtfully. "What are you-?"

 **"You're conflicted, Naruto."**

Naruto immediately shut his mouth, back tensing.

 **"...You don't even realize the scope, not really, but you're reaching a crossroads here, Naruto. The issues that you've ignored and pushed away for most of your life are coming back to haunt you...and unless you deal with it, it'll be those who are closest to you that will suffer."** the great beast muttered softly, genuine. **"The issues you face won't come to a head yet, but it _will_ reach a breaking point inevitably. It's a matter of _when_ , not _if_."**

And from that conflict...the powerful beast would finally make a decision.

Silence followed the fox's solemn statement, stretching out to the point that the vacuum of any sound began to become deafening in of itself.

For some reason, the blond _had_ to interrupt that silence. His discomfort becoming acute the longer that he had to contemplate the words that echoed across his brain.

So he began to chuckle, a soft rumbling in his throat that ended the loud silence, that gave him some sort of reprieve.

"...What are you talking about, you damn fox?" Naruto couldn't help but say, voice light, expression easy-going. "You're talking about some weird crap, you know? I ain't conflicted at all, your chakra just happens to be more toxic than usual, that's all. I'll just avoid using it, but the only thing that _does_ worry me...is that other voice I heard before. Do you know about that, kyuubi?"

Red slits took in the young jinchūriki's words, his mannerisms, his _dismissal_.

And he sighed. It was as he feared...

Naruto wasn't ready.

He wasn't ready to hear about the twisted emotions that were swirling inside of him, that were getting enhanced by nature's twisted energy, that was becoming more obvious from the bijū's own chakra...

The young man would just dismiss it, as he always dismissed the darker emotions that were hidden deep inside. He wouldn't believe it unless he saw it _himself_.

Telling him would do nothing except push him to deny it even more.

The shinobi that stood in front of him lived a hard life, one that would have been far more difficult to survive in if he had acknowledged the simmering dark emotions within.

So he pushed it away, ignored it, repudiated it, and _tricked_ himself to believe that it no longer existed.

...And wasn't that ironic? The ultimate in shinobi trickery. He had no need to trick anyone about the hatred within, because he _himself_ didn't believe he had any.

No need to trick anyone else, when he could just trick himself.

"Oi, do you hear me!? Kyuubi!"

The bijū finally snapped back to reality, gazing upon the irate blond in front of him.

...He could criticize the human for his foolishness, but really...while the shinobi refused to _acknowledge_ that he had a problem, the kyuubi just flat out _refused_ to face his own.

He had no right to lecture.

 **"What do you want?"** he drawled out, tone dismissive.

Naruto glared at him, then jabbed a finger at him. "I was asking whether you knew about the _other_ voice in my head. C'mon, pay attention!"

The kyuubi closed his eyes in response, as if contemplating.

Then he answered.

 **"No idea."** the great beast answered.

Before the whiskered teen could complain, the bijū forced himself onto his feet and turned his body around, moving towards the back of his jail.

"Ah...hey! Wait! Where are you going!?" the teen called out, waving his hand frantically to try and grab the orange fox's attention.

The kyuubi didn't respond and kept moving.

"Hey! Come on, is it something I said!? The least you could do is tell me your _name_ dattebayo!" Naruto shouted out, head poking through the massive bars.

Finally, the powerful being stopped it's movements deeper into the jail cell, staying silent as it stayed still.

Seeing that he managed to grab the fox's attention, the shinobi continued. "I mean...I can't just keep calling you 'kyuubi' now that there are kyuubi yokai around me, right? So surely you've got something that I can call you..."

The kyuubi didn't respond to his words.

Until suddenly, he did, and turned it's head to the side, throwing a small grin at the surprised shinobi.

 **"Ask me that question again when we _both_ have the balls to stop being cowards."**

* * *

Blue eyes snapped open, followed by a gasp as Naruto fell to his knees, sweating slightly as he quickly managed to gain some semblance of balance in his real body again.

He groaned, swiping his forehead in annoyance. "Back to square one..."

Damn it.

The human male stretched his limbs to try and regain his bearings, scanning around the area to make sure that he was still alone.

He was, although he had no idea how much time has passed since he has gone into his mindscape.

Since talking to the fox in his belly was a bust in terms of figuring out his _actual_ problems...he might as well try something else while he was alone.

At least he was going to until he froze in mid-thought, remembering something.

"...Kyuubi has a jii-chan?" Naruto couldn't help but mutter out loud, incredulity taking over his features.

Seriously? There was a grandpa kyuubi running around in the Elemental Nations!?

The inevitable image that popped in Naruto's mind after seriously thinking about it was one of a giant kyuubi; one that was full of wrinkles, standing with a walking stick, hunched over, and a massive white beard that framed it's face.

...

...Well that was a disturbing thought, and the shinobi was seriously annoyed that he didn't ask the kyuubi about it now.

Oh well, he would ask the fox later. First things first.

Naruto carefully brought his right hand up to his face, eyes narrowed as he considered how much chakra he should utilize for this jutsu...

It's been a while since he's done this, hopefully his theory from before held true and the jutsu's effectiveness has improved.

Nevertheless, the young man finally brought his finger to his mouth and bit onto it, drawing some blood at the small wound that he inflicted on himself.

Then, and only then, did the blond flash through the seals that he needed to activate the jutsu and slam his hand onto the ground.

 _"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_

An explosion of smoke emerged from his hand, covering up his body as he lifted his hand up from the ground. Hoping that he got a decent toad with fifty percent of his chakra.

He squinted to see through the smoke, seeing the familiar form of a toad...

"...That's it?" he couldn't help but breathe out in disappointment, downcast at his 'progress'.

Out from the smoke emerged a small toad, one that was almost as big as Gamakichi was when Naruto first met him, just staring at him blankly.

The shinobi could have cried at the injustice of it all. The toad was barely larger than the _last_ summoning he made!

Of course, the blond was referring to the summoning he made _ages_ ago now. It was his attempt at reestablishing contact with the Elemental Nations again through Mount Myōboku.

But apparently all he could summon were children and toddlers...beautiful.

Sighing, the young man leaned down and eyed the little toad critically. "...Can you understand me?"

The horizontal bars that made up the amphibian's eyes stared at the shinobi, unresponsive.

Then, to Naruto's complete surprise, the little guy actually _nodded_.

Blue eyes widened to the size of saucers at the same time as the blond's jaw hit the ground. "Are...are you serious? Please, don't pull my leg here, do you _actually_ understand me?"

The little toad rolled it's eyes as if it was annoyed and nodded again, moving onto it's hind legs and crossing it's arms.

Two arms suddenly wrapped themselves around the toad, catching it by surprise as it was carried to the whiskered teen's face as his entire face lit up, practically beaming as a matter of fact.

"R-Really!? Oh...oh...! This is great! Oh, I have _sooo_ much to tell you! I mean I've been stuck here for a really long time, so hopefully I didn't miss anything important back at home...but more importantly, how's everyone back at Mount Myōboku? Are they still recovering from Pain's attack? Tell me everything so that I can-!"

Naruto stopped speaking all of a sudden, body becoming rigid as his senses blared out in warning.

The barrier was gone, broken, _destroyed_.

And someone was coming.

Someone powerful.

And they were heading _straight for him_.

"Never mind everything I said." the shinobi ordered crisply, eyes sharpening as he became serious. "Just tell everyone that I'm safe and that I'm still thinking about them. More importantly, tell them not to worry about me...I'll contact them soon."

Naruto didn't even wait for a response, instead opting to release the jutsu that was keeping the toad here and bringing a hidden kunai out, just in case whoever was coming was hostile.

They were powerful, that was for sure.

So the shinobi gazed to the sky, grimly thankful that he kept the policy of only using fifty percent of his chakra to try the _kuchiyose no jutsu_ , as he would have been in pretty bad shape if he used more than that.

Actually, to be blunt, he was already in pretty bad shape as he was. He figured that out almost as soon as he released the summon, as the shinobi felt the fatigue immediately set in after the initial excitement of getting a good toad ran it's course.

Basically, as usual, he had shit luck.

Just the core of the matter.

Naruto snapped his head to the side as he saw a blur soar to him, a black dot that was moving at incredible speed to him.

Blue eyes narrowed...that dot looked familiar...

Then they snapped open, his expression falling apart in disbelief.

This was...ridiculous.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here!?"

* * *

 _"It looks like that the storm that was moving eastward throughout Japan has subsided, thankfully, I was sure getting worried that it would hit Yokohama...that'd be annoying, wouldn't it?"_

 _"That it would! But it seems that the storm has petered out right before it hit the Kanto region, so all of the folks living there can also breathe a sigh of relief. On other news..."_

If one were to enter the living room at right that moment, they would notice that the only occupant in the house was currently staring at the television screen blankly.

Frankly, it was obvious that the occupant wasn't really watching it as much as she was staring through it.

Pink eyes were hazy as they coolly regarded the news outlet, not really paying attention to what was being said. Instead, the occupant was tapping her finger onto the wooden table she was leaning on, trying to calm herself down to some semblance of ease.

Why? Because neither of her family members had called her back yet.

Mio's breath was steadily coming out in short bursts, her heart beating at a rate that was slightly faster than normal, all while trying not to pick up the phone that she laid on the table.

...What was taking them so long?

After Rias-sempai had temporarily stopped the search for Kiba-san, the half-devil quickly returned to the safety of her home and called Naruto's new cellphone. More than a little excited at the fact that she'd hear her brother's voice again.

She never realized how much she became accustomed to his presence until he was gone for...what? About two days?

Though she would never admit it to him, or admit to Maria that she missed her as well.

Anyways, the current incarnation of her worries emerged as soon as her call was sent to voicemail, without bothering to ring once to indicate that the call actually connected.

Her initial response to the voicemail was concern, but the red-head quickly comforted herself by believing that her occasionally dense family member probably just forgot to charge his phone.

That initial concern then bled into complete uneasiness when she called Maria'a phone however.

Similarly to Naruto's phone, Mio couldn't connect to Maria's phone and was quickly sent to voicemail, for whatever reason she couldn't fathom.

As expected, the female teen began to seriously fret over the disappearance of her family, but she remembered what happened the _last_ time she attempted to find out where Naruto disappeared to...

She didn't want to make that mistake a second time, so she resolved to have faith in the two people that she considered to be her kin in all but blood. If they were in trouble, then they'd be able to handle it.

At least that's what she tried to convince herself with.

Then of course, the morning came. Without a peep from her phone.

Her current mood? Bordering on distress to be perfectly honest with herself.

Mio sighed, smoothly getting up from her seat to go get ready to meet with the Gremory heiress, all in order to continue the search for her Peerage member. Hoping that she could keep the issue she was having out of her mind.

They were alright.

They were _alright_.

 _"Breaking news! Breaking news!"_

The red-head didn't stop to look at what was no doubt an interesting piece of news, she was too busy getting ready and much too distracted to worry about it.

At least that's what she thought until she heard the next piece of news reach her ears.

 _"We are live in Kuoh Town, where we recently received reports about the thorough destruction of a local run-down church in the area. Apparently there was an incident about three weeks ago that afflicted the long-forgotten church, where it was vandalized horrendously by mysterious perpetrators. Initially, it was treated by local law enforcement as a mean prank pulled by some delinquents, but now the structural oddity has been completely leveled. According to residents nearby, there were sounds of a large-scale scuffle coming from the church, following the building's collapse. Is there a new gang war plaguing Kuoh Town? Unfortunately, we have not been able to check out the damage ourselves as local law enforcement has blocked off civilian access for investigation-"_

Mio was silent as she stopped moving, mostly so that she could listen in to the report that has been given out, jaw clenching as a memory tickled the back of her head...

...She would have to trust that Naruto and Maria could take care of themselves in Kyoto, she couldn't worry herself to death while helping the devils find their missing comrade.

Because she was more than a little sure that she may have just found a clue to Kiba-san's location.

So she quickly ventured to grab her things and leave, internally hoping that her family was alright, and promising that everyone would be safe and sound by the time that they got home.

She would make sure of it.

* * *

"How is he?"

The yokai nurse that was tending to her lifted her head, smiling pleasantly. "He's fine, simply resting now. That young man used up quite a lot of energy when fighting it seems, so it will take him a while to make a full recovery. So expect him to sleep a little bit longer at the very least."

Yuki nodded slowly, staring at a set of curtains that kept Basara from her view. "That's good to know, thank you."

If the yokai responded, the hero didn't hear it, as her mind was very much focused on the young man that was resting from his ordeal with their 'sensei'.

Or rather, she was focused on how to break the news to her adoptive father. As well as the rest of the Hero Tribe.

No doubt there would be plenty of explaining to do, considering all that has happened, but she was also genuinely concerned about how the other higher ups in the Hero Tribe would take Basara's actions.

She seriously doubted that others would be so forgiving of a traitorous hero...especially considering how divided many of the heroes were.

More than that, she had no idea about the young man's frame of mind...how would he react when he woke up?

Yuki honestly wasn't sure.

Thankfully, she had time to spare when it came to finding out what to do. Hopefully she would find a way to solve this problem before they returned home.

At least...that's what she thought until she heard the sounds of shouting echoing from somewhere relatively close by.

The young human's ear twitched as she began to strain her ears to listen more intently, frowning at the thought that something had happened...

As soon as she began to focus her hearing, the very ground below her began to shake lightly as if a small earthquake rocked the room, much to everyone's collective surprise. Especially as the shouting outside grew louder in alarm.

Yuki grabbed the covers that were over her body and jumped out of the bed that she was resting on, materialized her katana; _Sakuya_ , just in case.

"...Why does it feel like the world hates us...?"

Yellow eyes were drawn onto the groaning form of the silver-haired half-devil, who was also resting and being tended by the nurse.

Maria turned to her, looking more than a little disgruntled with the interruption.

"...Can't we all just get a few more days of rest before the world tries to make us it's chew toy again?"

Yuki could only shrug her shoulders lightly.

Apparently not.

With that, the hero turned around and ran out the door, moving to find the disturbance and face it alongside the yokai.

By following the sounds of the shouts, it didn't take her long to deduce that the sounds were coming from the front of the large building...

"Hey! Wait up!"

A small grin began to grow on the female human's face following Maria's cry, obviously she was planning on helping out despite her complaints.

So the two continued racing down the hallways, maneuvering past the yokai that they began to run past on the way there. All of them milling about, nervous about the shouts that were becoming louder in frequency the closer they moved.

So it came as something of a surprise when the shouting suddenly ceased by the time that the duo reached the door that would lead them to the front.

Yuki placed her hand onto the handle of the sliding door, prepared to rush in and fight in case she heard the familiar sound of fighting inside...

But she didn't hear anything, just total silence.

"Come on already...open the door, Yuki-san! I wanna see what's going on!" Maria impatiently told her, hopping up and down to see what was going on.

The hero shot her an annoyed look before acquiescing and slowly opening the door, allowing their eyes access to what was going on...

Yellow and purple eyes blinked slowly, seeing the mass of yokai that were standing in front of them, and according to the tension in the room...obviously very wary of something.

Yuki raised her katana a little higher, unsure of what was going on, but she wanted to make sure that if anything bad happened...she'd be ready.

Now...in such a situation, they needed to be smart. They needed to stay low and stay quiet in order to gather information, all to create at least a decent response to-

"Ah, excuse me..."

Maria walked past her and began pushing her relatively small body through the horde of yokai, too curious to wait.

The hero's eye twitched as she watched the succubus wiggle her way through the yokai, throwing all caution into the wind in her haste to see what was going on.

"...So much for the safe approach..." Yuki grumbled, getting up from her lowered position to chase after the loli.

She copied Maria's movements and forced her way through the crowd, apologizing softly to every yokai that she pushed along the way.

After a few more seconds of struggle, the teen managed to catch up to Maria, who was standing just outside the front door and staring at the sky with wide eyes.

Frowning, the hero approached her, the creases on her forehead growing as she realized that a certain kyuubi mother-and-daughter duo were also staring at the sky. The former with wariness and the latter with wonder.

As Yuki was about to check what exactly everyone was looking at, her eye caught a flash of spiky gold that could only be from one person...

Naruto was facing the building and the group, tapping his foot and looking decidedly annoyed by the situation if his expression was anything to go by.

Now _really_ curious, yellow eyes drifted upwards to see what exactly happened-

All thoughts ceased the moment that Yuki's eyes locked onto the fallen angel that was floating in the sky while waving at everyone awkwardly, with all six pairs of his wings out and his poor attempt at a comforting smile present on his face.

"...Uh...mind if I come in?" Azazel asked with a thumbs up, flashing his best easy-going grin at everyone down below.

No one even bothered to respond.

Instead, all eyes fell down back to earth and aimed at the blond that could possibly hold the answers to the questions that were plaguing their minds.

For his part, Naruto shrugged, then moved his right arm to scratch the back of his head awkwardly, features apologetic.

"...I...really can't explain what happened. So the best I can do is say..."

The shinobi inclined his head down, bending down his body a little in a slight bow.

"I'm _so_ sorry for the trouble."

Sighs rang out from the assorted group.

* * *

"Wait, is this true Mio-chan?"

Mio nodded, straight-faced. "Yeah, it was on the news...and I definitely think that Kiba-san is involved."

Rias bit her lip, eyebrows scrunching as she was reminded about the incident with the fallen angels. It felt like months ago...

The abandoned church...huh?

"Well, this is the best lead we've ever gotten, I say we go and check it out. Besides, considering it's history, it seems pretty likely that the supernatural _was_ involved in the building's destruction. We should investigate it regardless and maybe even erase some memories." Sona stated bluntly, crossing her arms beside her fellow high-class devil.

Rias simply hummed in agreement.

Both high-class devils and their Peerages were inside the ORC clubroom, gathered in order to move out and search for the missing reincarnated devil; Kiba Yuuto.

They were supposed to divvy out places to search, but the information that Mio obtained while watching the news had obviously derailed that plan.

"Buchou, I also think that we should investigate the church. And soon. If Kiba-kun was there, then I don't want to lose our lead on him." Akeno advised, standing beside her friend.

The Gremory heiress didn't respond at first, but after a beat she pushed herself up from her desk in order to give every occupant in the room a look.

"...As was pointed out by others, the recent destruction of the abandoned church is the best chance we have to find Yuuto. So before we go, I want everyone to be on the same page. So is there any questions that anyone would like to ask me before we move forward?"

Sona snapped her gaze to her friend and rival, understanding what she was doing but believing that this wasn't the time or place for that.

Keeping everyone focused was important, but they were on a time table here. If there were questions, it could wait until after.

The Sitri heiress could only sigh, another thing that they disagreed about no doubt...

Meanwhile, Rias' blue-green eyes panned from one end of the room ro the other, counting down in her head how much longer she'd wait.

"Um...I have a question."

All eyes shifted to the white-haired young girl that lifted her hand up shyly.

The redhead's own eyes narrowed, if she recalled...this girl's name was...

"...Momo-san, right?"

Momo smiled faintly and nodded, pleased that the pure-blood devil remembered.

Rias smiled in return, easing the teen in. "Alright then Momo-san...what's your question?"

The devil from Sona's Peerage stopped smiling, turning serious. "W-Well, I was just curious about your Peerage member; Kiba. Do you have any idea why he disappeared...? Maybe we should keep in mind that he might not be willing to come with us willingly..."

Rise and Akeno glanced at one another, both of their lips thinning at the bitter possibility that the reincarnated devil reminded them of.

"Well..." The high-class devil began, closing her eyes. "I can't really go into any specific details, but suffice it to say that Yuuto has had a...difficult life. So I think his actions are connected to that. But as for why he's doing this now? No clue. He only started acting this way when Naruto left."

"Wait, Uzumaki is gone!?"

Blue-green eyes focused onto the form of the only male member of the Sitri group, her _pawn_ to be exact.

"That's right Saji-san." the red-head replied evenly. "He left about two days ago to go to Kyoto for personal reasons. Sona didn't inform you?"

Sona's slightly embarrassed cough echoed across the small room.

Ignoring that, Genshirou Saji clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "So _that's_ why everything has been so quiet...so do you think that he may have something to do with this?"

Before Rias could even say anything, the _other_ red-head in the room took an aggressive step forward, glowering at the _pawn_. "...Are you implying that Naruto pushed Kiba-san to leave?"

Saji turned around to regard Naruse Mio, who wasn't exactly looking friendly at the moment. "...I just want to get all the facts straight, that's all."

"Well I'll tell you right now, Naruto would _never_ encourage Kiba-san to disappear like this." Mio ground out, voice venomous. "And don't you _dare_ make that assumption again."

The blond haired teen splayed his hands up in an attempt to placate the younger female, flashing a weak smile. "Hey, hey...it's not like I _was_ saying that, just that I wanted the whole story. Though in question to what you've said...how do you know that Uzumaki didn't do something like that? I mean, it _might_ be a coincidence, but it's a pretty interesting one that Kiba would act weird right when Uzumaki left."

"How do I know...?" the half-devil echoed disbelievingly. "Why the hell does that matter...? It's a fact. Naruto wouldn't do it, end of story. Coincidences are just that; coincidences."

"But how do you know?" Saji reiterated, frowning. "I'll let this go if you could prove it, then we can look elsewhere for the reason of Kiba's actions."

" _Saji._ "

The _pawn_ tensed as soon as his _king's_ words reached his ears, full of authority and voice tinged in disapproval.

Sona took a step forward, eyes unerringly on the male teen. "While I appreciate that you're trying to get to the bottom of Kiba's actions, and that you and Uzumaki-san don't exactly see eye-to-eye...this isn't-"

"I just _know!_ " Mio shouted out, cutting off the devil with her raised voice, her expression thoroughly aggravated.

Just the sheer thought that someone thought or might believe that her brother could do something like that _really_ pissed her off. It simply wasn't true, she _knew_ it wasn't.

Naruto was...

 _"Horrible...just horrible! Of course you can come with me dattebayo!"_

Saji, himself now incensed that the red-head would cut off his _king_ so blatantly, turned back to her and glared at her. "That isn't proof! You can't just say something isn't so because you don't want it to be so! I'm not really pointing the finger here anyways, I'm just saying that it's a possibility."

"It isn't! Not even a remote one!"

 _"Heh. I know right? I can be so awesome sometimes that I surprise myself at times."_

"Again, how the hell are you so sure!?"

Mio, with her breath short and her eyes dilated, stomped her foot to the ground and _screamed_.

"Because he's...!"

 _"...You know what! I'm not even jealous! You know why!? Because wings are sooooo old-fashioned!"_

 _"_ He's...!"

 _"...Precious people...like you Mio."_

Tears began to pool from her eyes as random memories began to pop up in her head, reinforcing what she already knew about the one she considered to be a part of her 'family'.

...And she wouldn't allow other people to demean their character...!

"Because he's _my_...!"

Especially not her older sibling!

 _Especially not her...!_

" _Because he's my onii-chan!"_ Mio yelled out, jerking her head forward hard enough to send her long red hair flare out like a halo around her, while her face was sheer _inches_ away from Saji's.

Saji took a step back, eyes as wide as saucers as he watched the young girl's eyes flare, her words harsh and even more venomous.

All the while the room fell into silence, shock reverberating at the younger red-head's words.

Mio, who was only now coming down from her tirade, blinked as her own words actually registered in her brain.

She blinked one more time for good measure.

Then her face lit up, turning as red as her own hair in embarrassment at her own words. Realizing what she just admitted out loud.

So she did the only thing she could.

"...Uuuu..."

Rias stared as her kohai suddenly ducked down to the ground, hands covering her face as it went bright red. Trying to seem as small as possible.

The high-class devil took a second to try and imagine herself in the younger red-head's position in order to understand her embarrassment; defending her onii-sama hotly while declaring him as 'her' onii-chan..."

...

...

Rias' already pale face went as white as a sheet, taken aback in horror as she could almost _feel_ the shame that she would have gained from such an action.

"...Take your time Mio-chan." she couldn't help but mutter in support, thoroughly sympathetic now.

The blond _pawn_ also watched the mortified teen, bemused if anything, but he took a step forward to restart the argument-

"Hey, wait."

Saji shifted his gaze from the red-head to the approaching form of the only other male in the room.

Issei walked up to him, shooting Mio a curious look before he reached him, and clasped his hand onto his shoulder. "Look, I get what you're trying to do here. Honestly, I do. But..."

The perverted boy jabbed a finger at the still-embarrassed teen on the floor, eyes dull.

"...You have to realize that you're dealing with a bro-con, right?"

"I'M NOT!" Mio roared out, her face contorted in rage as she snapped her head up from the ground to glower at the other _pawn_.

Issei snorted faintly at her defense. "See? How can anyone think differently after _that_? Seriously...she tried to hide it, but the entire school has figured out that she's a closet bro-con. Basically Saji, you're not gonna get anywhere here. Best just to drop it."

"Damn it Issei-san...! Quit making weird rumors about me!" the red-head retorted hotly, before turning around to look at everyone in the room. "...I mean, that's not true right? There's no way that the entire school could think that I'm a bro-con...right?"

Practically everyone in the room glanced away, their eyes going shifty as they refused to respond to her.

"...No way..." Mio whispered in horror, losing the strength of her legs as she fell back to the floor, a depressive energy swirling around her. "That...can't be."

Sweat-drops abounded when the half-devil began mumbling to herself darkly as a dark cloud began to form over her head, her depression reaching new heights.

Saji watched, genuinely unsure if she'd be alright...

At least before Issei interrupted his train of thought. "Seriously though, while I get what you're doing, Naruto definitely didn't push Kiba to do stupid shit. If he did however, it would have been an accident or something like that."

"...Eh...you too Hyoudou?" the _pawn_ questioned, genuinely surprised.

The brown-haired boy scratched his cheek nervously. "Ah well...I owe Naruto a lot, he was the one to really make me think about some important crap. The least I could do is speak for him when he can't speak for himself...he's just a good guy man."

As his fellow reincarnated devil expressed his opinion, Saji felt someone place another hand onto his other shoulder.

"Saji, that's enough." Sona reprimanded, eyes sharp. "I myself am not particularly happy with Uzumaki-san at the moment ever since his little...'stunt' last week, but he isn't the type of man to do such a thing. As far as I can tell anyways."

The wielder of the _Absorption Line_ was definitely thrown off his guard when his _king_ , the infamously stoic kaichou, actually went out of her way to defend the teen that gave them so much trouble.

"...If even my strict kaichou is vouching for him, then I really can't say much anymore can I?" Saji admitted with a sigh. "Right, let's take off Uzumaki in our list of suspects..."

"Excellent." Rias stated with approval, smiling as that little spat was solved. "Is there anything else?"

No one answered, which meant that the only sound that the red-head heard was the pitiful sounds coming out of her kohai, who was still lamenting over the destruction of her social standing among her peers.

"I think that's everyone Buchou." Akeno noted, her standard pleasant smile plastered on her face. "Despite the drama, it seems that everyone is on more steadier ground now that they have more information, as little as it is. I suppose that was your aim?"

The high-class devil smirked at her _queen_. "Precisely. With this, everyone will be less distracted over questions that they might have had. Now everyone will be able to focus on their objectives. Hopefully."

With that small explanation on hand, the Gremory heiress scanned all of the assorted devils present, prepared to give out the order along with her friend to go to the abandoned church and...

Then she paused.

"Akeno?"

"Hm?"

"Where's Koneko-chan?"

Akeno's pleasant demeanor vanished the moment that she heard the unsure undertones of the question, turning to carefully scan the room in order to find the suspiciously quiet _rook_.

...

"...She isn't here." the black-haired teen whispered with alarm, eyes widening.

But she was just here moments ago...!

"...Rias? Akeno? Is something wrong? You two look awfully pale..." Sona asked, a tinge of concern in her voice.

Mio also looked up from her crouched position, breaking through her depression once she sensed the total shift in atmosphere.

Instead of answering, Rias moved away from her desk in order to leave the room, eyes flaring violently with her power as she made the order.

"We are going to the abandoned church, _now_."

Considering that her eyes were literally _blazing_ with what looked like miasma to the naked eye, no one thought it prudent to question her.

So when the high-class devil suddenly snapped her gaze to her only _pawn_ , Issei was more than a little worried that she would take out her frustrations on him.

"Except for you Issei." Rias ordered, eyes sharp. "You need to do something else for me, considering your...abilities."

The perverted boy blinked.

He wasn't sure how he should feel about this...

The group that would set out to find Yuuto _and_ Koneko would leave when the sun was still high in the sky.

* * *

"Ah...nothing quite like a relaxing bath to let the stress of the day just...slide off, eh brat?"

Naruto didn't respond, he just kept staring at the water that he was sitting in, like a statue.

"But geez! This place has changed a _lot_ since I've last been here! I mean how long has it been, really? At least a few centuries or so, but how long specifically? I couldn't tell ya. Time just seems to swim on by when you're having fun. But why was I not allowed to come by here last time...? Did it have something to do with that one lover I took and what we did to that shrine...?"

"Ok! _Ok!_ I don't need to hear anymore!" Naruto cried out, covering his ears. Knowing instinctively that the damn old man was about to spill things he _really_ didn't want to hear.

Azazel smirked at him, pleased that he broke his silence. "Thought that I had to go into detail to break ya. You're a pretty innocent kid, aren't you?"

The shinobi didn't even bother to respond to his charge, instead choosing to sink into the water to avoid looking at his smug face.

"Hoh...? So does that mean that you're a virgin?" the dirty old man pressed, that smirk growing ever wider.

The blond wanted to punch it right off his face.

"...Fuck you."

"Hah!" the fallen angel roared out, amused. "Well don't feel too bad brat, I didn't lose my first time until after I was a few hundred years old! So you're good."

An exasperated sigh escaped Naruto's mouth, wanting to be somewhere else _besides_ here.

Currently, after the leader of the fallen angel _somehow_ managed to track him down, the two men were in the middle of a hot spring. Ostensibly to relax and speak privately with one another.

There was a big hullabaloo earlier when the powerful faction leader first showed his face, scaring quite a bit of the yokai in Kyoto, as well as alerting Yasaka and his allies.

So right after his initial arrival, Azazel and Yasaka went to a private room to speak with one another -albeit with great reluctance on her part-, then she essentially kicked him out of their impromptu meeting in order to calm down her people.

Meaning that Naruto had the displeasure of seeing a half-naked Azazel waltz in on his relaxation time, an annoying development since he was thinking deeply on more important stuff.

But seeing as he's got no choice in the matter anymore, he figured he may as well find out why the hell he was here.

"Why the hell are you here?" the shinobi asked bluntly, not bothering to phrase it more politely. He really didn't have the patience for it.

"Well...I thought that you'd never ask!" the older man exclaimed, jubilant. "I'm actually here for..."

As he was speaking, he stood up puffed his chest out, leaving him in nothing but the towel that was wrapped around his waist to cover up his decency. " _You_ of course!"

Naruto blinked slowly, staring up at him with a blank expression.

Only one word even bothered to pop up in his spiky-haired head.

"No."

The fallen leader faltered at the immediate dismissal. "Ah...wait, this is actually legitimately important, so hear me out before-"

"I'm not listening."

"Hey! This isn't a joke! Something big is about to happen and I need-!"

Naruto slowly stood up from the heated water, making sure the towel he had wrapped around his waist was stayed that way, and made to leave the hot springs.

"WAAAAAAAIIIITTTT!"

Two strong arms wrapped themselves around the blond's stomach, stopping him in his tracks.

" _Oiiiii!_ What the hell are you doing!? Do you realize how wrong this looks!? How do you think most people would react when hearing that a grown man went ahead and hugged another man from behind!? Let go of me!"

"No way!" Azazel protested, holding on tightly. "Not until you hear me out! I need you!"

"Don't say that when you're holding onto me so tightly damn it! Alright, alright! Fine! I'll listen! Just let go of me already..." the blond said with grit teeth, shaking at the implications and praying that no one saw them.

After a quick couple of awkward seconds, the two males eventually made their way back into the spring, both pretending that everything that happened in the last minute or so just didn't happen.

"Ok, now that all of the pleasantries are out of the way, it's time to get to the real reason I came-"

"Wait." Naruto interrupted, raising a hand arbitrarily. "I got a question."

Azazel twitched, but any unpleasantness in his features was quickly smoothed out into a pleasant smile. "Yes~?"

The blond noticed the complete one-eighty in the older man's demeanor, but ignored it. "How did you find me? Like seriously, are you a stalker or something? Do I have to get a restraining order? Because if I have to, I totally will, this is just next level stalking dattebayo..."

"I'll fucking kill you, you damn brat." the fallen angel threatened darkly.

Well. That escalated quickly.

Naruto watched as the faction leader of the fallen angel faction took a moment to calm down, muttering darkly under his breath about dangerous things like; strangling, beating, and flat out blowing up a certain blond teen.

He wanted to point out that he was literally right _there_ , so he could hear him, but the older man cut him off.

"Your cellphone."

Blue eyes locked onto violet ones, a hint of confusion in their orbs.

Seeing this, the thousand-years old man decided to explain in more detail.

"I had some of my people search for your name and phone number by hacking into certain organizations and businesses, eventually we found them and we were able to pinpoint your location to 'somewhere around Kyoto'. But we weren't sure where, so I was actually heading to speak to Yasaka-san to see what she might know...I didn't expect to run into you specifically."

Naruto tilted his head, still befuddled rather than anything else. "...But _how_ did you know I was in Kyoto?"

This time a crafty smirk grew on the man's face, one that had way too much smugness in it. "Why...I _do_ believe that you made a call to a certain someone while in that forest, didn't you?"

The shinobi tilted his head even further, mind focusing on anytime that he might have called anyone-

Oh.

Yuki. Back at the cave.

"...So? Considering how indebted all of the yokai here seemed, you'd think that you did something of extreme importance. So it must have been quite the emergency for you to contact someone during your little adventure. Or...maybe it was simply an important person?" the Grigori leader pushed, fishing for an answer.

Naruto looked at him warily, unsure of where he was going with that line of thought.

A massive shit-eating grin split the man's face, the glint in his eye growing brighter, all to the blond's growing wariness.

What was he-?

"I bet it's a girl, right? A girl that you're...'interested' in?"

The shinobi slammed his head into the water, splashing it hard enough to send a column of water into the air. His face burning.

Fuckin' _burning_.

What was this guy...? A reincarnation of ero-sennin? Seriously...only he was so interested in his personal life.

"W-!? What the hell are you talking about old man!? That isn't the case! Besides, I needed to contact Yuki..." the blond started hotly, before ending lamely when he realized that he mentioned his female _friend's_ name.

Considering the cheesy grin that the fallen angel was sporting, he could see that he made a mistake in mentioning her name...

"Hoh? So it _is_ a girl then. Is it that 'hero' girl that I met during that incident in the church? I bet it is! If so then you have good tastes brat, she'll grow up into one hell of a beauty, I have no doubt of that. That form-fitting uniform she wore helps too..."

"Alright. _Alright_." the shinobi interrupted irritably, rubbing his temples. "You're a stalker and a pervert, I get it."

Azazel just chuckled in good humor, unaffected by the charges. "Heh, I suppose I can seem that way sometimes. But at least most of your tension is gone now. So that's a win in my book."

The blond raised an eyebrow, frowning visibly as he tried to figure out what the fallen was saying through his cryptic wording.

Then blue eyes widened imperceptibly, realization lighting up those pools of cerulean. "Wait..."

Now that he thought about it, initially, the young man was very much confused, concerned, and cautious about the fallen angel's sudden arrival.

But now...thanks to his ridiculous shenanigans, the blond completely forgot about that.

Was this his way at clumsily helping him out? Or was it more cynical or practical than that?

Naruto had no idea.

Azazel gazed upon the younger man, his mirthful expression sliding away to a more somber one as the blond kept contemplating upon his words. "Though to be fair...checking up on your love life is pretty important for her too...as much as she hates to admit it..."

The shinobi snapped away from his internal questions to look at the centuries years old man, blinking. "Uh...sorry, I was distracted. Did you say something?"

Like a switch, the old man's expression slid back to a mirthful one. "Ah, nothing brat. I was just about to tell you about my reasons for being here is all."

Azazel rubbed his shoulders absentmindedly, rolling his neck as he continued. "You see...there has been a certain...'incident' among my people, where one of the leading members of Grigori started some trouble by stealing some of the Church's powerful weapons; the Excalibur fragments. For what reason? I'm not entirely sure...but I have my suspicions."

Naruto didn't reply, choosing to wait for the the man to continue.

"...Anyways that man; Kokabiel, has gathered up a substantial following of fallen angels under his banner, and the last time there has been any sighting of his followers were...in Kuoh Town."

 _Now_ the blond was fully immersed into the conversation, eyes sharpening at the implications. "Are you saying that...?"

The fallen leader nodded grimly. "Anyone that is in any way related to the little sisters of the current Maou Lucifer and Maou Leviathan are likely going to get dragged into this mess of a situation."

Naruto leaned away from the other man, his right hand cupping his mouth as his mind raced on what to do. This was _big_.

And if a member of Grigori was leading this one...then that meant that everyone back at Kuoh Town was probably facing nothing less then a fallen angel with _five_ pairs of wings.

Bad. This was bad...

"While I'm sure you find this information distressing, this isn't what I sought you out for. We have a bigger problem than that." the Governor General pointed out, tone apologetic. "You see...in order to prevent any misunderstandings with the devils there, I sent a representative to Kuoh Town to explain the situation. As a matter of fact...it's someone you should know."

"Someone I know...?" the blond echoed, frowning. Who did he know from the past that could be a part of the fallen angel faction...?

"Ah! Is it that fallen angel that you took under your wing? Uh...'Raynare'?"

An enigmatic smile split the fallen leader's face, pleasantly surprised that he remembered her name. "Yep, exactly that. She feels indebted to you, you know? Very much looks up to you for what you did for her back then."

Naruto scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Does she really? Well...I'm kinda flattered, I hope she's doing alright."

The older man's smile only grew at the question. "She is doing quite well, it turns out that she's a pretty good student when it comes to subjects that she's interested in. But for other subjects? Well...she isn't pretty good at those. She can barely remember the names of important figures, let alone geography!"

It was genuinely impressive how much she flat-out didn't care about the powerful people in the world, or about the layout of the land that everyone inhabited. It was all about research for her.

Yeah...he remembered how she responded to his criticism about that...

 _"Hah? You want me to waste time focusing on some irrelevant crap like geography? Why the hell would I do that?" Raynare complained loudly, disgruntled._

 _Azazel pinched the bridge of his nose in ire, trying to make her see why skipping out on something like geography wasn't a good idea. "I understand that you want to focus all your energy on helping me find a cure for the 'Seven Deadly Sins'...but keeping yourself safe with some basic layout of the land is a smart investment in case of future conflicts. You do want to live long enough to reach your goal don't you?"_

 _The younger fallen paused on her reading, violet eyes flicking to her 'teacher' and away from the many descriptions of general anesthesia that she was studying. "Yes...I suppose that would be important to learn about...but since I'm doing combat training, it doesn't matter that much-"_

 _A slap to the back of the head knocked her head forward, much to her irritation._

 _"Hey. Idiot. These small tidbits of knowledge can make the difference between life and death in a battle. Don't be lazy and spread your knowledge out a little bit. For your sake." the fallen leader reprimanded, tone firm._

 _Raynare peered up from her lower position, eyes dry, with a large lump on the back of her head. "Ugh...yeah, yeah...but what's even the likelihood that I'll even go out and fight...? More likely I'll just stay in a Grigori compound and try and work on some experiments with some diseased fallen angels..."_

 _Azazel snorted. "Like hell you could predict what will happen with 'likelihoods'...you're just being painfully single-minded is all."_

 _A ghost of a smile stretched across the younger fallen's lips, a knowing glint in her eye. "You're absolutely right Azazel-sama. But...who do you think I got this attitude from in the first place? Mister Sacred Gear?"_

 _The Governor General winced visibly, regretting that he mentioned how obsessive he was in seeking knowledge about Sacred Gears to the detriment of almost everything else._

 _That was totally part of the reason he wanted peace._

 _Seeing Raynare's triumphant look however, the powerful twelve-winged fallen angel quickly made to counter her argument. "Well I was a badass fallen angel with six pairs of wings, brat! Only the most powerful of foes can take me on! How many wings do you have again...?"_

 _To be honest, he expected to rile her up with that last comment, or at least elicit a glare for reminding her of her present weakness._

 _Instead, she shrugged. "If push comes to shove, I'll just use ' **that** '. As long as I stay on the opposite side of morality, I should be fine against anyone that would willingly try and kill me."_

 _Azazel straightened his back slightly, knowing exactly what she was talking about._

 _The young woman in front of him, whether by sheer luck or genetics, has access to a power that he suspected has only been rumored about. As it was very much an impossibility to obtain._

 _It was an impossibility because it was a polarity; a sharp contrast between two powers and energies._

 _Which was why he was very curious on how she managed to obtain it._

 _Honestly though, the fact that the God of the Bible has...permanently...left the world stage probably has contributed into such an oddity._

 _Into such a beautiful **dichotomy**..._

 _"Azazel-sama? You're doing that thing again where you're freaking me out..."_

 _The fallen leader snapped back into reality, coughing politely into his hand as he tried to regain the dignity he had temporarily lost._

 _But before he could, Raynare piped up to include one more tidbit._

 _"Azazel-sama...I understand that you want to help me by making me branch out a little more, but my intention to help find a cure for my okaa-sama is one that I want to focus all of my energy on. Besides, if I'm not that interested in it, then it makes the subject far more difficult to learn for me."_

 _As she was speaking, a slow and crooked grin emerged from the woman's facial features, along with a certain glint sparkling in her eye._

 _"Though I should point out that even if I somehow get myself into a bad situation...then I will simply follow 'his' advice."_

 _Azazel's eyes widened slightly, knowing exactly who the young woman was referring to._

 _'Nothing is over, until it's over'...huh? So she was saying that she'd fight with tooth and nail if necessary if she was in a bad fix? To utilize everything she had if the situation called for it? Not a bad philosophy to make sure that she would survive in big fights._

 _To think that she respected that boy so much that she'd take his words so deeply to heart..._

"Oi, Azazel-san, you alright?"

The fallen angel's attention was brought back to earth when the blond teen spoke up. "Ah, sorry about that brat. Just remembered something that happened a while ago is all."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, seeing the older man slap the sides of his face with his hands, mumbling to himself to get back on topic after speaking.

He honestly didn't know what to say to that.

"Alright!" the powerful supernatural being exclaimed. "As I was saying before, I sent Raynare to Kuoh Town in order to explain the situation to the young Gremory and Sitri devils. Mostly so that we don't get implicated in any misunderstandings...but like I said before; there's a problem."

Finally getting to the crux of the issue, Naruto leaned in a little, paying attention.

Seeing this, Azazel continued. "Thanks to some information I've received from some spies in the Vatican...I've gotten word that the higher ups in the Church have sent a powerful exorcist to Japan, all in order to retrieve the powerful weapons that have been stolen. And it's a very likely possibility that the exorcist might run into young Raynare at this rate...and if you take into account the current climate of suspicion when regarding the fallen angels, then it isn't too unlikely that the exorcist could conclude that the devils and fallen angels are working together."

The shinobi's eyes sharpened, realizing just what the problem was. "More than that...it's the younger sisters of _two_ Maous as well as your representative..."

" _Exactly_." the Governor General confirmed. "It will look like that the leaders of the fallen angels and the devils are at the very least using indirect means to weaken the Church. Meaning that war could very much spark from such an incident."

Naruto leaned back, only now appreciating the graveness of the situation.

"...So you want me to get involved I guess?" the blond eventually asked, knowing that that was the likely reason that the man sought him out.

Azazel nodded, serious. "Yeah, I was hoping that you could go to the Central Japan International Airport in order to...'stall' our friend from the Church. How you do so is irrelevant, I just want you to keep whoever it is at bay until at least tomorrow night...unfortunately this exorcist should be arriving at the airport by tonight."

Blue eyes widened to the size of saucers, this was in such short notice...!

Golden locks then shadowed over the young man's eyes, covering them up as he bit his lip. Seriously wondering if he could get involved in this.

...No.

He _was_ gonna get involved, that wasn't a question. The question was...how far would he go for this mission and what would he get for doing this.

...

"Alright, I'll do it. Though I suspect that you knew that already." Naruto stated simply. "But I have a condition for taking this job...after all, it seems like you suck at getting good subordinates to do this kind of thing for you..."

Ignoring that last second jab, the fallen angel inclined his head, acknowledging his probable demand for a reward.

"...Seeing how you are the leader of Grigori, I'd like to get some measure of security clearance into your facilities; mostly so that I could see how Raynare is doing and to get the chance to talk to some of the fallen angel faction's higher ups." the blond suggested, a beatific smile on his face.

Azazel's understanding demeanor shattered about as quickly as it was made, completely thrown for a loop by the _insane_ idea that was posited by blond.

"...Excuse me? You want clearance to my super-secret Grigori facilities? Where some of the most advanced research and hidden projects for my faction takes place? As well as sensitive information?" the fallen leader questioned quietly, genuinely in shock that the blond would even ask him.

Naruto just shrugged. "You've trusted me with information about Vretiel and her attempted rebellion, which if I remember correctly...could have sparked a larger reaction from the other supernatural factions that are looking to expand their power, right? And now you're trusting me with information about a spy in the Church _and_ some insider information. After all of that, surely you can trust me with some access to Grigori?"

"No." Azazel rejected, not even hesitating.

The shinobi twitched, trying not to let his irritation at the blunt rebuttal get to him. "...Fine, then I'm sure you can find someone else to handle this for you."

And with that, the teen dragged himself away from the hot water that he was laying in, prepared to go and wipe himself off and get something to drink.

Even as he was moving out of the water, he could practically _feel_ the older man's annoyed glare boring into the back of his head. Frustrated, yet too prideful to actually stop him and admit his mistake.

Naruto sighed. This guy was so childish sometimes...

So instead of finishing his move to leave the hot springs, his body shifted to the side towards the wall that kept the bath isolated from the outside and grabbed a stool. Sitting down onto it in order to use the faucet there to wash his body and hair more thoroughly.

Before he started his wash, he tilted his head and glanced back at the fallen angel, eyebrows wiggling up and down in a prompting fashion. Inviting him to say what he had to say.

Azazel groaned, knowing that he didn't have much of a choice to say no...his hands were simply metaphorically tied.

"I'll accept that groan as a 'yes' to my conditions. Tell me more about what I have to do later. For now, I'm just gonna finish washing myself I think." the blond finished easily, grabbing a bucket and using the faucet to fill it up to the brim.

"...Tch, fine brat. Have it your way." the fallen leader grumbled under his breath as he pushed himself out of the water himself. "It's not like you pushed me over a barrel or anything...and it's not like I _needed_ your help or anything..."

The shinobi didn't bother to reply as he watched the grumbling man shuffle his way out of the springs and into the changing area. Obviously annoyed that he had no choice in the matter.

Blue eyes continued to watch, at least until the owner was fully convinced that Governor General had left the vicinity.

Once he was sure of that, Naruto quickly placed the filled bucket of water onto the ground and ran back into the steaming water.

He only left the soothing water in the first place so that he could act cool, he didn't really want to leave yet damn it.

It felt too nice, and he needed some relaxation time anyways!

So with that, the blond settled into the hot spring again. Breathing out in his content state.

Now he could finally just... _relax_...

Until he felt something furry rub against the back of his head.

Blue eyes snapped open as the shinobi whirled around, his guard up to face against-

A pair of yellow eyes -bordering on gold- with slits locked with his much larger oceanic ones, staring at him with something approaching curiosity.

"...A cat?" Naruto whispered disbelievingly, his jaw dropping slightly at the realization that he went into 'battle ready' mode by getting caught off guard by a cat.

A _cat_.

The young human blew out some air, internally berating himself for being so strung up. Before turning his attention back to the little cat.

It was a relatively small cat covered with black fur, staring up at him as if it was trying to understand a great puzzle.

He lowered himself so that he could meet the small animal face-to-face, musing about how cute the cat was. "Hey there little guy, what's up?"

As if it could understand his words, the feline brought out it's front paw and pat him on the face. Almost like it was reprimanding him.

The shinobi blinked once.

Twice.

Then he chuckled, dismissing the idea outright.

As he was chuckling, the cat quietly stalked closer to the teen, rubbing it's small head against his while purring softly.

Taking this as a sign of how much the small animal liked him, the blond took the chance to place his hand behind it's ears and scratch it. Grinning slightly as the feline began to rub it's head against his hand, trying to move closer.

"Ehehe...you lost little fellow? I can't quite believe someone would abandon you dattebayo." Naruto stated, confident in his claim. "Do you want to hang out with me?"

A content little meow emerged from the cat, ostensibly approving of the idea.

So some time passed just like that, with Naruto remaining inside the hot water and comfortably scratching the small feline. With the animal itself choosing to stay close to him.

It was a minor change, and a minor pleasure, but sometimes it was the small things that made certain actions more fun or pleasant.

Yeah...that sounded about right.

He would have stayed in this pleasant atmosphere for a little while longer, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end eventually.

Specifically, this pleasing arrangement was broken when he heard someone enter the hot springs through the sliding door.

Knowing _exactly_ who it was, Naruto sighed and got up to address the annoying leader of the fallen angels.

Except, after the split-second he took to confirm who it was, he realized it wasn't him.

Not by a long shot.

For one thing, he didn't have long golden hair.

Or golden eyes.

Or such nicely maintained pale skin.

 _Or_ a large bust.

"Ah. Well...fancy seeing you here, Naruto-sama." Yasaka said, tone light and easy as she walked towards him with a smile.

Naruto for his part was forced to look away, blood rushing to his cheeks as he tried _not_ to look at the flimsy towel that she had wrapped around her body. "Uh...yeah...fancy..."

The yokai giggled softly, reaching the edge of the bath and kneeling down close to the red-faced blond. "You seem somewhat surprised Naruto-sama! I could have sworn that I mentioned that this was a mixed bath, didn't I? Ah, nevertheless, it's nice to see you. I meant to come here in order to relax after seeing that man again...but this is good too."

"H-Huh?" the teen echoed, unable to think at just that moment. "What do you mean by 'that man'...?"

Even though he wasn't facing the yokai faction leader, just by hearing the inflection in her voice he was able to figure out that she was at the very least; displeased.

"Oh, don't get me started." Yasaka groaned, shaking her head in feigned despair. "That man is notorious as a womanizer, he's the kind of man that would try and have 'forbidden' sex, regardless of the social consequences. Truly, the entire reason he wasn't allowed here in the first place was because of an incident where he took a young yokai to a shrine and then-"

" _Ah!_ Don't! I don't want to hear it!" Naruto interjected quickly, knowing full damn well that he was about to hear something that he shouldn't.

Despite being cut off so rudely, the yokai matriarch heeded his plea and turned away, looking a little embarrassed if anything. "Apologies. When it comes to that shameless man, I sometimes ramble off. It doesn't help when he tries to blatantly flirt with me during our meeting..."

The shinobi cringed at that, it really did sound like the reincarnation of ero-sennin...

All down to the righteous fury that he stoked up in the victims- _women_ he met.

Really, all that was left was the inevitable gathering of pitchforks and a large amount of angered females to supply it to.

As he was comparing and contrasting the effects that the two perverted old men had on fifty percent of the population, his fellow blond got up onto her feet again and suddenly moved to grab his arm.

Caught by surprise, but not exactly unwilling, Naruto allowed himself to be dragged to wherever Kunou's mother wished.

It was as he was moving that a stray thought entered his head, pushing him to glance back at where he was just sitting to look for his temporary companion.

He was saddened to see that the little black cat has disappeared, probably scared away by Yasaka's entrance.

"Naruto-sama."

Blue eyes turned to meet gold.

The yokai martriarch smiled, ever pleasant and soothing.

"Since this is a rare opportunity, let me wash your back for you, hm?"

Naruto froze, brain unresponsive thanks to the offer that was placed onto the table. He simply couldn't comprehend it for a few seconds.

Ngh...was it possible for a brain to get a blue screen...?

Ignoring the asinine philosophical questions, Yasaka softly pushed the unresponsive teen onto the stool. Kneeling behind him and gabbing the already full bucket there.

Naruto twitched when he first felt the beautiful woman's soft dainty hand glide across his back, following the crevices made by his shoulder blades and slowly moving downwards to his waist.

"You have a strong back..." he heard her murmur softly, taking her hand off of him to grab something else.

The shinobi couldn't respond, he was too busy trying to stop his blood from rushing to somewhere else that wasn't his face.

He wasn't doing a good job.

Those small hands returned with a vengeance however, this time wielding a sponge, using it to slide up and down his back. Pressing it against him.

The faint friction that the sponge caused by sliding against him actually felt very soothing to the somewhat weary blond, making the entire experience begin to feel like a massage.

About the same time as she started washing his back, she also started humming a soothing tune, one that also helped ease his senses.

Altogether, slowly but surely, the teen's eyes began to droop faintly as all the tension he has built up slowly left his body, released in an undercurrent of contentment.

He could fall asleep like this...

It was while he felt like he was on cloud nine, that the yokai matriarch slowly slid the sponge around his back, aiming to begin washing somewhere _else_.

It wasn't until he felt three _very_ distinct things that his internal alarm bells went off.

First; he felt two thin arms wrapped around his waist.

Second; he felt the sponge that was once focused on his back was now sliding across his bare chest.

Third; he felt two impossibly soft bumps press themselves against his unyielding back.

...

" _Gah!_ W-Wh-!? What are you _doing!?"_ Naruto shouted out, turning his head to the side to eye the yokai faction leader, who seemed focused on her task.

Golden eyes looked up to see the horribly red face of Uzumaki Naruto. "Is something wrong? I'm just washing you, remember?"

Even as she was speaking, in order to reach a specific spot in his abs, she would have to stretch her arms a little more to get it thoroughly.

Which meant that the 'bumps' on his back were now outright squished against him.

Naruto nearly yelped, but he managed to bite his tongue _and_ lessen the amount of twitching that his left eye has succumbed to. An unfortunate casualty in order to maintain his sanity.

"Y-Yasaka..." the shinobi gasped out, his left eye still twitching sporadically. "Thank you for helping me wash...but I could have sworn that you said that you'd...wash my _back_."

The kyuubi tilted her head, a glint of... _something_ in her eye. "Well you know...I just figured that since I'm washing your back already, I may as well continue washing you down...thoroughly."

Blue eyes blinked. "Thoroughly?"

Yasaka smiled, it was a very pretty smile. "Thoroughly."

If anyone wondered what kind of face someone would make while dying of constipation, he was pretty damn sure that he was making it _now_.

He was in serious danger damn it! And it was a very different kind of danger!

Did she even realize what she was doing...?

He was so embarrassed by this...the whiskered teen very much wished he could just hide in a hole and stay there for the rest of his life.

Come on...he had to think of way out of this!

He could do it! He was Uzumaki- freaking- Naruto!

"What's wrong?" Yasaka quietly spoke, tickling his ear as her breath brushed against it. "Do you feel... _uncomfortable?_ "

...

He was fucked.

It was at that moment, with the sound of a door sliding open, that fate seemingly conspired to give him his salvation as well as his damnation at the same time. As was his luck with such things.

Naruto only noticed it when the loud sound of a bucket crashing against the floor echoed in the small space.

Both blondes snapped their gaze towards the entrance of the hot springs, following the source of the sound.

Yellow eyes were staring at both of them in complete and utter shock, their owner's mouth open in the shape of an 'o'.

It was Naruto, with his horrible attempt at a comforting smile, that broke the silent stalemate. "H-Hey there...Yuki. Fancy meeting you here, huh? Ehehe..."

Yuki didn't respond, instead she continued to stare at the two figures, about as unresponsive as the shinobi was just moments prior.

Then the hero girl herself tried to create a comforting smile, but this failure came out as a shaky upwards tilt of her lips rather than any kind of smile.

"...I apologize, am I interrupting something?" the female human questioned, a very faint _edge_ to her voice that the blond teen has never heard before from her.

Yasaka shrugged with a faint smile on her face, slowly unwrapping her arms from Naruto's waist. "Nothing in particular. As a matter of fact, we were just about done. Right, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto could do naught except nod, feeling like that was his only real option at the moment.

Satisfied with that, the yokai faction leader slowly stood up from her place behind the teen, holding onto her towel to make sure it wouldn't fall off. Then proceeded to head towards the exit, her pleasant demeanor still as strong as ever.

Yuki watched her go, looking at her from the side of her eye. Body posture on alert.

If she noticed the tension in the young human's body, she didn't voice it as she moved past her. Reaching the exit and passing through, closing the door once she entered the changing room.

But not before she sent Naruto a playful wink, sliding the door close immediately afterwards.

Naruto waited for a few more precious seconds, then finally sagged in his stool after making sure she left the vicinity, his relief palpable, both burned out and 'full of energy'.

A strange mix that left him pooped, really.

Actually. More than that. Why the hell didn't she actually take a bath...? Wasn't she here to take her own bath?

...Maybe she forgot?

Wait. What if this whole thing was just him over-blowing things, like, maybe she didn't notice what she was doing to him?

It felt nicer to believe that, so he was just gonna put his faith onto that line of reasoning.

He felt more than heard Yuki walk up to him, kneeling next to him as he struggled to slow down his ridiculously fast heart beat.

"...You said that friends couldn't do that." the hero stated evenly, accusatory despite being neutral.

The shinobi winced, remembering exactly what she was talking about. "...Well...they shouldn't-"

"Yasaka-san did." Yuki stated again in that same tone of voice. "If she could do it, why can't I?"

Naruto felt himself begin to sweat a little, this day was just not going his way, was it? "Well...that was kind of special..."

Yellow eyes turned away, simmering frustration boiling in those orbs. "...It isn't fair that she could do it and I can't. Does that mean you're closer to her than you are to me...?"

The shinobi couldn't say anything as he watched Yuki turn away from him completely, looking genuinely hurt by the thought that it was true. "...Do you think that I don't want to get closer to you, Naruto?"

Yuki could only shake her head slowly, pushing herself off from the ground to leave-

"Wait."

A strong hand clasped Yuki's shoulder, stopping her cold for just a moment.

"Hey...look, don't think like that. Never think that you're just someone I could just throw away casually." Naruto said solemnly, any and all hesitation gone. "You're someone that I'm proud to call a friend and a comrade, nothing less than that. As for what happened here? This was all probably just Yasaka's prank on me...maybe she's just feeling mischievous today...? I don't know. But the point is this; you're one of my closest friends Yuki, so please don't count yourself short."

The hero didn't respond. All the blond heard was her somewhat heavy breathing thanks to the heat of the springs.

Until finally, he heard her breathe out a sigh.

"...Fine. I understand." the female human conceded quietly, turning around in order to face her friend. "But...I don't like this. It makes me feel..."

She paused, a frown marring her features as she tilted her head downwards.

"...Uncomfortable." she eventually clarified, finding the right word.

The shinobi scratched his cheek, having no idea how to help her feel better. "Um, well I'm sorry that she made you feel that way dattebayo..."

Yuki peered up at him through her light-blue bangs, biting her lips faintly as she did so. "...Let me do it once."

Blue eyes blinked. "Eh?"

The hero slowly straightened her back, drawing herself up to her full height, gathering up the courage to ask this of him. "Let me wash your back. Just once. Please."

Naruto unwittingly chose that moment to _really_ look at the young woman who was making such a suggestion, instantly turning away when he realized that he was staring.

It was kind of hard not to.

Her body was all wrapped up in a towel, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination as it was held together tightly against her body.

A part of him couldn't help but think that she was actually a very pretty young woman...

"Naruto? Are you ok? Your face is red..."

The shinobi was jolted from his entranced state of mind, snapping him back into reality when the hero called out to him. "N-No worries! I'm totally fine! _Totally_ fine!"

Yuki tilted her head, but didn't question him about it. "So...can I do it then?"

Naruto's eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to remember what they were talking about before, his brain was malfunctioning thanks to the clothes -or lack thereof- that Yuki was wearing.

But after a few seconds of meaningless brainstorming, he just couldn't seem to recall no matter how much he concentrated.

So after looking back at her and seeing her hopeful expression, he didn't really have the heart to deny her.

"...Fine, whatever." he grumbled out, crossing his arms.

Accordingly, Yuki beamed thanks to his acceptance, her mood from before all but destroyed and overwhelmed in her new-found positive disposition.

The hero's joy was so contagious that even Naruto couldn't help but smile in return.

"Thank you Naruto. Thank you." Yuki said with a smile, as if gratified. Bowing her head slightly to her comrade without hesitation.

"Hey, hey...there will be none of that." the shinobi protested lightly, nudging her a little to get her to stop. "We're equals here. No need to bow."

After a few more nudges, Naruto managed to get the female teen to stop bowing, a little exasperated by her display.

Honestly though, seeing her good mood restored was more than enough for the blond to overlook her excessive behavior.

"Hey, Naruto? Are you gonna finish taking a bath?" the hero inquired, absentmindedly pulling her towel up since it was beginning to loosen.

"Nah." the shinobi immediately declined, beginning to walk past her to reach the doorway. "I think I've had enough fun at the baths today. I'm gonna check up on Azazel-san to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid I think."

A flicker of disappointment flickered across her eyes, but was quelled about as quickly as it had appeared. "I see...alright then, I'll finish up here then. When I get out, can you remind me to contact otou-sama? I need to tell him about Basara, it feels like recent events have conspired to keep me from doing so..."

A sweat-drop formed on the male teen's forehead, internally apologizing for causing his friend trouble. "Right, I'll make sure to do so-"

Then he paused, his eyes widening when he remembered something thanks to her words.

...This was his chance. It was now or never.

"...Hey Yuki."

Yuki perked up at her name being called. "Yes?"

She wasn't sure what she expected to hear or see when her closest friend called her name, but she at least wasn't expecting to see his serious shift in demeanor.

"...I have a favor to ask."

The hero raised an eyebrow, getting a faint sense of foreboding at what words will come next.

Blue eyes locked with her own, and that sense of foreboding only got worse.

"I want you to ask Jin-san if he could possibly reveal the Hero Tribe's existence to Yasaka, all in the name of building an alliance between the yokai and the heroes."

...

" _EH!?"_ Yuki cried out unintentionally and uncharacteristically, such was her surprise.

Naruto could confidently say that he has never seen the female hero look more shocked in the entire time that he's known her.

"...Naruto..." the young human started slowly, searching for the right words. "...I don't think that you understand what you're asking me to do. The Hero Tribe has stayed hidden from the other supernatural factions since it's initial creation...all in order to make sure that we could always intervene on behalf of humans without starting a war. And you're asking me to ask my otou-sama to give that up?"

The shinobi grinned, sheepish. "Kinda."

Yuki wiped her hand across her forehead, somehow getting over her initial shock. Only Naruto could ask for something so thoroughly outside of the realm of common sense with a straight face.

"No worries, it isn't as insane as it sounds, there is some logic to what I'm asking." the blond assured easily. "I mean think about it for a second; the yokai under Yasaka won't do anything to regular humans as long as she remains in control, and they are completely neutral to the ther conflicts that the other supernatural factions are embroiled in. Even more importantly, the Hero Tribe and the yokai could work together to create counter-measures against the Hero Faction."

"No...I understand _that_." the hero admitted easily enough. "It's just the not-so-small fact that my people would have to give up anonymity for such a cooperative effort. Even if the yokai chose not to divulge the fact that there is a _faction_ of heroes, it's still a massive risk for relatively short-term rewards..."

Yeah, if that was all Naruto had in mind for such a alliance, then Yuki would be absolutely correct. The idea just wouldn't benefit the Hero Tribe that much.

...But there _was_ more to this.

For now though...this probably wasn't the best time to go into any detail.

Besides, the blond was mentally tired already, no need to push himself over the edge for something that could be properly explained later.

"Alright then...tell you what, let's hold off on my crazy idea for until we get back to Kuoh Town. Since I'm sure that this is something that we need to go into far more detail about than what we're doing. Sound fair?" Naruto offered, striking up a plan for a future time.

Yuki stared at him for a split-second, expression unreadable.

Then she nodded, seeing no reason to wave away his idea -even if it was insane- without hearing him out first. As it was now, this simply wasn't the best time to be discussing this.

"Awesome!" the shinobi cheered, exuberant. "Then it's settled! Now I'm gonna leave you to your relaxation time Yuki, and I'll make sure to remind you about calling Jin-san..."

A sudden gap in the conversation emerged when Naruto stopped speaking, eyes closing as he tried to recall one more thing.

...

He snapped his fingers.

"Please be careful while you're taking a bath, would ya Yuki? Don't want your cast to get wet dattebayo." Naruto advised sagely, nodding his head in a self-congratulatory way.

Yellow eyes trailed to her arm, sweat-dropping when she just remembered that she was still wearing a cast.

Good thing he reminded her...she probably would have went inside the water without thinking about it...

* * *

"So, who died?"

Yasaka very much had to stop herself from returning the question with a biting response, knowing that despite her personal distaste for the man...she was _still_ the representative of her faction.

So she offered him a pleasant smile instead. "Why...I have no idea what you could possibly mean."

Azazel was lackadaisically slumping in his comfortable chair while using another chair as a footrest, looking at her with a quizzical expression. "Oh come on, don't act obtuse Yasaka-chan~"

"Don't call me that." the kyuubi stated bluntly, chaffing at the use of a far too familiar honorific.

Anyways, unfortunately for her, she actually _did_ know what that man was talking about.

The overall atmosphere among her people -even before Azazel arrived unexpectedly- was very much tense.

Her people simply haven't completely recovered yet from the shock of their leader and princess almost getting captured, as well as the battle that raged just outside of the Kyoto's city limits.

Even after Yasaka and Kunou returned safely, the tension was still present, just bubbling under the surface. Joy temporarily snuffing it out.

At least until Azazel showed his face...

Said fallen angel mock-pouted at her. "Oh come on~ I'm a guest, right? So shouldn't the hostess be more accommodating? It's only common courtesy you know?"

Yasaka wouldn't even bother bringing up the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the man in front of her came in uninvited.

"...Very well." she eventually relented, albeit grudgingly. "Yes, I do understand what you're referring to. And this atmosphere which you're probably referring to revolves around what happened yesterday."

The fallen leader hummed, interested. "...So...?"

"Apologies." the yokai faction leader said, but not really meaning it. "But that's by this point; classified information. And don't even bother trying to coax it out of some of my subordinates...I've already warned them about you."

As expected, Azazel shot her an affronted look at what she was implying.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad..." the Governor General protested, but still completely at ease with the subtle charge levied against him.

It was also telling that he didn't actually deny any of them.

"...Though considering what I've seen along the way here..." Azazel drawled slowly, eyes shifting to focus on the other leader's facial structure. "I think I can hazard a guess about what happened here."

Yasaka carefully kept herself in control, her face giving away nothing. The epitome of neutrality.

Violet eyes narrowed faintly. "Considering that amount of damage I saw that was done to the forest...as well as the barrier that was put into place...I'd say that there was quite the conflict just outside Kyoto, wasn't there?"

The kyuubi didn't deny or affirm his guess.

Seeing her stony expression, the fallen leader's eyes softened, his voice and posture returning to something more light. "Ah...but no worries. I understand, it's all classified info, right?"

The yokai's golden pupils bled a faint bit of confusion now, not seeing what the promiscuous man was up to. And getting a little more wary because of it.

"...But there _is_ something that I'm curious about."

And her caution only increased.

Azazel inclined his head, attempting to appear trustworthy. "Maybe you can...oh I don't know...tell me a little bit about Naruto's abilities?"

Yasaka's face twitched.

So _that's_ his angle...

"Now before you completely shut me down...I actually do have a decent reason for asking this of you." Azazel started, raising his hands up in a placating manner. "You see...I _care_."

...

"You...'care'?" the yokai leader parroted, disbelief plainly visible on her face. "And you expect me to believe that?"

The Governor General chuckled, shaking his head faintly. "Not entirely I guess...so allow me to rephrase myself a bit."

A single golden eyebrow was raised, wondering what other random excuses he would make up to get information that he was 'interested' in.

But, to her genuine surprise, the fallen angel shifted from a generally mellow attitude to a bordering solemn one.

He was legitimately serious now.

"It's not like I don't care about the brat." the fallen leader began, all signs of the perverted good-for-nothing gone. "But we have, at best, a professional relationship with one another. So no...my query isn't for myself, rather...it's for someone else."

Yasaka didn't comment, electing to let him finish. Gauging his sincerity.

"...The thing is, the favor I'm asking of Naruto is really important, _super_ important. But...at the very least, I'd like to make sure that he could handle whatever might come his way with this mission. As I doubt that the Vatican would send anyone less than an elite to Kuoh Town after that incident with Vretiel..." Azazel explained, elaborating on his thoughts. "To be blunt, this is meant for somebody else's peace of mind. Pure and simple. Though I am curious myself."

With that, the Governor General turned away, intensely self-conscious thanks to his admission. Trying to regain his 'cool' demeanor.

It was only for a split-second...but in the end, it was that fact that helped her make her decision.

So Yasaka opened her mouth in order to give her answer, much to Azazel's rising anticipation.

"Sorry, I still can't tell you." she answered without remorse.

The fallen leader literally deflated in front of her eyes, with his entire posture slumping down.

"...But I _can_ tell you this-"

Azazel perked up slightly, definitely paying attention.

"That boy has the power...to ignore power." she claimed, thoroughly sure of her observation.

Before the inevitable questions were asked, Yasaka continued on speaking, unabated. "Azazel...how do most people determine how strong the other is? How do most calculate one another's strength when pitted against other powerful individuals?"

The Governer General gave the rhetorical question some thought and quickly reached an answer. "Power. Or more specifically; how much shit one person can blow up in comparison to another."

Yasaka nodded. "Exactly. Now; if I were to estimate from what I know...I'd say that Naruto-sama could face off against a fallen angel with four pairs of wings with only pure power alone."

As soon as she finished speaking, she aimed her head towards the ceiling, a wistful smile stretching across her lips as flashes of what happened yesterday filtered into her head.

Of animalistic red slits.

Of bubbling red cloaks.

Of mindless and vicious attacks from someone who completely lost control.

But most importantly in regards to the current conversation; of how Uzumaki Naruto _disappeared_.

She could remember it now. How one second the blond was far enough away that any attack he attempted should have been practically telegraphed for her, and how he closed the gap between them within milliseconds. So impossibly fast that from a single blink, all she saw was a clawed hand smashing against her...

It didn't matter that she could destroy a city without much effort, it didn't matter how much destruction she could cause, and it didn't matter that she was the yokai faction leader.

None of it mattered.

Simply because he was far too fast and too physically strong. Adding in his endurance was just piling on.

"To put it bluntly." Yasaka stated with finality. "It's thoroughly possible that Naruto-sama, with all of his abilities, can take on opponents that are far 'stronger' than him. So much so that I'd hazard a guess that he could even take you on...Azazel."

Azazel's eyes widened, shocked that the woman in front of him could actually place so much faith in that man's abilities.

Seeing his expression, the yokai leader couldn't help but smirk a little. Pleased to see him lose his know-it-all attitude.

Though to be fair, all that Yasaka said about Naruto's power were based on her observations. More than that, they were based on his usage of that red cloak yesterday...and considering the fact that he lost control of himself back then...it's very likely that he won't use that power for a while...

So really, just because he could 'take on' Azazel, didn't mean he could win against him. She had no idea about that.

"I see...that's very useful information..." the fallen angel muttered, eyes clouded. "So if _that's_ true...then..."

"By the way." the kyuubi interrupted while giving the only man in the room a pointed look. "I'm not giving you any specific information. Only my opinion. So don't try to weasal anything out of me. This is your only warning. You want more? Ask Naruto-sama himself."

Azazel felt a sweat-drop form on his forehead, she _really_ didn't trust him...

As the Governor General began to mope a little at the blatant hostility that the yokai matriarch was displaying, a rather loud rapping was heard coming from the door behind him.

He immediately stopped moping for all of about a few spare seconds to look behind him, seeing a certain whiskered teen slide the door open to enter.

Violet was quickly reintroduced to blue.

"Ah damn, you're still here." Naruto grumbled, annoyed.

"...What kind of reaction was that, you little bastard?" Azazel retorted, returning back to his moping almost as quickly as he left it.

The shinobi stared at the downtrodden form of the fallen angel for all of about a heartbeat before moving onto the only other individual in the room. "Yasaka...I guess you've heard from Azazel-san?"

Yasaka's entire demeanor changed _drastically_ when her gaze landed upon the blond, her tone of voice and posture all became far more soothing and welcoming. "Why yes, Naruto-sama. Azazel did in fact tell me about the mission he's offered you...he wouldn't have been let inside the compound if he didn't. The question here is...are you going to accept it?"

Naruto nodded firmly, leaving no doubt to his intentions. "Yeah...this is important. I can't afford not to go."

Despite the short notice, this wasn't really something he could just hand off to someone else. He needed to make _sure_ that this didn't blow up in everyone's faces.

The yokai matriarch sighed, already aware that there was no way that he'd let the current situation stand without intervening. At least based on what she knew about the blond.

So instead of doing the stereotypical thing; like trying to convince him out of it, she opted instead to do something else.

"Alright, I'm gonna go look for everyone so that I could tell them about my 'mission'...man...what should I tell Kunou-chan though?" the shinobi wondered aloud, turning on a dime in order to go and look for his friends.

But before he could actually reach the door, he felt two -familiar- arms wrap around his chest as his back was turned. Pulling him backwards onto something soft...

"I know you're going to go despite any possible protests...so instead of doing anything to convince you, I'm simply going to give you a good luck charm." Yasaka murmured softly, hugging him from behind.

Naruto twisted his head around, eyes wide, trying to ignore the feeling that was pressing against him. "Ah...what are you-?"

Soft lips pressed against the crown of his head, a feather's touch that left a tingling sensation behind. Freezing him to the spot.

Immediately after, the powerful yokai let go of him, a toothy grin on her face as she swiftly returned to her prior position on the floor. "Good luck Naruto-sama~! Make sure to give Kunou a proper goodbye, ok?"

The blond didn't answer, staying rooted to the ground like a tree, unresponsive.

Yasaka could only giggle quietly. He really was far too innocent.

Those giggles quickly died down when the yokai matriarch noticed a certain fallen angel shuffle closer to her, bowing his head a little so that the crown of his head was aimed towards her.

A golden eye twitched as her good mood evaporated.

"...No, you will not be getting any good luck from me Azazel."

Azazel just clicked his tongue in response. "...Damn, that brat gets all of the luck..."

It took a long time for Naruto to relearn how to walk after that.

* * *

"Hey, hey! Whatcha want to play next, Maria? Tag maybe? Hide and seek?"

The succubus offered her a strained smile, marveling at the infinite stamina of youth. "Ah...well I don't think that the nurse would appreciate me getting out of bed, what with my injuries and all. So how about you give me some time to rest for now, surely you're getting tired as well?"

A sad frown grew out of the little kyuubi's facial features, not at all happy to hear that. "Aww...but I wanna play more! You guys won't be here much longer, right? So we should spend as much time as possible!"

Maria winced, knowing that she was absolutely correct. But it didn't change the fact that she was exhausted from playing with the little girl for so long.

After the craziness that characterized Azazel's -and how did Naruto-sama know him?- arrival, the succubus quickly chose to get away from that specific situation. Knowing intrinsically how much trouble that that man would cause.

...That and her wounds prevented her from properly enjoying the hot springs that everyone wanted to relax in. It seriously sucked for her.

So she was stuck at her bedside, moping, at least until Kunou came barging in to play with Naruto.

Except she didn't find the blond, but found her instead.

After getting through all of the amazed questions about why Maria looked so young, the small blond got it into her head that they should play some games to pass the time.

The loli was all for it...at first.

Until she realized that Kunou doesn't want to _stop_ playing.

So in typical fashion for her, Maria cooked up an excuse to try and get out of a dodgy situation.

"Ah...! That reminds me!" the silverette cried out, latching onto the excuse with all of her might. "I still gotta change clothes! So can you give me a minute, Kunou?"

The little girl looked taken aback by the abrupt question, but when it actually registered in her head, it pushed her to jut her lower lip out. "Oh come on..."

Maria just shrugged with a very airy smile.

Golden eyes locked onto her for a heartbeat longer, then Kunou twirled around on the balls of her feet and trudged out of the room. Her lower lip _still_ jutting out.

The succubus breathed out some air in relief, temporarily rid of the persistent young girl.

Unfortunately for Naruto-sama, she was probably pushing the problem onto him now since Kunou was still bored.

A hearty chuckle emerged from her throat as she concentrated on her clothes for a second, preparing to switch out her somewhat revealing combat clothes for her civilian gothic dress.

She was not at all embarrassed to be walking around with the clothes she had, it was who she was. But her regular clothes _were_ more comfortable...

...And she needed to show Kunou that she actually _did_ change her clothes.

So in a flash of purple, her body was enveloped by her demonic energy. Switching her clothes in almost an instant.

When the light died down, she was back into her usual garb, stretching her arms and humming in satisfaction. Comforted by the soft material she was wearing when compared to her battle attire.

It was at that moment of small bliss that the silverette brushed against something in her dress due to her movements, catching her attention.

"...Oh right." she mumbled to herself, remembering that she had pockets in this dress.

Silly her, she must have forgotten some things in her dress when she changed clothing yesterday.

Maria dug into her pocket absentmindedly, feeling the smooth metallic object inside and pulling it out. Already aware of what she had in her hand.

Her phone.

The succubus began to sweat a little after opening up her phone, a shaky smile plastered on her face.

It was dead.

Ah...Mio-sama was probably gonna kill her for not contacting her...

Actually, wasn't the entire point of the silverette tagging along supposed to be _for_ contacting her charge? Informing her that they were alright?

Then she was doubly screwed when she got back home...damn it. After everything that happened, calling Mio-sama was practically the _last_ thing on her mind.

"Ah...! There you are, Maria! We've been looking for ya!"

Maria jumped into the air, yelping loudly, but not _that_ high into the air.

Maybe.

"Woah there! Calm down now." Naruto eased her, smirking at the fact that he caught her off guard. "Sorry for interrupting you, you busy?"

The succubus turned around, her body movement robotic, and faced the blond. Not at all amused. "...That wasn't funny."

The shinobi snorted, not even bothering to comment.

"Ah. Excuse me..."

Maria's attention shifted from the smirking teen onto the _other_ teen beside him, who was pushing her way into the room.

"You too...Yuki?" the loli rhetorically asked, realizing that something may have just happened for both teens to be looking for her.

Yuki inclined her head. "Yes, Naruto caught me right after I finished taking my bath in the hot springs. Apparently he has something to tell us both."

Both females then turned to look at the whiskered teen, waiting for him to divulge...whatever he was supposed to divulge.

Realizing this, Naruto cleared his throat. "Right, right. Ok...so you guys don't know this, but Azazel-san has come by here in order to ask me to help him out with a certain...incident."

Yuki's eyes narrowed faintly. "Well if that doesn't sound suspicious..."

Maria couldn't help but silently agree. A 'certain incident' doesn't exactly help specify anything to them.

The shinobi blinked, then sheepishly began rubbing the back of his head. "Uh...I guess that does sound a little bad actually."

"I know, right?" the succubus agreed readily, crossing her arms with a grin. "So seeing that you agreed, I assume that you realized how stupid of an idea it is to accept such a mission?"

Naruto turned away, eyes becoming shifty, a faint red tint on his cheeks. "...Not necessarily."

Maria's grin slid right off of her face.

"...You didn't." Yuki spoke up disbelievingly, refusing to believe that even _he_ could just so willingly-

"Oi! I know what I'm doin'!" Naruto protested firmly. "And unlike how I said it, I actually have a good idea of what's going on! I just don't really want to give out some sensitive info..."

Both females shared a glance with one another, communicating something with one another without actually saying anything.

Then that moment ended when the hero turned to him, eyes sharp.

"Then what exactly are you gonna be doing? Fighting?"

The shinobi frowned trying to remember all that was told to him. "Uh...well that's...kinda complicated. I need to stall...but it could devolve into a fight. So...I guess so?"

Yuki decided not to mention how unsure he sounded, she was sure that he himself noticed it.

"Then who is it that you're gonna be fighting? Any ideas?" Maria questioned reasonably, tilting her head to the side.

Naruto leaned back, uncomfortable with what was increasingly feeling like an interrogation. "...Um...erm...I don't remember?"

Case in point.

"Naruto..." the female human began, trying to think of a way to convince her friend out of this.

But right at that moment, the blond managed to regain his inner steel. "Alright, look...I know this looks kind of bad...but I _do_ know what I'm doing. This incident that's going on? It's gonna have some very bad impacts on the future if it goes to shit. I'm the only one who can make this end on a decent note...I trust Azazel-san enough to not lead me into some sort of death trap. Just trust me, ok?"

Yuki didn't answer, staying quiet to look, _just look_ , at the blond. Wishing she could see what exactly went on inside his head.

...But unfortunately, she knew that his mind was already made up.

"Is there really no other option available, Naruto-sama?" Maria asked quietly, tone imploring him to at least think about it.

It didn't work. Naruto stayed firmly on his path, as always.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized. "No can do...and I've thought about it."

The hero closed her eyes, already accepting of the fact that the blond would go through with this.

Yes...she has accepted this already...but now she was angling for something else that would make up for it.

"Very well Naruto...I understand, and I'm sure Maria-san understands too." Yuki started solemnly, opening her eyes to gaze upon her closest friend. "...However, I think it would be prudent if we also-"

"No."

The young human blinked, her train of thought cut off abruptly when the whiskered teen denied her her second goalpost. "...No chance at all, huh...?"

Naruto smiled. "No chance at all...Yuki."

Maria's eyes moved in-between the two teens, confused. "Um, did something just happen? I'm totally lost here..."

Blue eyes focused on her, twinkling slightly. "Yuki tried to get me to let you two tag along with me. It didn't work, since you two tagged along already in this trip to begin with."

The succubus' gaze snapped to the female teen, seeing her 'what can you do?' shrug.

"Besides." the shinobi continued, his eyes sliding away from his two allies and onto a curtain to the side. "I think you two need to focus on something else."

Yuki frowned, and followed his gaze.

Her expression swiftly became more somber, to her shame she almost forgot about him...

"...'Basara' was it? Well I think he should be taken to his father sooner rather than later. If those bastards from before had any affiliations with the restless members of the Hero Tribe, then it would be better that you break the news to Jin-san before anyone else gets any information on our unconscious friend."

The blond was now well aware of his friend's relationship with Basara, as after their talk yesterday, she told him about everything that went on in her fight with Cao Cao.

Saving a friend from himself was something that he completely approved of. No surprises there.

Maria shot him a look, realizing what he was suggesting. "...You want us to go back to Kuoh Town? Without you?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. The situation with Basara-san has to be dealt with, but more importantly than that is...well...I heard from Azazel-san that things might be getting pretty bad in Kuoh Town soon enough. So for my peace of mind, please go back; both to help out and to be as safe as can be by being surrounded by allies again."

The hero pursed her lips. "...Can you tell us anything?"

The shinobi shook his head, apologetic. "Sorry, this is all probably sensitive information."

As he was speaking, a small hand shot up into the air, as if a school girl was raising her hand so that she could be called on by their teacher.

Naruto turned to the hand's owner. "What's up? Is there a problem?"

Maria lowered her hand to scratch her cheek, looking a little embarrassed. "Well...the thing is, I'm actually willing to go along with this plan. Resting at home and staying near a lot of friendly faces sounds like a good idea to me, especially if bad things are gonna start happening there. But there's one problem with all of this..."

The loli stopped scratching her cheek and used that hand to point her finger towards the curtain that the blond was looking at earlier.

Ah.

"How the hell are we gonna drag Yuki's friend all the way back to Kuou Town? It'd be awfully suspicious if we just carried an unconscious man over our backs for the entire journey. Not only that, but he shouldn't be moving too much, right...?" the succubus pointed out.

The shinobi's eyes widened. That was...

That was...!

...

Oh wait.

"Never mind, false alarm." Naruto drawled out, any tension in his form as good as gone. "I've got you covered, just rest up a little bit before you head out. The transportation should be instant."

Yuki squinted her eyes. "...Um...'instant'?"

"Mhmm!" the shinobi chirped. "All we gotta do is make Azazel-san take you! He could do that thing with his wings to transport people, so this shouldn't be too much trouble, right?"

Maria jerked away, horrified by the suggestion that they'd be getting a _faction leader_ to give them a ride home. "N-Naruto-sama! You _do_ realize who that is, right? We just can't ask him to do that for us!"

Naruto was already in the process of turning around, moving to get out of the room to inform Azazel of what he needed of him. "And why not? The man owes me big anyways, it's not like he's gonna say 'no' or anything."

" _Naruto-sama!_ " the succubus wailed, rushing after him.

Yuki watched the two go, her eyes dry. Those two never changed...

The hero then moved around to gaze upon the curtain that hid Basara from view, jaw set.

She had to inform her father, but truth be told...what could she tell him? How could she possibly broach the subject to him?

She had no idea. Not even a clue.

But it was something that she had to do, pure and simple.

So as her two friends went off towards the fallen leader, she dug into her pocket and grabbed her phone, mentally preparing herself for one hell of a conversation.

* * *

"And that's how it is. Please take care of them, would ya?"

Azazel stared at the blond in front of him, eyes dull, not able to quite fathom the balls that he must have had to point-blank ask him for such a thing.

"...So you want me; the leader of the great and powerful fallen angels to...play taxi for your friends?"

Naruto nodded. "Exactly! So, you're gonna do it, right?"

The fallen leader truly didn't know how to respond, so instead his eyes panned across the room, seeking ideas on what to do.

Yasaka was trying -and failing- to hide her smirk behind a cup of tea. Whether it was at his situation or...the _other_ thing, he had no idea.

His eyes then traveled to the small form of Uzumaki Naruto's ally, the silver-haired one. Who was attempting to smile and appear calm, but was failing miserably.

She looked far more like a deer caught in a car's headlights than anything else.

Finally, his gaze has moved onto the blond menace himself, who was standing there with his arms crossed, his usual confident self.

That smirk on his face was annoying as hell damn it...!

"So? Come on, I'm doing you a favor here! It should be a small thing for you to take them to Kuoh Town, a tiny thing really." the shinobi pressed, impatient for an answer.

Azazel twitched. "...Oi, brat...you _do_ realize that asking me to do this would seriously lower my street cred, right? It would be difficult for anyone to respect me if they learned that I just transported some brats like some sort of taxi service..."

Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes. "Oh come on, don't be so melodramatic. No one will know that you're there, only the people here know anything about this."

"And what? You expect me to just believe that you'll all keep this private?" the Governor General retorted doubtfully, not trusting any of the individuals there for an instant.

Naruto blinked slowly, as if looking at him for the first time.

"...Don't sweat the small details."

"That's a pretty big ass detail!" Azazel shouted angrily in return, stomping his foot onto the ground. "Don't make light of me damn it!"

"Come on~ Do it~"

"Are you making fun of me!?"

Maria sighed as the two males went back and forth, not relenting at all one another.

This could legitimately take all day.

Yasaka was apparently just enjoying the show, beaming as she watched the blond begin to disparage his 'adversary'.

"...Tch! To think that there were such fallen angels with such low energy...I mean seriously, how hard is it to take three bodies to Kuoh Town from here? Unless of course...you're too weak to do it? Aw man, that would suck! Azazel the wimp can't even do a small thing like that! Hope that info doesn't go viral!" Naruto complained audibly, eyes aimed towards the ceiling.

Azazel's face was now red, twitching periodically. "...Hoh? So now you're trying to browbeat me? Blackmail? You really are a little shit, aren't you?"

The shinobi's face went blank. "I know what you are, but what am I?"

The fallen angel didn't deign that with a response.

Maria could only shake her head, despairing at the current situation.

As the despair set in, a certain hero walked in, confused at what was going on. "Maria-san? Naruto? What's going on?"

Temporarily, all eyes shifted to the doorway where Yuki came in, who was blinking periodically in her own befuddlement.

Azazel twitched when he looked at her, _really_ looked at her for the first time that he saw her.

...

"Alright. I'll take them." the Governor General acquiesced all of a sudden, much to everyone's surprise in the room.

And before Naruto could even comment on it, Azazel turned to him and _glowered_. "...If you told me that they were partially incapacitated, I'd have agreed immediately you brat."

Ah. Her cast.

The shinobi took a step back, embarrassed that he didn't try that.

At least he _tried_ to.

Instead, he nearly tripped and fell onto the back of his head, all thanks to the relentless little girl that was desperately hugging his ankle.

Azazal still wasn't sure whether Yasaka was smirking at his situation or the fact that her daughter was holding onto Naruto for dear life.

"I...I don't want you to go yet! Why do you have to go...? I want you to stay a little longer..."

Naruto's eyes softened when he heard the soft pleas from the little girl holding him in place, turning his head down to see her watery eyes staring up at him.

The second that she heard he was leaving, she pretty much leapt to his legs and held tight. Probably resolving to never let go of him so that he'd be forced to stay. At least for a little longer.

Of course though, he couldn't do that. He _had_ to go.

So with that in mind, the shinobi lowered himself to the ground as best as he could, looking her in the eye. "Kunou-chan...we had a very short, but very successful partnership; you and I, didn't we? We stopped the bad guys and saved your mother, just like what you wanted, right?"

The little kyuubi didn't respond, instead she pushed her head against his ankles, refusing to look at him.

He continued regardless.

"...Well I have to go. Whether it's to beat more bad guys or to save other people, the fact is...I can't stay here now. I have to help someone else out, much like how I helped you. You know I have to...and you know I can't stay here forever anyways."

Kunou already knew this.

Kunou already knew all of this.

...She just thought that she had more time is all.

To play.

To talk.

To cuddle.

To...

"...Promise you'll come back to visit?" the small kyuubi whimpered into his jeans, drying her wet face onto his clothes.

He didn't mind. Not even a little bit.

"I promise." Naruto agreed, smiling. "And I never go back on my word."

Kunou stayed like that, clutching his clothes, wanting to remain as close as possible before he left.

Once more, the blond didn't mind, proving this by moving his hand to rub the young girl's head soothingly.

Naruto then turned to the girl's mother, who was getting up from her seiza position to move to him after finishing her tea.

"Well Naruto-sama...it certainly has been short, but nevertheless, it has truly been a pleasure to meet you. Know that as long as I remain the leader of the yokai, you will always be an esteemed guest in Kyoto." Yasaka commended, a simpered look on her facial features.

The shinobi grinned, happy to hear that. "Awesome...thank you. It was an honor to meet you as well, Yasaka."

As soon as the young man finished his sentence, a certain twinkle shimmered in the yokai matriarch's eye. Though it was completely unnoticeable to the blond himself.

But it dulled as quickly as it appeared.

As much as the kyuubi wanted to, this wasn't the time to be playing around.

So she simply gave him a platonic hug, one that didn't give off any hidden subtext beyond that 'she cared'.

She'd see this young man again, in a less volatile time where her more lax behavior would be more appropriate.

But until then...

"Stay safe...Naruto-sama." she whispered to him as she hugged him close.

Naruto nodded, accepting her hug by reciprocating with one of his own, more than happy to do so.

And more than happy that it didn't elicit more troublesome feelings out of him as well. He didn't need another pseudo-heart attack.

After the two blondes ended their hug, the shinobi turned to his two friends that traveled with him during this trip. Looking at them with an apologetic expression.

"Stop giving us that look Naruto-sama..." Maria spoke up dryly. "We both understand that we can't stop you from doing this, but at the very least, could you make sure that we feel appreciated here? I mean I'm sure Yuki-san here feels pretty damn under-appreciated here, you know?"

The hero gave the silver-haired girl a sidelong look, a deadpan on her face as she realized that the succubus was projecting a little.

She was about to say as such, but she immediately shut her mouth when the blond teen in front of her quickly and without warning pulled her into a hug.

Not just her though, Maria was also dragged unwittingly into a bone crushing group hug by the blond. Much to her surprise.

Naruto didn't say anything as he held them both, conveying his feelings through this act rather than speaking.

"...Oh Naruto-sama..." Maria mumbled out. "This is such a cop out you know...? We both have bad wounds, and yet all we're getting is a hug out of this...? Seriously...who's benefiting from this? I mean this is what they call having 'a flower in each hand' right?"

So she said, but Yuki felt the succubus press her head against him, moving closer into the hug and holding the blond more tightly.

More than that, she -without a doubt- heard the fond bit of exasperation in her voice.

For Maria, this was good enough.

As for Yuki? Well...the fact that the act put her into such close contact with her friend again made her heart begin to hammer against her rib cage.

She felt like the organ might legitimately try and break through her chest at this rate...

Was something wrong with her? She didn't quite understand why she was reacting this way.

It's not like she did any strenuous activities or anything like that. So then why...?

She had no idea. But she did know one thing.

Despite the worrying idea that her heart might explode one day if she kept this up, it also felt...warm.

The hero liked it, to some extent.

Naruto held onto both of them for a little bit longer, sorry that they had to part ways, but knowing that it's for the best.

"...You two are going to be ok, right?" the shinobi made sure to ask, making sure that they were really alright.

He felt more than heard the silverette's grin on his chest. "Yeah...we'll be alright I'm sure. Right, Yuki-san?"

Yuki nodded against his chest, not wanting to leave quite yet.

The whiskered teen beamed, happy that both were satisfied, before slowly allowing his arms to fall to the wayside-

"No. Wait." Yuki protested quietly, intercepting his arm before he could let it drop all the way. "Not yet. A little more."

Naruto blinked. But did as asked and placed his hand back on her back. Keeping the hug alive a little longer.

Azazel watched the whole proceedings with a deadpanned look. "...How enviable, brat. I'd actually like to say 'good job!' but if anything you're pissing me off a little bit."

...And it wasn't necessarily because he had 'a flower in each hand' either.

...Huh...he wondered how 'his' brat would react to this?

The shinobi looked up from the two females to look at him, slightly sheepish. "Ah...sorry about this. I just don't want them to feel unappreciated dattebayo."

At that split moment, Yuki jabbed a finger into Maria's side, making her jump a little.

Naruto didn't notice. "Anyways, how long do I have to get to the airport? You said that this church agent would be coming tonight, but _when_ tonight?"

Thankfully, the sun was still high up in the sky, so it's not like the blond had anything to worry about. But he better be sure, sunset was just around the corner after all.

The fallen leader squinted his eyes, trying to recall. "...I think a bit after midnight. So you've got time to kill brat."

The shinobi nodded, appreciative. "Alright, good. I wanted to work on some things on the way there. So this is perfect."

As he was speaking, slowly, but this time _firmly_ , he let go of his friends. Knowing that the time has come.

This time Yuki didn't stop him, despite her obvious disappointment.

"Alright guys...I'm off." he said gently, giving them a thumbs up.

Maria smirked and gave him a thumbs up in return. "Whatever trouble happens in Kuoh Town, we'll make sure to deal with it by the time you get home, Naruto-sama!"

The female human firmly inclined her head in agreement. "You have nothing to worry about."

Naruto's eyes brightened as he pumped his fist into the air. "Right! And I in return will come back from this little detour super quickly! Safe and sound!"

The small group basked in the positive attitudes that everyone was displaying, newly confident that everything would be resolved quickly.

But none of them knew that, as Naruto turned around and began his trek to the airport to the east, that their personally assigned tasks would not be completed as easily as they hoped.

The shinobi especially, had no idea about the powers at work that were now beginning to mobilize.

Whereas before, powers such as the Old Maou Faction or Cao Cao's 'Hero' Faction were focused on long-standing goals that could destabilize the world; the ones that were beginning to move also had such lofty ambitions...except there was one clear difference.

They were focusing on Uzumaki Naruto to help complete those ambitions.

Yet the teen himself had no idea about any of that, all he knew was that he was going to destroy any possibility of a stupid war breaking out.

The simple fact was that the world which Naruto found himself in was one with clashing ambitions, ideals, hopes, and dreams.

One that, much like his original, was rife with conflict; current and potential.

The shinobi was already aware of that in some level, however he was not aware of just how _bad_ it was. Or how easily things could deteriorate.

He would find out soon, just how delicate the world's balance really was. _Especially_ since he's upset that balance.

It was inevitable, as the more he intervened, the more well-known he'd become.

And the more well-known he became, the more that the world's many powers would begin to take note and wonder...

Which side was he on?

Some leaders would try and entice him to their perspective 'side', while others would try and out-and-out get rid of a potential rival in the grand game of power politics.

And some of those powers were already beginning to prepare themselves to move out.

* * *

A small black cat was resting on top of one of the myriad buildings of Kyoto, just laying down and enjoying the cool breeze that the afternoon was giving her.

It was really nice for the feline to relax like this, honestly, she was never usually one for vacation spots. But Kyoto was definitely a nice place to just wind down.

Too bad she was here on a mission.

But now she was just enjoying the rest of her day, since her mission was all but completed already and she had time to kill.

As she was enjoying her small time off, the small feline began to shift in shape and size, _growing_ into something else.

The metamorphosis was quick, with a young woman taking the place of the black cat that was resting on the roof.

That young woman yawned, playfully kicking her feet in the air as she considered the goal that she was given just yesterday.

Ophis wanted answers, and she was now ready to provide them.

Yellow slits were dancing as she remembered the young man that was resting in the hot springs, talking to the fallen leader as if they were old pals.

It was without a doubt him. She would recognize him anywhere after what happened yesterday.

She was in Japan at the time, with her comrades to decide on what their future objectives were going to be long-term. Simple really.

But then she felt _him_.

It was like a siren that stretched across all of East Asia for her, blaring loudly about their location and that they were very, _very_ powerful.

Senjutsu.

It was strange, the senjutsu that she utilized was partially used to hide her presence, yet the one that she sensed was blaring out to the world about it's power.

Nevertheless, anyone that utilized senjutsu was able sense _that_.

When she informed her comrades before Bikou had the chance, the consensus was to immediately inform Ophis of this new development.

The only one that protested the decision, ironically enough, was their leader. Who wanted to keep it quiet until he faced the man who used such powers himself.

Arthur, the reasonable one in the group, quickly dissuaded him of that opinion. Noting that he could face the man _after_ Ophis dragged him into her Khaos Brigade.

It would be better to keep her thinking that they were useful pawns to be used rather than annoyances to be swatted.

So she elected to go and find this man herself after Ophis ordered someone to find him and identify him, in preparation for recruitment no doubt.

Seeing him half-naked in a hot springs, with water droplets trialing down his well-muscled frame was an unexpected treat for her, and she wasn't complaining.

Now here she was, trying out the name that she heard the yokai faction leader, of all people, use to refer to him.

"...Naruto..." she pronounced, before emphasizing it. "Na-ru-to..."

A saucy grin spread across her lips as she crossed her arms, supporting her large bust as she stood up to stare at the falling sun.

"I hope you survive Ophis-sama's recruitment, it'd be a shame to lose such precious genes nya~"

* * *

It's said by many that the past has many important lessons to teach, as well as many secrets to hold.

That those that don't learn from the past are the true fools that will ruin the future.

The elderly man that was sitting in his opulent chair happened to have such convictions, believing that the past could solve the issues facing those in the present as well as save the future.

But of course, such convictions are difficult to follow through, as much history has been lost to the many conflicts that plagued the earth.

Much knowledge has been lost, never to return.

Except he was an exception, one of those rare individuals that could see the past plainly.

And with that ability to see, to truly _see_...he could learn.

He could learn from the people of this world...and from the people of the _other_ world...

And now he truly had the chance to complete his research, thanks to that young man's cunning. Shiba was his name if he recalled...?

That young man...he thought that he was so clever, trying to twist his arm into giving him concessions for such vital information.

Well, he didn't mind playing his games for now, the exchange may have been seen as a 'win' for him...but he had no idea what he just conceded to him.

Shiba has given him the means to complete the most important...no... _vital_ part of his research.

His research to create new heroes, but more importantly...new _humans_.

All that was left to do was to lure him here...

The elderly man raised his head as the door to his office was opened, the one opening it not even bothering with the niceties it seemed.

"You called chairman? What do you want?"

Pale blue eyes focused on the young woman that entered his space, looking not exactly particularly pleased to see him.

He supposed a part of her blamed _him_ for making her life as it was. But it was also he who was making her into what she would become.

The savior.

Or perhaps more aptly: the king of kings.

An ironic smile spread across his lips. Ah...how the 'king' would loathe to hear that phrase...

"I repeat; what do you want?" the young woman asked again, impatient.

The elderly man stroked his white beard as he focused on her, smiling. "I apologize for being so quiet my dear...I'm simply contemplating how to best utilize the chance that we've been given is all."

Her ruby eyes regarded him suspiciously, not trusting his intentionally vague word games. "Get to the point. Why. Am. I. Here?"

Ah. No patience. The youth of the modern day should learn more about that.

"...We have information about him. The one that I informed you about...he's here. In Japan."

Her ruby eyes, once bored and suspicious, shifted as soon as he finished his statement. Her entire demeanor shifting to one of shock and...

And...?

No. It was impossible to tell what other emotions were flitting across her eyes.

Was it hate? Love? Hope? Despair? Admiration? Disgust? Superiority? Inferiority?

It was impossible to tell because it was probably very much all of those things.

In many ways...she was created by that man; Uzumaki Naruto.

In other ways, she was created to _replace_ him.

So she no doubt had complicated feelings towards the young man.

The old man's eyes were calculating as her face was forced back to a more neutral expression. Shoving her emotions down to deal with the present issue at hand. "...Are you going to send me to face him?"

"Not yet my dear." he replied easily, his fake smile still on his face. "Not _really_...but I would like you to relay a message for me. If you can, maybe you can study his abilities personally...and make it your own if you can."

Truth be told, his perfect specimen simply wasn't ready to deal with Uzumaki Naruto quite yet. She needed more time.

Unlike those fools who fought the young man before, he was well aware of several of his abilities. But more importantly...

Of how he fought.

The young woman bit her lip, but didn't protest. This was an important moment for her...to meet the source of all of this old man's ambitions.

Honestly, she didn't care about this dusty has-been of a hero or any of his ambitions for the future, all she cared about was that he would push her closer to what she was born to do. Her true calling in life.

Her only calling in life.

 _Perfection_.

The 'king of kings' turned around, her long purple hair flowing behind her like a curtain, reaching for the exit to mentally prepare herself for the confrontation that was destined to occur.

"Don't do anything foolish my dear." the old man couldn't help but add, closing his eyes until they were slits. "I wouldn't want to worry about you losing your life now...you're necessary for my experiments after all."

Her hand froze right when they were about to reach for the door handle, the owner twitching when he made that statement.

Then she slowly turned around, coldly regarding him with dull red eyes.

"Don't bother worrying about my life, chairman." she rasped quietly, turning back to open the door and leave. "Everyone is born without a purpose, everyone lives for no reason, and everyone dies for nothing. Being the sublime being that I am...I'm the only one that can't be allowed to die in this world."

And with that, the young - _twisted_ \- girl closed the door behind her, leaving the room as quickly as she entered it.

The old man could only smile his unpleasant smile.

That child, for all intent's and purpose, had no meaning in life. Not really.

No morals and no _heart_.

She didn't care about the people that she hurt along the way, why should she? She was above everyone else in her mind.

And to her, life was simply pointless.

"...My my, it seems I've truly created a monster, haven't I?" he noted lightly, keeping his eyes closed as he vividly remembered one of the first ever visions he ever saw of _that_ world.

The vision was about a boy, one with spiky golden hair, simply looking at a mirror. Staring at himself through it's reflection.

One of the things that stood out to him back then was just how... _dull_ the boy's eyes were.

Much like his perfect experiment's.

It was obvious just by looking at him, that the boy was filled with _hate_. Against his home, against it's people, against life.

...Oh...how he has grown.

"...Then again, I suppose you need to create a monster to destroy another monster, don't you?" he mused quietly, sipping his wine casually.

* * *

 **AN: I am so sorry for taking so long everyone. All I can say is that final's week caught me off guard and that I've actually written *now* up to 40k words for a single chapter. I had to cut it into two separate chapters since it was too damn big.**

 **The next chapter should come relatively quickly then, since it's 12k in I think already.**

 **Alright, just as an aside, next chapter will mostly be dealing with what everyone back at Kuoh Academy is up to. As that's what made up the other piece of the chapter. Naruto will still be there, he will just have less of a role to play until the chapter after the next one. So...chapter 35 I suppose.**

 **Ok, apologies for the large chapter to anyone that doesn't like large chapters. Next time it should return to the more normal 20k or so. :3**

 **Edit: Alright, bear with me here. I completely forgot to make sure to leave a note to explain why the moderately perverted Naruto reacted the way he did. The answer to that resides in a question for everyone who wonders this; have you ever seen a (canon) female ever come onto Naruto sexually? Blatantly?**

 **Honestly, I think Naruto would react to some perverted situations with a blank look, the only time I've really seen him act in a perverted fashion is when Sakura is involved. Basically, he only really acts like a "moderate" pervert is when it comes to women he at the very least has a crush on.**

 **Everything else he sort of just ignores, as evidenced with the fact that he never reacts to women like Tsunade with a perverted attitude.**

 **As for my question, no, I've never seen anyone come onto him blatantly before. At least not *that* hard. So honestly I think he'd be super flustered when those kinds of situations come up.**

 **Just my two cents. :P**

 **-RekkingPride**


	34. Chapter 34

**AN: I give up on the 'don't write such large chapters' thing. I just couldn't make this smaller. It all was necessary at this point in time. Actually, I cut out a little bit in here, as I wanted to expand on what was going on in the Underworld since last time, but alas, too much. I agree with BentShuriken, this site needs a bookmark system...**

 **Oh well, enough rambling. Long chapter ahead, beware! :P**

* * *

"Oh come on...! Can't you let us get _some_ pictures? It will only take a minute! The public is dying to know about-"

"I apologize ma'am, but this area is off-limits to public eyes, mostly because a careful investigation is underway, so please be patient."

The female reporter huffed as her attempt at getting inside the small forest was rebuffed by the stoic police officer. This was her big break...she needed to get this story before anyone else!

She was determined to get in!

Hazel eyes watched as the reporter continued to heckle the police man in order to get inside, obviously believing that she could try and charm her way in.

Good. She had time then.

Koneko was right outside of the small forest that surrounded the abandoned church, which has obviously gained quite a bit of attention recently. Prepared to enter it and search for clues to find her lost family member.

Her eyes quickly flitted behind her, at the same direction of Kuoh Academy, a small frown growing on her face.

By this point everyone should have noticed that she was gone by now...

She hoped that she didn't worry everyone too much, she simply did not have the patience to wait while everyone gathered up to go out all at once.

When Naruse Mio came in to the ORC club room to tell everyone about what she heard from the news, the _rook_ already realized that the information was time-sensitive.

To put it simply, they had to check the church quickly so that the trail that their fellow devil left behind doesn't go cold.

And she was _sure_ that he was involved in this.

So, while everyone was distracted in having a question-and-answer session, the young girl took the chance to sneak out, completely undetected.

Hopefully Buchou would forgive her for her unconventional actions later.

But, as they say; it's better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

With this logic in hand, she quickly used her superior speed as a devil to run past the humans guarding the forest undetected, moving deeper into the area for the first real clue of Yuuto's location.

As she made her way through, she noticed just how...battered the small forest actually was, as the damage wasn't obvious when looking from the outside.

There were small craters all over the place, as well as the dead bark of uprooted trees that littered the area. All supplemented by small barren wastelands where the healthy soil was obliterated, leaving just the harder ground in it's wake.

An environmentalist's nightmare, really.

She had no idea how badly damaged the area actually was until now, it was kind of strange to see it like this after what happened the last time she was here...

Koneko's eyes narrowed slightly as she remembered the large barrier that surrounded the forest, the one that the fallen angels built up when they had a presence in Kuoh Town.

It was Naruto-sempai who dealt with them, and it was the first time that the Gremory team truly entrusted him with something important.

She was at the place where the foundation of their current relationship began.

Did Yuuto think about that when he entered the area? What was going through his head _now_?

"...I've never seen anything like this. Have you sir?"

Koneko skidded to a sudden stop and hid behind a broken tree, peeking around it to see a few men scattered about in front of her.

Hazel eyes took in the scene of what looked like several police officers that were milling around the abandoned church, probably talking about the damage done to the building and the area.

"No. Never. I have never seen _anything_ like this before...to be honest, I'm genuinely not too sure about what could have caused this. The damage seems to be too intensive for normal hooligans..."

The _rook_ frowned at what she was hearing, taking the chance to actually check up on the building itself now that she was in viewing distance to it.

What she saw shocked her, especially since this was the first one that she actually saw the building that was the focus of two separate conflicts now...

The building was a complete wreck, it's ceiling was thoroughly caved in and rubble was all that was left of it's walls.

But that wasn't what was so...'notable' about it, not by a long shot.

What stood out about it was the fact that several ice spikes were jutting out from the ground, there were small fires that were burning what remained of the wooden stalls, as well as large columns of earth replacing the concrete columns that once held the ceiling aloft.

The reincarnated devil leaned closer, her heart beating faster as she clenched her fist.

This was it...Yuuto was definitely involved with this.

The young teen snapped her head back to focus on the police officers and investigators that were meticulously studying the supernatural residue, she needed to knock them out in order to-

Hazel eyes widened, then moved upwards, her lungs breathless.

Something has _shifted_...

She felt it...as if she suddenly changed locations.

No...as if the location itself had changed.

"...Barrier." Koneko determined conclusively, as her eyes took in the change in the sky.

Then that meant that Buchou had caught up to her...

"Hey...guys...do you feel a little...?" she heard one of the human officers mumble out, before she heard the tell-tale sounds of people falling onto the ground.

 ***thud***

 ***thud***

 ***thud***

Koneko peeked out from her hiding spot, seeing the unconscious forms of the human investigators that littered the area.

...She didn't have much time left, but at least her main obstacles were out of the way.

Taking the chance that was provided to her, the devil quickly closed the distance between herself and the dilapidated building, entering it once she reached the shattered doorway.

As expected, the floor was littered with small craters, likely created via supernatural forces, as well as the residue demonic energy that was left behind from the elemental based attacks.

Koneko twitched when she moved closer to the ruins, a shiver going down her spine as the residue of another energy source became obvious to her.

 _Light_.

"...Fallen angels?" the _rook_ couldn't help but wonder, remembering their presence the last time that she neared the area.

But...this place was emptied out by Naruto-sempai...right?

Did that mean that fallen angels were trying to reestablish this church as a base?

More importantly...where did all of the hypothetical combatants go...?

One thing was for certain, the only way to find an answer was to search the area for clues, to find a trail of sorts.

So Koneko did just that, walking steadily and sometimes climbing _over_ rubble in order to find some sort of elusive hint to her friend's location.

After a brief check, she very quickly determined that there was nothing obvious that could lead her to Yuuto's trail, which meant...

"...Time to dig." she muttered, clenching her small fists and raising them over her head...

Then sending them towards the ground, breaking and shattering all that was in it's way.

Maybe there was nothing _above_ the ruins, but there just might be something that was buried _underneath_ it. Lost in the confusion of battle.

She would leave no stone unturned.

Gritting her teeth, Koneko began to repeatedly hit the broken pieces that once consisted of the church's ceiling and walls, effectively digging through it like a makeshift sledgehammer.

Hazel eyes were firm and focused, despite the turmoil that laid within her heart.

She wouldn't give up on this, she _couldn't_ , not now and not ever.

She wouldn't lose a second family. No matter what.

* * *

"I just can't believe it! How could she be so _reckless!?_ For all we know, there could have been an ambush waiting for us when we entered the forest! There was a _reason_ that we moved out as a group! I just don't-!"

" _Rias_. Calm down."

The Gremory heiress ended her tirade prematurely after she was rebuked by Sona, forcing herself to stop and take a deep breath in order to calm down.

Mio watched her fellow red-head warily, knowing that she must have been _really_ pushed to the edge in order to lose her composure so thoroughly.

The small group of devils just left behind most of Sona's Peerage in order to take to the sky, leaving them behind to moniter the barrier that was just put into place around the abandoned church and the forest surrounding it.

Well...what was left of the forest anyways.

More than that, all the humans that were trapped inside the barrier were quickly put to sleep, and the Sitri group had the unfortunate task of modifying everyone's memories of everything they've seen here. Essentially making sure that the only conclusion that any reporter could reach about the perpetrator's of the church's damages is through the mundane, rather than the supernatural.

Probably regular human hoodlums, or something of the sort.

The task of everyone else? Find Koneko and find Yuuto.

Everything else comes later.

So what was left of the Gremory group as well as the _king_ and _queen_ of the Sitri group were flying straight towards the church.

...Then again, what Mio meant by 'what was left' pretty much meant just Rias-sempai and Akeno-sempai by this point.

Since Rias-sempai's only _pawn_ was currently...

Her train of thought was suddenly cut off when she saw the telltale signs of a building enter her view.

"...I see it!" Mio called out the second that the church came into view, alerting everyone else.

As expected, the remains of the small church came into view as the group of devils quickly reached the center of the battered forest, with several noticing something...'off' about it's appearance.

"...Are those ice spikes sticking out of the ground? As well as small fires?" Akeno voiced out, asking the question that everyone was thinking about.

Indeed, through the collapsed ceiling, many of the devils could see the sharp glint of ice inside the building, along with the bright glare of small fires burning inside.

"I'd say so." Sona stated, voice neutral, but her eyes calculating. "It seems that there was quite the battle here. Let's hope that we can gain some valuable insight through the wreckage...as well as your Peerage members, Rias."

The red-head was far too frustrated to respond properly, so she decided not to respond at all, focusing her energy on calming down her simmering anger.

It didn't take them long to finally reach the church and land in it's front door, prepared for a fight if necessary.

But Rias didn't even bother to wait, instead choosing to stroll right inside, features tense as she quickly scanned the area for her lost family members.

Mio took a step forward, trying to grab the older teen's arm in order to encourage her to calm down and be more cautious.

But there was no need, since the Gremory heiress herself stopped moving in order to stare at something.

Pink eyes followed her gaze once Mio caught up, taking in the crouched form of the white-haired young girl that ran off ahead of all of them.

"Well...there's one." Sona noted, walking up to them and surveying the building. "...I sense light energy here..."

If Rias was paying attention, she didn't verbalize it, as she quickly stormed up to her _rook_ an angry lecture at the tip of her tongue-

"I found it." Koneko's quiet voice echoed in the small abandoned church.

Blue-green eyes focused momentarily onto what the younger teen was focusing on, confusion in their depths.

Then they widened, realizing what exactly she was looking at.

Mio moved closer to the two silent females, curious to what exactly caught their attention, peeking over the loli's head to see...

What the half-devil saw surprised her; an extraordinarily damaged and yet still functional set of stairs that led to...well...somewhere underground probably.

Mio moved her gaze back to Koneko, about to question her on how she found this obviously hidden secret of the building.

"I dug through the rubble." the _rook_ stated bluntly, as if she somehow knew Mio's question before she even asked it. "I found it by accident while I was searching for clues. It was already open...just caved in."

Unwittingly, pink eyes traveled to the devil's fists when she mentioned them, her pupils growing fractionally bigger when the scratches on her knuckles became clear.

...She must've been trying to find clues to the missing _knight's_ location using those fists of hers for a while now...

"Koneko-chan, we will definitely be having a discussion about your actions later on." Rias began, giving the younger female a reprimanding look. "But for now...we should take this chance to search this underground area...especially considering the little blood trail."

The _rook_ nodded solemnly, bowing her head slightly. "...Sorry."

Blue-green eyes remained focused on the white-haired girl for a split-second, then moved to the stairway underground.. "Let's go."

With that, the high-class devil began walking down the steps carefully, gazing into the darkness below.

Koneko demurely followed after her, wisely deciding that she pushed her _king_ far enough today.

Mio took a step forward, prepared to follow after the two teens.

Then she paused, remembering her sempai saying something strange...

"...Blood trail?" Mio echoed quietly, eyes moving downwards to see what the older female was talking about-

Oh.

Blood.

On the floor.

Little blood stains were trailing down from the base of the stairway to deeper inside, a trail of blood...

Someone must have gotten hurt and retreated inside to recuperate, at least that was Mio's first guess...

"Come on Mio-chan, we can't leave Buchou and Koneko behind you know~?" Akeno spoke up, tapping her shoulder lightly with a amused smile.

Feeling her cheeks redden faintly, the red-head nodded and quickly shuffled after the two devils, keeping a wary eye out for any traps that might have been placed for any nosy trespassers along the way.

* * *

"Hello? Is there anyone home?" Asia called out softly, peeking through the crack that she made by opening the door.

Emerald eyes tried to pierce through the darkness of the room, but they couldn't manage that, so the nun decided to simply enter the room to make doubly sure that there was no one present.

But the young blond couldn't help but sigh as she slowly walked inside the ORC club building, feeling down that everyone was helping out and doing something important...except her.

She knew that it wasn't anything personal, it was just the simple fact that she couldn't keep up with the fast-paced devils due to their strong bodies.

When everyone was focused on chasing down a speed-focused fighter like Kiba-san...well, it was obvious that they needed to be as fast as they could be as a group.

...It still made the nun a little depressed though, since she couldn't do her part to help because of her relatively weak body. Even if she _was_ improving in other fields.

That train of thought ceased the same second that she actually entered the main room and saw... _something_.

A crouched form right in front of the Gremory team's _king's_ desk, shaking faintly.

Asia watched the form warily, wishing that she could see in the dark so that she could get a better look, but seeing that that wasn't exactly an option, she opted to take a step forward and call out to it. "H-Hello...?"

The form's head snapped to her, freezing her in place as all of it's attention was placed onto her.

Then without warning, the form jumped up from the ground and dashed towards her, far too fast for her to react in time.

Asia reflexively closed her eyes shut, tensing as she felt a pair of arms warp themselves around her.

"A-Asia...!" the young man cried out, words heavily slurred.

The female human's eyes reopened when the voice that came out of the man's mouth registered in her ears, recognizing it.

"...Issei-san?" the nun questioned softly, patting the teen's back as the tension in her frame quickly bled out.

Hyoudou Issei lifted his head up, waterfall tears trailing down his face as a depressive air engulfed his very essence. "...I was left behind Asia."

The young female tilted her head cutely. "What do you mean? Where is everyone? Why are you here by yourself?"

The _pawn's_ lip quivered faintly as the questions that were launched against him forced him to face reality. "...I can't..."

Asia leaned in, honestly befuddled. "You can't...?"

If possible, the depressive air that already surrounded his form became more bleaker, crushing his spirit indefinitely.

"...I can't fly." he muttered, self-pity obvious.

The nun stared at the young man, trying to comprehend the significance of his words, but failing to see it.

Seeing her blank stare, Issei tried to muster whatever dignity he had left in order to straighten his body and puff his chest out. Determined despite the flow of waterfall tears down his cheeks.

"I... _can't_ fly!" he declared, raising his fist into the air for the sake of his only audience.

The young female couldn't really respond, far too shocked to do so.

Issei did his best to retain his dignity with this 'mission' that Buchou gave him, but he was having a rally hard time at doing that with how pathetic it was...

He knew why of course, he would slow down everyone else who would take to the sky due to their rush to the abandoned church.

But still...being assigned to 'protect' the ORC club building...?

He could already feel his small bit of pride he had left crumble.

It was at this point of concentration to such internal issues, that he felt a faint tickle at the bag of his throat...

 ***Achoo!***

Asia placed her small hand onto Issei's forehead, concerned. "Issei-san, are you getting sick?"

The _pawn_ grunted, eye twitching when he remembered that he hasn't been getting a lot of sleep after his training. So maybe something like that would have gotten him sick.

...But he still had his job to do, despite how ridiculous it was.

"Hey Asia-san? Care to kill some time with me?" the brown-haired teen asked with a tired grin, quirking an eyebrow at her.

The still-human nun beamed, glad to see some semblance of positivity return to her friend's face.

"Of course!"

 ***Achoo!***

"...But maybe we should get some medicine for you, Issei-san..."

* * *

"...Looks like the cave-in was a bit more extensive then we thought."

Hums of agreement echoed in the small stairway as the small group reached an obstacle in their path.

The final stretch of the journey deep underground was impossible to undertake now, all thanks to the large amount of boulders that have clumped together to close off a large amount of the stairs.

At least that would have been the case if they were normal humans anyways.

"Ok, so if we try and completely destroy the rock pile in front of us, we might accidentally destroy the only thing that is supporting this part of the ceiling." Sona explained, analyzing the issue and seeking a work-around for it. "Perhaps it might be best that we create a new pillar of earth with our demonic energy to support-"

The high-class devil suddenly stopped speaking when a bright red light lit in front of her, all coming from her fellow pure-blood devil.

Rias took a step forward, blue-green eyes stormy, her demonic energy flaring to the point that her hair was defying gravity and floating in the air.

Specifically, her demonic energy was taking form in the visage of a crimson magic circle in front of her, a small and precise one.

"What...!? Wait!" Mio cried out, stretching her hand out. "The kaichou _just_ said-!"

If the Gremory heard her attempt at a plea, she didn't acknowledge it, releasing the pent up energy in her magical construct without hesitation.

All of the devils inside the stairway covered their faces as dust flew up into the air, buffeting their bodies with pebbles and a blast of air.

Mio coughed as she swiped at the space in front of her, trying to get rid of the dust that was making her choke, doing her best to see through it. "R-Rias-sempai?"

In front of the blockaded area, Rias remained upright and firm, hand outstretched as it explored the crevices of the crumpled rocks. Studying it.

"...It's firm." the red-head noted with approval, tapping it with her knuckle. "Good enough to pass through without worry."

As the dust cleared and settled, everyone could finally see what exactly the heiress of the Gremory clan was talking about.

A hole right in the middle of the clump of rocks, small enough to allow the sides of the clump to remain, yet big enough to allow them access.

Almost as soon as Mio made that silent observation about the rock formation, her elder crouched down low and moved inside the hole she made, silent and intensely focused.

"...Ara ara, it seems that Buchou has lost all of her patience now...I'd say that Koneko's and Kiba-kun's rear ends are in danger at this rate, wouldn't you?" Akeno chirped, sliding a knowing gaze to the _rook_ beside her.

Koneko shivered subconsciously, hands snaking to cover her behind in an attempt to stop the very real possibility of her _king's_ 'punishment'.

She couldn't sit down without wincing for a few days after _last_ time...

Mio gave the two reincarnated devils an incredulous look, unsure if she wanted to know what her fellow red-head would do to her Peerage members when she was so upset.

Sona moved past her as she was staring at the two devils, sighing in exasperation as she ducked to move through the hole as well. "Well...she _did_ make sure to keep the rocks on the sides intact, keeping the stairway ceiling from falling down...so that's something I suppose."

The half-devil twisted her body to face the high-class devil's back, pointing at Rias-sempai's _queen_. "Wait, is...what Akeno-sempai said true? Does Rias-sempai really punish her Peerage members like that?"

She supposed that it made some sort of sense, but it didn't really fit in with her mental image of the Gremory heiress' personality at all.

Not even bothering to stop, Sona responded. "Yes, it is."

Mio coughed, faintly embarrassed that she got an affirmation. "That...well...I don't really have a comment for that actually."

The Sitri heiress tilted her head to the side to look at the red-head for a moment, a very faint smirk reaching her lips. "Is it really so surprising? You do realize that I've done it too, yes?"

This time the half-devil took an involuntary step backward, gaping at the admission.

Behind her, she heard the Sitri's _queen_ hum in agreement. "Indeed, Saji has been on the receiving end of a thousand spankings once I believe."

Now Mio's complexion paled considerably, her hands moving to protect her behind in reflexive defense. "Ah...I see..."

Chuckling, Sona ducked into the hole that her friend made and followed after her, with Tsubaki moving right after her.

"Ufufu...you're too fun to tease sometimes, you know that Mio-chan?" Akeno giggled, patting her shoulder as she passed her to enter the hole herself.

Pink eyes glared after the sometimes-sadistic devil, grumbling under her breath all the while, but stopped as soon as a certain white-haired devil moved into her field of vision by preparing to go into the hole as well.

"Hey...wait."

Koneko froze mid-action in trying to get inside the hole, turning her head to the side so that her head's profile was visible to the red-head. "...Yes?"

Mio scratched her cheek, then twitched when she realized what she was doing and forced her hand back to the side of her hips. Annoyed that her nervousness was manifesting itself in such gestures.

She twitched again when she realized that her brother did that occasionally...

"Ah, sorry. It's just that I wanted to ask you a question...if you don't mind?" Mio questioned, attempting to flash a comforting smile.

If the _rook_ was eased or not, she didn't show it. Her expression as neutral as always. "That's fine. I don't mind."

Nodding, the half-devil continued. "It's just that...well...a thousand spankings is pretty severe, and apparently it's something that you've suffered before. So...well, why did you go ahead and risk getting in trouble? Why not stay safe and stick to the group?"

Indeed, considering the criminal that was on the loose, the disappearance of Kiba Yuuto, and the obvious battle that occurred in the abandoned church...well, it was obvious that sticking together was not just a smart decision to make, but maybe even a necessary one. All things considered.

So for the teenaged girl to disregard that and go on ahead was...

Koneko inclined her head, closing her eyes as she let out some breath. "...I didn't have a choice."

Mio quirked an eyebrow, curious, but stayed silent.

Hazel eyes locked with pink ones, serious. "...Yuuto was involved...I had to go before we lost his trail again. If I didn't...Buchou wouldn't have arrived as quickly...because she wouldn't have been in a hurry to find and catch up to me."

Koneko turned away, demeanor surly. "I guess I...just didn't want the only plausible trail we had to fade away to time...to leave it to chance whether we got a clear trail to Yuuto or not. Even...if it meant getting punished for it later."

The young devil nodded to herself, firm in her belief, and then stretched out her hand to reach the hole to reach everyone else.

"Yes...the pain of a thousand spankings doesn't measure up to the potential loss of someone close...nowhere close. I won't leave Yuuto's return to chance." she concluded in the end, pulling herself inside the hole.

But as she was doing so, she felt a hand grip her shoulder, stopping her movements with surprising strength.

Koneko turned back to the understanding eyes of Naruse Mio, smiling softly.

"...Yeah...I don't think that a thousand spankings is so bad in comparison either." Mio murmured, shutting her eyelids down as unwitting thoughts of the people she cared about entered her mind.

The grip on the reincarnated devil's shoulder grew tighter without her input.

"...I won't let your 'family' lose such an important member. I'll help however way I can." the half-devil guaranteed, eyes sharpening as she snapped them open.

Koneko stayed silent, letting the other teen say what she had to say, completely unaffected by the words that was spoken from the heart.

So after a few more split-seconds, she turned away from her, face still stoic as ever.

Mio watched her go, her heart still believing all that she has said, but understanding how sudden it all was...

"Mio-san."

Pink eyes snapped back to the _rook_ , whose body was now inside the hole.

"...Your 'family'..." the white-haired devil said, her voice so low that the red-head could barely hear it.

Koneko then tilted her head to the side, a hint of a smile stretching across her face.

"...I feel the same way for your 'family'. Buchou, Akeno, Issei-sempai...yes...I'm sure everyone else feels the same...just so you know. Like it or not, we're all stuck together...I think."

The half-devil's eyes widened in surprise, shocked to hear so much from the usually recalcitrant girl.

But that shock quickly bled into a happy smile, pleased to hear as such.

"Then please take care of me from now on, Koneko." Mio said, her new-found cheerful demeanor infectious.

So infectious that it made the _rook_ chuckle a little, despite her penchant for stoicism. "...Please take care of me from now on as well...Mio."

With that, Koneko pulled herself inside the hole, following after everyone else.

Mio, in a much better mood, followed right after.

* * *

It didn't take Mio and Koneko that long to get out of the decent-sized hole, or that long to catch up to the rest of the group for that matter.

But the only reason that they managed to catch up was because everyone else was standing still and looking around the new room that they have reached, scanning for anything suspicious.

After making it to the bottom of the stairway, everyone saw that it led to a large chamber, one that contained strange rune-like symbols on the floor as well as a pyramid-like object that jut out in the middle of the room.

"Koneko-chan, Mio-chan, what took so long?" Rias questioned quietly, eyes scanning the room for any unwanted surprises.

Both teens glanced at one another momentarily, with Mio deciding to answer. "Ah, well...sorry, we got distracted."

"Enough about that." Sona quickly cut off, tone not allowing for any kind of argument. "We can talk after we get out of here, this isn't the time for it. Anyway, can anyone tell if someone's here or not?"

As the question rang out, everyone became quiet in order to allow those who have such sensing abilities to do their work. Everyone else making sure to stay on their toes in case they were attacked.

"...Blood." Koneko stated out loud, gaining everyone's attention as they turned to her.

Seeing this, she continued and pointed at a seemingly random spot on the floor ahead of them. "Over there, there's a small blood trail over there...probably from the same person who lost their blood back upstairs."

Rias and Sona exchanged glances, nodding towards one another after reaching an understanding without speaking.

Both girls moved forward, close to one another with their power flaring a little, prepared for a fight if necessary.

Seeing this, Mio took a step forward, confused why they decided to move all of a sudden.

Then something came _flying_ in the corner of her eye.

Several things happened at the same second that she noticed that.

As if expecting it, the two pure-blood devils quickly stretched their wings apart and jumped into the air, just as something smashed against the ground where they were standing a second ago.

The two _queens_ also stretched their wings and took flight, expressions serious as both formed magic circles and aimed them at the area where the attack came from.

It didn't take long for lightning and water to converge towards their intended target.

A blur moved away from that point in the ceiling, narrowly avoiding both attacks that easily ripped through the area.

Meaning that the rubble resulting from that destruction quickly destabilized other sections of the ceiling, with a large amount of dust and rocks falling towards the ground in a small avalanche.

Mio grit her teeth and stretched apart her own wings, setting off towards the blur in order to aid her comrades against... _whoever_ they're fighting.

As she was soaring towards the blur, water rose up from the ground and moved towards the blur, forming four separate pillars all the while.

Those separate pillars of water surrounded their unknown opponent from four sides, and as soon as that was accomplished, they began to _twist_.

The water stopped moving in a forward fashion and spun _around_ the blur, forming a ball of water that trapped their opponent inside the high pressure water. Not allowing their foe to escape from any angle.

" _Now_ Rias!" Sona called out, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as she focused on keeping their erstwhile enemy inside her trap.

"...Always the strategist, huh Sona?" Rias couldn't help but state in appreciation, a fond grin on her face as a crimson magic circle began spewing her Power of Destruction towards their trapped enemy.

The attack easily burned through the water, reaching the person inside.

...

A muffled explosion was heard inside the ball of water, covered up by the water that the Sitri heiress was keeping stable.

"Ah...! Wait, Rias-sempai!" Mio called out, finally reaching her in the air after her attack. "What if that was-!"

"Relax." Sona interjected, lowering the ball of water towards the ground as she turned her gaze to the younger teen. "Rias could have put much more power into her attack, whoever was in there...is definitely still alive."

She then turned to her friend, who was watching the ball of water intently. "...This person obviously isn't Kiba Yuuto, so while we technically don't need to hold back, we still need to speak with this person to find out where Rias' family member is. So killing this person isn't an option."

Mio nodded, understanding that line of reasoning, eyes sliding to the ball of water as it was slowly set down onto the ground.

Then her eyes widened when she saw a bright light emerge from _inside_ the sphere...

The half-devil didn't hesitate, her reflexes kicking in as she charged straight to the water-made prison, her demonic energy being focused into the newly made magic circle that appeared on the palm of her hand.

She heard the surprised cry from her elder, but she ignored that, intensely focused on stopping what she feared was a sneak attack.

As she was moving ever closer, her sense of danger grew more acute and sharp as the light inside the water prison became more and more brighter.

Mio was forced to squint when the light became almost unbearable to look at, meaning...!

She grit her teeth and swung the hand that was holding the magic circle to her front, switching from using it as a weapon to using it as a shield.

It was a good thing that she did it too, as the shining little ball that was now close to the ground reached it's apex in luminosity just right at _that_ moment...

And with it, came a bright light that shot out of it, aiming straight towards Mio.

Pink eyes widened to the size of saucers in recognition.

A light spear...!

The spear smashed against her magic circle, trying to harm her with it's poisonous energy, but her defense held firm and prevented it from touching her.

"Mio-chan! _It's going to explode!_ " Rias-sempai's scream echoed in the large chamber, it's owner approaching her from behind.

And when the younger sister of the 'Unknown Variable' saw the deadly weapon glow bright against her shield, she knew that her elder was correct.

 ***BOOM***

Rias and Sona covered their faces when the explosion pushed them back, temporarily making them lose control of their flight.

But it also made them completely unaware of the fact that several glowing objects were flung out of the dissolving sphere of liquid, not aiming for them specifically, but aiming for...

 ***BOOM***

 ***BOOM***

 ***BOOM***

Blue-green eyes snapped upwards as explosions erupted from the ceiling, shattering it and causing all of the affected areas to release all of the pent up rock that the structure was holding up.

And it was heading straight for them...!

Before she could even try and manage a defense, the red-head felt a small hand grab her from her ankle and pull her down to the ground, getting her out of the danger zone with incredible strength.

"Buchou...! Kaichou...!" Koneko called out, dragging the two _kings_ to the ground as the veritable avalanche of rubble and dust came flying down at them. "We can't get away in time...!"

Sona glared at the falling ceiling as she was getting dragged down, brain working overtime, seeking a way out of the falling ceiling.

But nothing came to mind, her mind far too clouded to think up anything useful in such sudden circumstances.

It was at that moment that lightning and water appeared from below them, shredding through the first wave of rubble easily, laying the pressure of being crushed off of them.

Akeno and Tsubaki had their hands splayed out, focusing on giving Koneko enough time to take the two heiresses out of immediate danger with their powers even as it felt like the entire building was about to fall on top of their heads.

However, despite their efforts, more and more of the ceiling began to crumble down, bringing down large sections of the earth above along with it.

The worst part was that they couldn't put more power into their attacks either, as it would probably result in the rest of the already failing ceiling to fall apart, burying them all under a _lot_ of rocks.

So when the _rook_ finally managed to land onto the ground with both Rias and Sona still in one piece, the two _queens_ immediately backed off and descended towards the ground to reach safety.

"Rias! We can't stay here!" Sona shouted, trying to speak over the din of the falling rubble. "We have to back off for now! Wait until we're sure that the ground won't fall on top of our heads!"

The Gremory heiress didn't respond, only managing to gnash her teeth when she grabbed Sona's and Koneko's hands and ran towards the stairway. Knowing that everyone else was right behind her.

Everyone else...

Her heart skipped a beat as that thought repeated itself in her head.

Rias' panicked expression and tone didn't help soothe anyone's nerves when she spun around to scream at the falling earth, fear permeating her heart as she raised her voice to the highest capacity that her lungs could possibly allow.

" _Mio-chan! **Where are you!?** "_

* * *

...

...

...

Mio felt nothing at first, heard nothing, saw nothing, and pretty much thought of nothing.

It was all a blank, at least for the first few seconds.

Then the first cognizant thought that reached her head was one of genuine curiosity.

Why was it so hard to breathe...?

Mio's eyes snapped open when she took in a _lot_ of dust through her nose, forcing her to get up and start coughing at the air that tried to enter her body.

Immediately after the red-head snapped her eyes open, she shut them, wiping her eyes when dust got into them and irritated them quite a bit.

It took a few precious seconds for the half-devil to regain her bearings, her eyes narrowed so that her lashes could protect them from the large amount of dust in the air.

...Wait...dust?

Mio slowly tilted her body around, a tingling suspicion in the back of her mind...

Rocks.

Rocks as far as the eye could see.

The young teen scanned the mountain of rocks that was occupying the space behind her, blocking her eyesight access to the stairway.

But as she continued to scan the veritable wall, a slow realization made it's way to her heart, the precariousness of her position becoming crystal clear.

She finally understood what their enemy has done.

Those light spears...they weren't just thrown arbitrarily.

They were thrown specifically for the ceiling, yes, but they were aimed at specific points on the ceiling.

Aimed exactly to line up with the pyramid-like structure in the middle of the chamber, a straight line from one end of the ceiling to the other., a split between two halves of the room.

The spears weren't made to hit them, they were made to cut off their enemy from them, using the debris from the collapsed ceiling to separate the two groups and buy their light-based enemy some time to get away.

Well...apparently it worked, seeing the giant wall of rocks.

But...Mio wasn't with Rias-sempai or Akeno-sempai, or any of her other allies for that matter.

No...she wasn't with them at all.

Was it because of the close proximity that she was in when she faced their trapped foe? Or maybe the explosions set her flying towards the wrong side of the wall?

Well, it didn't really matter. What _really_ mattered was...

"...You guys just don't know when to quit, do you?"

Mio jerked her head away from the blockade of rubble and towards the complaining female voice, on alert. "Who said that!? Show yourself!"

Despite the dust cloud that still remained in the area, making it difficult to see anything beyond a few meters, the young girl still saw _something_ approaching her in the distance.

The form of a young woman to be precise.

As the form moved closer, the features belonging to the -obviously- young woman became more clear to the teen.

As well as the current state of her body.

Three things about the young woman's body caught Mio's attention, standing out blatantly to her and as important points for later.

...Also she didn't mean it like _that_ , after realizing how easily misconstrued her words could be taken.

Anyways, first; her extraordinarily...liberal choice in clothing.

Second; the numerous cuts and gashes that crisscrossed the woman's body, which were obviously painful for her since she was somewhat hunched over.

Third; there were a pair of crow-like wings on her back, splayed out for her to see.

"...Fallen angel." the female teen cursed vehemently, wishing to be wrong in her assessment.

But those wings were pretty damn hard to argue against.

Still, the fallen's power wasn't that impressive if her wings were any indication, so if a fight was about to break out...then she should theoretically be fine. Even with facing a light-wielding opponent.

At least that's what she thought until a _second_ pair of wings emerged from the woman's back, wrapping themselves around her as if they being used a a large shield.

Violet eyes peered over the wings, staring at her with wary, yet hardened, eyes.

"...You lot are with that devil from before, right? The fast one." the fallen angel bit out harshly, hostile.

Mio's lips twisted downwards, unsure of what the hostile angel was talking about.

Seeing this reaction, the black-haired woman's face twisted in disgust. "...After all of this, you'd still try and pretend that you're innocent? Well your acting won't fool me, you better be stronger than your friend though...because unlike last time, I won't be holding back!"

With that declaration, the woman formed a light spear on the palm of her hand, with the added strength of a single ring encircling the shaft to give it more power.

When the half-devil saw that addition, as well as the grim determination in her enemy's eyes, she groaned. Knowing that a fight was pretty much unavoidable now.

Then the words that were stated earlier finally hit her.

Devil from before...

 _Fast_...

"W-Wait!"

The fallen angel already spread her wings and began floating in the air, prepared to rain down her attacks, but paused at the abrupt plea from the devil.

"...What?"

Seeing her chance, Mio splayed her hands apart as a sign of her lack of hostile intent. "Ah...well, I just think that we're having a _massive_ misunderstanding right now. You see, that devil from before is a friend of ours and a member of my sempai's Peerage. We were looking for him since he's been acting strange recently. And to be perfectly honest, we didn't really come here to fight, we came here to get answers and drag him back home."

Violet eyes regarded the red-head quietly for a few spare seconds, carefully searching for signs of her honesty.

She then closed her eyes, sighing dramatically. "Hey now..."

The fallen then snapped her eyes open and pointed her spear at Mio once more, an annoyed glare plastered on her facial features.

"Do you take me for an idiot? Everyone knows about the consequences of going against a _king's_ word in a Peerage system. A servant that runs away immediately gets declared a criminal and are slated for death. You expect me to believe that your 'sempai' not only lost her Peerage member, not only is searching for him for answers and reconciliation, but just _happens_ to attack me at a spot where fallen angels have congregated before?"

Violet eyes narrowed to slits. "In fact...it's not exactly out of the question for this to be a question of foul play. After all, some _kings_ used to send their servants to 'attack' their enemies, claiming that the deaths that resulted were just 'misunderstandings'. If I had died, would _my_ death be considered a misunderstanding, devil-chan?"

Mio took a step forward, trying to call upon any sense of charisma that she might've had inside her body in order to convince her wary opponent. "No, that's not the case! Sure, there were some devils that did that before, especially in the past, but Rias-sempai isn't like that!"

If the fallen believed her words, then she was doing everything in her power to hide that sentiment. Snorting and descending slightly at the ridiculous notion that was being portrayed.

From what she knew, devils rarely, if ever had such kind sentiments. So it really wasn't too hard to see why the black-haired woman didn't see the half-devil's point of view.

"Whatever." the fallen dismissed, tapping her foot onto the ground once she reached it. "Anyways, if you really meant no harm, then you wouldn't have came in such high numbers, as well as blocked off the entire area with a barrier. It's rather convenient that I can't escape, right?"

She shrugged, almost nonchalant. "Well, I suppose I've been had. Just don't expect me to go down easily. There's also no way that I'm going to let you use me as a pretext for war either. You can count on that."

The red-head gnashed her teeth together as the fallen angel spread her legs and took a fighting stance, prepared to attack or defend at will.

...This was bad, this was really, _really_ bad.

"...Naruto...what would you have done...?" Mio couldn't help but wonder quietly, eyes scrunching shut in her impotent frustration.

" _What?_ "

The half-devil snapped her eyes open, locking with shocked violet ones, the owner completely frozen in mid-movement.

"...What did you just say?" the fallen whispered, staring at her with incredible intensity.

Shifting uncomfortably under that heavy stare, Mio felt a faint sense of red reach her cheeks, embarrassed that her words were heard. "Ah...nothing really."

"No." the black-haired woman deadpanned. "You _definitely_ said something."

"...No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"...Not really."

"Yes, you said someone's name, right?"

"...No, I mentioned a ramen topping."

The fallen blinked, taken aback. "...A ramen topping...? In the middle of...well... _this?_ "

Mio turned away, face as red as a tomato, looking like she was about to faint any second. "...It's a _really_ good topping."

...

...

Steam was practically coming out of Mio's head after her fellow female began staring at her blankly for a few moments, totally silent.

It stretched on.

And on.

And _on_.

"...Are you really not gonna let this go?" the red-head asked quietly, getting more and more uncomfortable with the woman's staring.

The fallen simply shook her head, crossing her arms as she de-materialized her spear.

Mio held out for a few seconds more, trying to call the woman's bluff, but her defenses quickly crumbled over that hard stare. Acquiesing.

"...-uto."

The fallen perked up, leaning a little closer. "What? What did you say?"

"I said 'Naruto', ok!?" the half-devil raised her voice, irritable and embarrassed, clenching her eyes shut.

"...So you did say his name...how do you know him?"

Pink eyes revealed themselves to the world, confusion in those orbs as they focused on the suddenly amicable fallen angel. "Wait...you know him? Like, _actually_ know him?"

In return, violet eyes had an undertone of dry humor at the question. "I wouldn't really say that, more like...he's an acquaintance that helped me out once. In a big way. To be perfectly honest, he probably forgot all about me...but I can't forget about him. I owe him, big."

Mio whistled softly, very much in wonder about where Naruto could have possibly earned this woman's favor and respect.

Then she suddenly felt a rush of negativity inflame her body, making it harder to breath and more difficult to speak properly. All focused onto the the fallen angel in front of her.

"...So." the red-head rasped out, trying not to let her annoyance slip into her voice. "How do you know about _my_ brother...?"

The fallen angel frowned a little bit, unsure why the teen emphasized the word, but let it slide. "Hoh...so you're his sister? He never mentioned he had one...anyways, we actually met here. In this very church."

Mio tensed up slightly, on guard again when she realized what the black-haired female could be talking about.

The incident against the group of fallen angels that took over the church...

"Yeah." the woman continued. "He helped me turn my life around back then, and helped me make the right choice in a very stressful time. He even gave me some advice that...I've admittedly come to like."

It was at that moment that the fallen focused all of her attention back to the red-head, putting her on guard even more.

"Hey, what's your name by the way?" she asked out of the blue, looking genuinely curious.

Now it was Mio's turn to be taken aback, completely off-put by the fact that a fallen angel was asking for her name in such a friendly context. Let alone one that probably fought with her brother.

It was _bizarre_.

"Ah...it's Mio. Naruse Mio." Naruto's younger sister murmured tentatively, trying to regain some grasp on her situation. "What's...ah...yours?"

The black-haired woman smirked. "Name's Raynare, remember it, because it's going to be a famous one soon enough."

The red-head nodded, so she was the ambitious type? That's nice, it was good to have goals and the drive to aim for them after all~

...

"Wait just a damn second!" Mio shouted, forcing herself to her feet to face Raynare. "What the hell is going on!? You were completely suspicious of me just a few seconds ago, threatened to fight me, and _now_ you're asking for my name in a friendly context after my brother beat up your people last time!?"

Raynare's lips twisted downwards, unamused. "...You didn't have to remind me of that."

"Regardless!" the half-devil interrupted, on a roll. "What the hell is with this nice atmosphere!? I got caught up in it too, damn it!"

The daughter of Vretiel tilted her head, rolling her shoulders once to stretch a bit. "Isn't it obvious? I trust Naruto...and by proxy, I feel I can trust his close family members. Anyone that is his friend, is a trustworthy person in my eyes."

Mio blinked, dumbfounded, then flat-out gaped, entirely impressed. "Wow, you'd trust me because of Naruto...? You must think highly of him."

Raynare grinned faintly. "He's the man that pushed me into the life that I have now...and I can't be more grateful. This is the least I could do."

That last statement quickly registered in the red-head's head, recognizing the chance she just got in order to convince the usually wary fallen angel.

"Hey." Mio began, completely serious now. "Going back to what I said before...it'd be really helpful if you could believe me when I said that the others don't mean you harm either. This is all just a misunderstanding, a big one."

The fallen angel's genial attitude darkened immediately after she received the plea for reason, becoming guarded and wary once more. "...It's one thing to believe in you as a person, someone who has Naruto's trust...it's another thing to believe some random high-class devil who might have an agenda. You can understand my reluctance, can't you?"

The young teen did understand, she really did.

But it didn't change the fact that the black-haired woman was incorrect about her assumptions, and since she was the only one who had any inkling of where Yuuto went...

She _had_ to convince her.

"I understand." the half-devil soothed, sympathetic. "But this is important, not just to me or my friend...but to all of us. We've lost an important 'family member' so to speak, someone that is an important part of Rias-sempai's Peerage...and not just because of his abilities."

She clenched her fist, eyes sharpening, displaying her resolve. "...To be honest, I'm not even remotely connected to Rias-sempai except through our friendship, yet here I am. And I have no doubt that Naruto would've been here with me if he was still around."

Raynare's eyes widened fractionally when she heard about the fact that the blond wasn't present in Kuoh Town, but the red-head wasn't done speaking.

"I'm sure that to you; all I'm doing is talking about a bunch of platitudes, but we at Kuoh Academy look after our own. Devil or human. And I'm not about to abandon Kiba-san when he's in a dark place...no way. And there's also no way that Naruto will come home to a piece of our group gone. We will all be here, welcoming him, Yuki, and Maria back with open arms and cheers. We will _all_ be present and accounted for."

Mio straightened her back, squared her shoulders, lowered her head-

And bowed.

"Please, I know that you have no reason to believe me...the only reason you're even giving me the time of day is because of Naruto. But if you could just have enough faith in me to give me a _chance_...I promise that I won't disappoint you! I swear on it!"

Raynare stared at the kowtowing girl, shocked that she would leave herself wide open _and_ beg for her cooperation. She simply didn't seem like the kind of person who would do both to someone she just met.

Now that she thought about it, neither did her apparent brother.

Yet here she was, doing just that.

Her eyes became contemplative as she continued to gaze upon the red-head's form, taking a few more long seconds to think about how to properly respond.

...

The fallen angel sighed explosively, realizing that after something like that, there was only _one_ response she could make.

"...Very well." Raynare conceded after a moment of consideration. "I will give you and your allies the benefit of the doubt...even if it _is_ against my better judgement."

Mio straightened her back and stopped bowing, a happy smile growing on her lips. "...Thank you."

The black-haired woman snorted rudely in response. "Whatever...anyways, about your friend, the last time I saw that 'friend' of yours, he escaped the church after I destroyed the ceiling...he was definitely hurt from my attacks, that's for sure."

She then crossed her arms, her face twisting up as she tried to remember where her adversary headed to while escaping.

"...I believe that he was headed to the northwest so that he could recover from his wounds. Though I'm not entirely sure where he went specifically, but I'm sure that he was aware that you guys would be chasing after him...so my guess would be that he hide in a secluded area."

The young red-head frowned, a tingling in the back of her head going off thanks to that information. But she couldn't put her finger on it...

"I see. So he probably went to a secluded area, did he...?" Mio murmured softly, tapping her chin in thought, then grinned at her fellow female. "Thank you, seriously, this information is invaluable. If he's hurt, then it's likely that we can catch him before he moves somewhere else. This is our chance!"

Raynare shrugged. "It's alright, I don't mind...but I have a question for you now, if you don't mind?"

Pink eyes lit up, the young teen staying quiet to allow the woman to speak.

Seeing the opportunity, the fallen asked the question that was very much important to her mission in the area. As she had no clue...

"Do you know what the heiresses of the Gremory and Sitri clans look like, as well as their location? I'm supposed to make contact with them as a representative...but I'm not too sure where they might be or what they look like."

...

...

"Eh?" Mio uttered out, a shaky smile stretching across her face as she began sweating.

She...didn't know...?

"Uh...well, my sempai's name..." Mio started slowly, as if she was speaking to an idiot. "...Is Rias Gremory."

Raynare's facial expression was that of content inquisitiveness when she initially asked her question, and it stayed that way for a little bit when she received her answer.

But the fact that she began shaking slightly belayed the notion that she was 'alright' by any means.

Until finally, her expression morphed into that of desperation, her own face beginning to sweat lightly as well.

"Ah...no wait...you're joking, right? I mean yeah, I barely paid attention to my studies about the devils and their clans...but it's not like I just fought against one of the people I was supposed to be assuring...right? I didn't just do that, right!?"

Mio turned away, refusing to look or answer her.

The fallen legitimately looked like she was about to faint, becoming pale and clammy. "Ah...so I might have intermittently started a conflict with the little sister of the Maou Lucifer...? As well as the Maou Leviathan...?"

Still no response.

This time, the black-haired woman clasped her hand around her face, taking in and expelling air at an increased rate due to her rising stress. Trying to calm herself down.

"Eh...? Hey...- You ok...? You don't- _Hey!_ "

Raynare blinked slowly as the voice that was referring to her became more slurred to her ears, as well as the world suddenly becoming more fuzzier.

She tried to wipe her eyes, figuring that she was just tired.

Then she noticed something strange.

Why was the ground coming closer to her-?

 ***slam***

Mio jumped when the fallen angel fell face-flat onto her face, literally tipping over without warning as if she was a falling tree.

At first, she had no idea why the woman fell over.

But when she moved to help her up, she was able to figure it out.

Mio cursed under her breath after seeing the many crisscrossing slash wounds that riddled her back, blood slowly leaking from them and pooling onto the floor.

The fact that Rias-sempai blew her up earlier probably didn't help...if anything it may have made her wounds worse.

"Damn it...! Why didn't you say that you were hurt sooner!?" the red-head shouted out, quickly scanning Raynare's back to inspect the wounds more closely.

Violet eyes blearily looked at the frantic younger girl, her sight fuzzy as she tried to internalize the information that she just heard.

...Ah...right, she did get hurt pretty badly from behind...didn't she...? Man...Azazel-sama would laugh at her for refusing to use her second pair of wings...let alone her new abilites...

It was while her sight began to darken at the edges that she looked back up at the red-head once more, trying to assure that she'd be alright.

But she saw a curious sight before she could.

"...Two...?" she whispered out loud, catching Mio's attention.

Before the half-devil could even try and ask, the fallen angel closed her eyes, her body slumping to the ground.

"Eh...? Oi! Raynare-san!?" Mio exclaimed, lowering herself to shake the black-haired woman's body. "Oh no...did she lose consciousness...? Not good..."

Pink eyes trailed behind the fallen angel, grimly noting that there was quite a bit of blood on the floor. Indicating at the very least that the woman fainted because of loss of blood.

...What should she do now?

She simply had no idea how to proceed from here, she couldn't just leave her here, right? But it's not like she could just ask Rias-sempai or the kaichou to temporarily take her in. All they knew of her was her aggression, nothing else.

So she couldn't rely on them...

As the red-head's thoughts swirled around in her head, a piece of the wall that separated her from everyone else began to crack, steadily growing bigger as if there was something digging through the rubble.

She didn't notice it until the small piece of the wall literally _exploded_ outwards, catching her off guard as rocks came flying away from the detonation and dust enveloped the area she occupied.

Mio raised her arm to cover herself from the debris, peering into the artificial cloud that was just made. Knowing who was coming.

As expected, she saw long crimson locks as thin arms wrapped themselves around her into a rib-crushing hug, knocking the air out of her with their surprising strength.

" _Mio-chan!_ Are you ok!? Are you hurt!? Where's the enemy from before, did you beat them? Did they escape? Oh, I'm _so_ sorry for leaving you here and for taking so long to get here...we had to be careful so that we didn't start another avalanche..."

The younger red-head sweat-dropped as her elder kept fretting over her, hugging her tightly as if she might disappear on her.

Ngh...she was being treated like a child...

As the Gremory heiress continued to anxiously hug her kohai, her _queen_ walked up from behind her and shot a sly smirk at the two. "Looks like Mio-chan is safe...now hopefully you'll stop tearing up about 'abandoning her', hm?"

Mio's eyes snapped to Rias, surprised to hear that her composure was so thoroughly destroyed.

Rias for her part, turned to glare at the sadistic devil, eyes still somewhat glassy. "It couldn't be helped! We already lost Yuuto, and Koneko-chan is acting so rebellious...so I thought that maybe I lost Mio-chan too..."

Akeno's expression morphed to that of gentle understanding, nodding faintly. "Of course Buchou, what's important is that our kohai is safe now."

Her eyes then turned to the younger red-head, smiling softly at her. "It's good to see that you're alright. We were worried sick, you know?"

The half-devil moved her head from Rias to Akeno, and back again. Honestly surprised to see them so concerned about her well-being. "Th-Thanks...both of you. But really, I'm fine. You guys had nothing to worry about."

As Mio kept soothing her seniors, Sona stepped up from the wall and surveyed the area, eyes latching onto the unharmed form of Naruse Mio, making her eyes soften in silent relief.

Then her eyes hardened again, moving to scan for the presence of any enemies. "Tsubaki, do you...?"

Shinra Tsubaki, the Sitri Group's _queen_ walked up to her _king_ and began scanning the room for enemies as Sona kept her guard up in case of a surprise attack.

Then the teen's gaze shifted to the ground right next to Mio, focusing on the faint energy that she managed to track.

She didn't even have to say anything, since Sona very quickly followed her gaze, body tensing in preparation for a fight.

"Rias, Akeno, Mio-san. All of you move away from there!" the Sitri heiress demanded, a magic circle forming on her hand as she prepared to attack. "Our enemy is still a threat!"

Rias and Akeno stopped speaking immediately and followed their ally's gaze, eyes sharpening when they saw the wings that were sticking out.

Sensing the growing hostility aimed at their downed enemy, Mio immediately broke away from Rias' hug and threw her body in-between everyone and the fallen angel. "Wait! Please! She isn't as bad as everyone thinks!"

All four devils looked at her in shock, all caught off guard that their ally would protect their enemy.

"Uhh...Mio-chan?" Rias started, tone shaky. "You do realize that you're protecting the same person that attacked us with a light spear, right? There is no 'misunderstanding' to be had in this situation."

Mio shook her head from side-to-side rapidly. "No, you see...she accidentally believed that we were with Kiba-san, who attacked her-"

"Even more of a reason to capture her and interrogate her then." Sona concluded briskly, not stopping.

"No! Listen to me!" the fifteen-year old demanded hotly. "She isn't a bad person, this is all just a grievous misunderstanding!"

Sona's expression didn't change a whit, while a frown marred Rias' face. "Mio-chan...even if her attacking us really is a misunderstanding, how do you know that she's telling the truth about whether Yuuto attacked her first? For all you know, she's simply biding her time, using sympathy as a way to recover enough to survive a situation of her own making."

The Gremory heiress inclined her head, serious. "In short, while your claim isn't exactly out of the question, neither is mine."

The half-devil winced at the logic that was employed. "Well...I suppose you could say that. But I think that she's telling the truth, her version of events is plausible!"

Rias tilted her head, expression neutral. "Why? What possible reason do you have to believe her?"

This time Mio drew herself up to her full height -which wasn't that tall- and prepared to take the opportunity that was given. "She's indebted to Naruto."

The older red-head's eyes widened fractionally, but she managed to hide most of her surprise with a mask of interest.

If her kohai noticed, she didn't point it out.

"...Is that so?" Rias inquired rhetorically. "So this woman knows Naruto? Well...I suppose that is indeed something, it's not like his name is well known or anything. Even in the Underworld, at least as far as I know. Instead, any rumors about him know him as the 'Unknown Variable' or something along those lines...so one of the few ways for her to know his name is through personal contact."

" _Exactly!_ " the half-devil agreed heartily, a smile stretching across her face. "If she knows him, then that means that she should be pretty trustworthy, right?"

"Unless she's actually his enemy." Sona pointed out bluntly, raising her chin.

Mio paused, realizing that that could be the case.

...At least it could have been, if she hadn't met Raynare in person anyways.

"No, you guys didn't see how she reacted to learning that I was related to Naruto...her entire demeanor changed by just that one simple fact. Enough that I managed to convince her to tell me where Kiba-san ran off to." the red-head contended, very sure that she was right.

At the news, even Sona was caught off guard by the possibility that the fallen angel would volunteer information willingly. So she stayed silent as her childhood friend took a step forward. "Wait...she _voluntarily_ gave you information about Yuuto's possible whereabouts? All because you're related to Naruto?"

The half-devil scratched her cheek sheepishly, flashing a a half-smile. "Well...it took a while to convince her that all of you were trustworthy, after all, she was wary of you guys as much as you were all wary of her. So I had to promise her that you also meant no harm to her...and I'll be excused if I don't want to be a liar."

Both high-class devils turned to one another, seeking the other's opinion about their current situation, as both were definitely _not_ expecting this to happen today.

The Gremory heiress' pupils flicked between her kohai and her old friend, mind racing, until finally latching onto Sona once more. "...Perhaps that woman _could_ be trusted a little bit, her story seems to check out for the most part. Also, looking at her now...it doesn't look like she could do anything to really hurt any of us. All that I would suggest is that someone keep an eye on her."

The Sitri heiress moved her gaze away from her fellow high-class devil to the unconscious fallen angel. "...I'm a little more wary about helping this person out, but I can hold my suspicions until we question her once she regains consciousness. Until then...I suppose I can't really disapprove of Mio-san helping out. As long as we remain cautious."

A relieved sigh escaped Mio's lips as she saw that the two high-class devils agreed with her, she supposed that the fallen angel was safe for now...

"Please wait a moment, kaichou."

Then someone else had to speak up.

Sona turned her head to look at her _queen._ "Yes Tsubaki? Do you have an objection?"

Heterochromic eyes fixed themselves onto the two pure-blood devils, calculating. "Not necessarily, but I have a suggestion in regards to our unconscious...'friend' here."

Those strange set of eyes turned to the half-devil in the room, all while brushing her long black hair back into place after her abrupt movement. "I'm not entirely sure, but considering your sweeping defense of that fallen angel, I assume that you were going to take her back to your home in order to recuperate, correct?"

An embarrassed smile spread on the red-head's lips. "Yeah...I was gonna do that. What of it?"

Rias shot her a critical look at the admission, but Tsubaki continued unhindered. "Well, I'd assume that Rias-sama wouldn't approve-"

"You're absolutely right, I _don't_." the Gremory heiress snarked, crossing her arms while glaring at her sheepish kohai.

"-So I suggest a compromise." the _queen_ continued unabated, as if she was never interrupted. "Perhaps one of us could stay with Naruse-san to make sure that that woman won't do anything...untoward once she wakes up."

Mio stretched her hand out with a scowl, annoyed at these measures.

But Sona spoke up before she did. "I see...that is indeed an interesting idea. I think that's more than fair for a compromise, wouldn't you say? Rias?"

The other _king_ nodded, a satisfied smirk plastered on her face. "I'd say so."

Mio was about to stomp her foot on the ground, as well as raise her voice at the completely unnecessary addition to watching over the fallen angel.

Then she was completely dissuaded from making her complaint when her sempai shot her a dark look, implying that she _better_ take the compromise.

So she slammed her mouth shut; she had to pick and choose her battles here.

"Then it's decided." the Sitri heiress concluded with a tone of finality. "I assume that Mio-san will take the fallen angel to her home to recuperate, meanwhile we'll continue to search for Rias' lost _knight_."

With that, the teenaged _king_ turned around and began walking out with Tsubaki in tow. "Come Mio-san, tell me what the fallen angel has told you in detail."

Mio sweat-dropped as she was asked for such a thing when no one bothered to help her drag Raynare out of there. She was left to do it all on her own.

So, grumbling under her breath, the red-head managed to force the downed woman's arm over her neck to drag her out of the unsafe area.

"Hey...where's Koneko...?" Mio complained loudly, slowly following after Sona. "I could _really_ use her help right about now."

The high-class devil stepped inside the hole that was made earlier and kept moving, answering her on the way. "We left her at the entrance in order to keep guard...no need to leave our back unguarded. It's a precautionary measure."

The younger female teen watched as both; the _king_ and _queen_ of the Sitri group entered the hole that the small group made, making their way out.

Mio sighed as she bent over a little and maneuvered Raynare's hapless body, making sure that she didn't bump her in the small space.

Blue-green eyes gazed at the young fifteen-year old, watching her slowly make her way through the massive amount of rubble by using the hole that was made.

She continued to watch her until she was sure that Mio was out of earshot, before finally turning to the side to regard the one person that has managed to stay quiet during the entire exchange.

"...Akeno? Are you ok?" Rias asked quietly, tentatively walking up to her friend.

Akeno has stayed unnervingly silent ever since the group began discussing with one another about the prospect of trusting the unconscious fallen angel, not making any input whatsoever.

Violet eyes, once dull, quickly regained focus and life as they focused on the high-class devil. "Ah, apologies Buchou, did you say something?"

The Gremory heiress studied her _queen_ , hesitating. "...You seemed distracted."

Akeno idly looked down and smoothed her skirt, shadowing her eyes with her bangs as she answered. "Distracted? Not at all. I was just thinking is all..."

Rias tried to see her old friend's face despite the angle, only managing to see the lower half of it.

She couldn't help but notice the tight smile that she had plastered on.

"...You disagree...don't you?"

The black-haired girl flinched and stopped moving, the smile that she had on quickly disappeared as if it had never existed.

It took a few spare heartbeats before she actually tilted her head upwards again to lock eyes with her _king_ , grim.

"I...don't particularly see it as a wise decision. That's all." she admitted quietly, her ponytail bobbing a little when she turned away.

The red-head's licked her dry lips. "...Care to tell me why?"

As her _queen_ glanced back at her, she quickly began working her brain overtime to try and delicately phrase her words.

By this point, she had already recognized what this was about.

Akeno set her jaw by this point, grasping her resolve as she spoke again. "I apologize for being frank Buchou, but I don't think that that fallen angel can be trusted. Fallen angels are beings of deception, so trusting one enough to leave your back open to them is-"

" _Akeno_."

The young woman cut herself off, knowing instinctively that the tone of voice that her _king_ used meant that she was at least a little upset.

Rias stared at her for a moment, silent, before blowing out some air somewhat listlessly. "Akeno...I understand that you've had some bad experiences with fallen angels, but I don't think that Mio-chan is necessarily incorrect about that woman. Are you sure that you're not letting your bias get the better of you...?"

Violet eyes focused elsewhere, anywhere other than the blue-green of her close friend.

For some reason she just couldn't look at her right at that moment.

The Gremory heiress wanted to comfort her, to say something like 'it's ok, I understand' or 'don't worry about it'.

After all, she was more than aware of her history, of the grudge she held against the people that she had relations to.

But this time she couldn't. She simply couldn't allow Akeno's ghosts from the past to affect the present.

If that fallen angel was indeed a friend of Naruto's, then as long as she proved trustworthy, she wouldn't be abandoned. Pure and simple.

"Akeno." the high-class devil started, tone brooking no discussion. "I understand that you still hold...that _man's_ people in contempt. But it doesn't change the fact that Mio-chan believes in her and she may be the ally of _our_ ally. We can't be making enemies at a times like this, not with so many of our comrades out of the picture. Do you understand?"

The _queen_ bit her lip, obviously conflicted.

But eventually, after a few more tense seconds...she managed to make an agreeable smile.

It was one of the most forced smiles Rias has ever seen.

"Of course Buchou. You're absolutely correct." she agreed easily enough, her fake enthusiasm framing her fake smile. "I'll do my best to not let...unfortunate incidents in the past get in the way of what's going on."

Even as she was speaking, the emotions she exhibited seemed brittle and weak.

Akeno bowed slightly and walked past her _king_ , entering the hole without further comment.

Rias just watched her go, about as frustrated as any leader could possibly be in such a situation.

It felt like the ghosts of the past were doing their best to batter the unity of the little group she has formed around herself. Splitting them up and causing mischief in formerly solid relationships.

She could only shake her head sadly as she moved to leave the caved in area, unintentionally making a silent plea out of growing desperation to keep everything together.

"...Come back home soon...Naruto..."

* * *

Buildings blurred past Naruto's eyesight as he took a second to glance outside. Wishing to see how much time he had.

Beyond the blurred buildings, he saw the orange sky that was giving way to blue due to the falling sun just over the horizen.

It was sunset then.

Ok, he still had time.

The young shinobi was well on his way to the airport after taking the chance to use another train, enjoying the smooth travel that he was deprived of last time. Hopefully he'd reach the airport that the Church agent was gonna land in before they arrived.

Really though, this transportation was a luxury, it was mostly meant to buy himself some spare time to just let himself relax before he faced the agent in the future.

...Well actually, that wasn't the only reason he decided to take the train.

It was also a convenient place to begin practicing some fuinjutsu on the way there, letting himself fall into the rhythm of smoothly writing kanji onto pieces of paper for badass effects.

And recently he became convinced that he had to learn more, as the abilities he could get from that knowledge had become far more critical than before.

...Yes...ever since...

His hand unintentionally fell onto his stomach, narrowing his eyes in response.

Yeah...this had become more important.

Naruto turned his head to the side, glancing at the _henged_ clone by his side, who was currently busy working on fuinjutsu as well. Though it was focused on more combat-related things.

He's been recently neglecting his fuinjutsu training anyways, mostly because he was re-focusing on his more wind-based abilities.

But now it had to become his main priority, the welfare of his allies depended on it.

Sleep could come later, this was for now.

Sure, he'd be a little late to get back to Kuoh Town, but it wasn't like there was any kind of existential emergency back home, right?

As long as they stayed united, everything would work out.

At least that was the blond's belief.

Though if he did have a single worry that he attributed to his comrades back home...well...it would probably have to rest with the _knight_ of the Gremory group; Kiba Yuuto.

Whether anyone else saw it or not, the shinobi couldn't help but be slightly...off-put by his shift in behavior.

Why did that happen though? Where the hell did it come from?

He had no clue, but he hoped that the guy wouldn't do anything rash...

It was by that point that the young man blew out some air in frustration, suddenly wishing that Rias and Akeno weren't so spot on in predicting that he'd lose his phone.

Damn them.

He wanted to stew a little more, but Naruto broke from his irritated state of mind and shook his head rapidly, trying to get himself to re-focus.

Worrying about others when he had his own battle to fight wouldn't do anyone any good. He would deal with this, get a few hours of rest, and then rush back.

Just in case.

So with that plan in mind, he tilted his head down and restarted his fuinjutsu training.

This wouldn't be wasted time on his watch.

* * *

Wet gasps echoed across the the hidden grove, with the sound of crunching leaves interlacing interchangeably, as if they were one and the same.

The sounds were all coming from a handsome young man with blond hair, who was currently limping towards a rock, which he was planning to use to rest up and recuperate from yesterday's events.

Kiba Yuuto grit his teeth as he leaned against the relatively sizable solid object, regulating his breathing as he shifted to his right leg. Supporting his left side due to the wound that was plaguing it.

He was careless...

The young man honestly didn't expect that fallen angel to put up that much of a fight, or to escape his grasp by collapsing the ceiling.

It was embarrassing to be pushed back by a woman with only a single pair of wings, but as much as he hated to admit it, he fought far too aggressively back there...

His simmering anger and rage blinded him, pushing him to fight with brute force rather than using his speed like he usually did.

So because of that, his fight with that black-haired fallen ended up as a tie. With him retreating due to the very loud and obvious damage done to the church.

A snarl emerged from his throat as he pushed himself off of the rock he was leaning on, pacing around with his damaged leg, angry, _furious_.

His lead was completely destroyed and he had no idea how to find the location of _those swords_ without that woman...

Maybe if he could find other fallen angels or fallen-aligned beings he could...'persuade' them to give him some information.

Yuuto finally stopped moving for a moment, his steely eyes turning upwards as he felt a rush of exhaustion hit him. Making him weary as he looked at the falling sun, watching it as it gave way to the night.

As his weariness grew, he briefly entertained the sanity of what he was doing, of why he was going so far to achieve his ambitions.

...No...he knew how all of this started.

It happened back _then_ , before Naruto-san even left for Kyoto and after the whole 'Bapple' incident.

More specifically, it started with a simple conversation that became so much _more_...

* * *

 _ **A bit less than a week ago...**_

"Oh please...have mercy on me...I-I can't take anymore!"

"No. Not yet. We still have to keep going."

"Ugh...I'm gonna die at this rate...you damn slave-driver..."

"Did you say something, Naruto?"

"...Not really."

This was the conversation that Kiba Yuuto heard while he was on his way home after completing another contract, forcing him to stop as he heard two familiar voices close to him.

It's been a few days since Kuoh Academy temporarily closed down due to the damage done by...'hooligans', so the handsome young man was spending the early half of his day catching up on some of the backlog contracts and requests. All of which was created because he was away from Kuoh Town with everyone else.

So here he was, in the middle of a small market district and in front of a small restaurant.

The young man veered his head around, trying to find the source of those voices which he rarely heard outside of Kuoh Academy, genuinely curious.

Ah. Found them.

Huddled around a small outdoors table and in plain sight was Naruto and Yuki, the latter of which was directing the whiskered teen about the finer points of advanced calculus, with the former legitimately crying in pain.

By that point the blond man decided that he didn't want to get involved-

"Ah! Yuuto! Please save me!"

...Unfortunately, it seemed that Naruto managed to notice him before he left.

Not only that, but thanks to years of experience with the fairer sex, he easily saw the flash of disappointment flit through the young woman's eyes when he reluctantly walked up to them after essentially being forced to.

How vexing.

"Apologies Naruto-san." Yuuto said easily enough as he flashed a smile at the two teens. "I doubt that Yuki-san would appreciate it if I tried to 'save you'."

The hero nodded, unyielding in her belief. "Thank you Kiba-san, Naruto needs his education in order to advance properly in the human world. This is for his own good."

Naruto groaned, slamming his face onto the table with a ***thud*** when he lost his chance at escaping his hell.

Then a thought floated across his head, lighting up his eyes.

"Hey Yuki." the shinobi piped up, his voice the epitome of reasonableness. "I'm a little thirsty...and I want to concentrate on my studies, so can you do me a favor and get me some water? I'll pay you back later."

Yuuto glanced at him, sweat-dropping at the fact that his fellow male could actually think that the young woman would buy his excuse. She may have been a little dense at times, but she was by no means stupid-

"Sure." she accepted without question, pushing herself off from her seat. "I'll be right back, please make sure that you continue to look over those equations that I asked you to work on."

And with that, the hero turned around and walked inside the restaurant, intent on getting that drink so that the blond could concentrate.

The _knight_ watched her go, jaw unhinged at the fact that she bought such a weak excuse.

"...Ah...damn it...now I feel guilty."

Yuuto turned his attention at his fellow blond, who was currently in the middle of cursing under his breath for feeling guilty. He supposed that even the prank-loving teen couldn't help but be affected by her earnest attitude.

As soon as the thought crossed the handsome teen's mind, another realization hit him as he gazed upon the internally flagellating whiskered teen.

He very quickly realized that he had a golden opportunity to detach himself form the situation-

"Kiba-san...what the hell do you think I should do in this situation?"

Ah.

Naruto has once more turned his attention to him again, his blue eyes teary at the conundrum he found himself in.

Hmm...what could he say? What could he say?

"W-Well...what do you really _want_ to do, Naruto-san?" he tried asking, throwing the metaphorical 'ball' back into the powerful man's corner.

All he got in response was a confused blink.

"...Hah? What kind of retarded question is that?" the shinobi retorted rudely, not at all impressed. "I'm having so much trouble deciding what to do _because_ I know what I want!"

Now it was the _knight's_ turn to be confused, since he was rendered inert for all of about three seconds due to that retort.

His brain restarted in short order.

"Um...I'm not sure that I understand to be honest." Yuuto hesitantly said, deciding at that moment to take the seat that Yuki-san had left behind.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment. "Alright, basically my problem is this; what I _want_ to do is different from what I'd _like_ to do. Very different dattebayo!"

This time the shinobi crossed his arms, nodding his head sagely. "Indeed, what I'd _like_ to do is run away in order to save myself from Yuki's torture...but what I _want_ to do is...something more than that."

Yuuto's eyebrows scrunched together, even more confused. Did Naruto misunderstand him or something?

Ignoring the look he was being given however, the powerful teen continued anyways. "You see...the way I see it; what I 'want' is something that I'd like in the short-term and more importantly; something that I could live without. But something that I _really_ want is something else...it's something that I'd be willing to truly aim for and strive for. A 'goal' I guess you can call it. The big finish line in comparison to a small checkpoint."

By this point, the reincarnated devil was more than positive that his fellow blond misunderstood him. Also it was really weird how he could go from 'dense prankster' to 'nuanced philosopher' in a matter of seconds...

Naruto all of a sudden slammed his fist onto the table, rocking it and making the bishōnen jump unintentionally.

"And you want to know something!? _This_ is what I really want! Right here!" he declared, one-hundred percent assured.

Yuuto's eyes traveled to the blond's fist, staring at it as he tried to interpret what the hell he was trying to say.

The shinobi waited for a bit, hoping that the - _marginally_ \- better looking teen would figure out what he was saying, assuming that it should be simple.

...

...

...

"You still haven't figured it out yet?" the whiskered teen questioned with a dull look.

The _knight_ scratched his cheek nervously, wondering whether he should mention the fact that his words were by no means easy to understand.

By this point, Naruto just blew out some air, rolling his eyes. "I suppose moments like these count as well..."

After making that last vague statement, the young man pushed himself from his seat and stood up. His eyes sharpening in his convictions, as if he was an orator that was about to preach to the masses about the 'truth'.

"Moments, events, conversations, interactions, and the dynamics that are made from my relationships with others and their relationships to others..." Naruto explained, blue eyes shining. "More than anything else, I want to protect these things. They are my day-to-day reasons for getting up in the morning and beating the shit outta bad guys. Keeping them alive and keeping my relationships with them intact is my day-to-day goal. That's what I'm saying dattebayo."

But the second he finished explaining himself in deeper detail, his face fell in despair.

"...But despite how much I hate it...I can't help but be partially content with the fact that I enjoy my relationship with Yuki! I hate it and love it at the same _time!_ What the hell!? Am I secretly some kind of masochist or something!? And why would I feel guilty about leaving when Yuki was the one to force me here to begin wiiiiith!"

Yuuto watched as his fellow blond fell into despair, silent. Internalizing what he just heard.

What Naruto just said...was that why he did everything he did so far?

The pact between everyone in Kuoh...

The training...

The interventions...

All to protect his current relationships with the people he cared about?

...Key word; _current_.

Then...what if those relationships, those dynamics, changed?

Would he like that? Would he do his best to revert them to what they were before?

Those were the questions that were being bandied about in the bishōnen's head as the whiskered teen continued to despair.

But soon after, something else completely wiped those questions from his mind, focusing all of his mental efforts onto a single word.

Goal.

Goal.

 _Goal._

Something clicked in the young man's head.

"...Hey, Naruto."

Naruto quit shaking his head for all of about three seconds to look at Yuuto. "What? Can't you see that I'm a little busy-?"

"What do you think is a good goal?" Yuuto questioned quietly, face serious, eyes sharpened.

The shinobi blinked, tilting his head. "Uh...I don't think I can really say to be honest. I suppose it's similar with something that I said before, right? Something that you _really_ want to do, no matter what."

Externally, the _knight_ was staring at the other male with unwavering attention. But in reality, the pale blond was staring right through him. Internalizing the answer.

...So it should be fine, right? Aiming for his own goal?

Right...it was fine.

It was something he forgot, something that he hadn't really given much thought in a long... _long_ time. But...a goal...a goal still was-

" _However_."

Yuuto's attention was brought back to reality, focusing back on Naruto once again.

The shinobi raised his chin, his own demeanor serious as well. "In my eyes, you can't consider something to be a 'good' goal if you hurt those you care about, those that care about you, _and_ yourself while aiming for it. That just makes it...well...a selfish ambition. At least to me."

As he was speaking, the young man could practically feel the whiskered teen's form droop a little. As if an invisible weight suddenly pushed him down, making him seem much older than he was.

"Yeah..." he whispered now, a solemn smile stretching across his lips. "A selfish ambition..."

The bishōnen regarded him, his lips thinning as he considered everything he just heard.

...

"I have to go." the young Sacred Gear holder muttered softly, getting up from his seat. "Thanks for the talk...it was...interesting, to say the least."

This time Yuuto did manage to pull himself away from the situation, doing his utmost best to ignore the powerful human's penetrating gaze, feeling as if it would peel through his emotional defenses to reveal the man underneath.

Behind the soft-spoken 'prince'.

The _knight_ felt a depreciating smile unwittingly grow on his face at that fact.

 ***Psst Psssssst***

Yuuto was knocked out of his temporary trance when he heard a less-than-quiet hiss aimed at his general direction.

Turning to find the source, he blinked at the visage of a familiar red-head that was hiding behind a garbage bin, looking entirely suspicious.

Naruse Mio, the imouto of Uzumaki Naruto, and -at least very much gossiped about- heavy duty 'bro-con' for him.

The young first-year was wearing an overly long trench coat that covered her whole body and pooled around her feet, a pair of sunglasses, a bowler hat, and what looked like a fake mustache under her nose...

It was a disguise, and a terrible one at that.

Mio was frantically waving her hand at him, trying to grab his attention, and ultimately grabbing the attention of the many civilians that were passing by.

The bishōnen slowly walked up to her, trying not to pay attention to the many conspiratorial whispers being bandied about.

As soon as he reached her, the poorly disguised female spoke up. "Hey...Kiba-san, how are you doing? What are you up to? You uh...busy?"

Yuuto squinted his eyes, not too sure about how to respond to the seemingly random barrage of questions. "...I'm doing well, Mio-san. And you're-?"

"Good!" the half-devil quickly answered, rushing through the conversation as if she had no patience. "S-So, I saw that you were making small talk with Naruto...so...how's he, uh...you know...doing?"

Realization shot through the _knight's_ core as he quickly figured out what this was about, although the completely broken conversation should have been a dead giveaway to be fair.

"...Well..." the bishōnen admitted slowly, cautiously. "He actually asked me for some advice, to my surprise. But in actuality...he may have been the one to have given _me_ some advice..."

Then he spoke in a lower voice, eyes dulling a little bit. "...Relationships...huh...?"

He stayed like that for a little bit, drifting off to the importance of that word. Trying to grasp at it.

That word...meant a lot. Deep inside he felt that way.

But his 'goal' from long ago...the one that he kept close to his heart, locked away, was something that could possibly run antithesis to that word...

Then the blond shook his head, trying to bring his mind back into the present. He was speaking to someone after all.

But when he managed to do just that, he was forced to do a double-take.

The young woman that he was talking to was gone, nowhere to be seen, and no evidence anywhere to indicate that she was even there.

" _NARUTOOOOOO!"_

 _"Gah!_ Mio!? What the-!? What are you doing here!?"

"You can't! I-I don't approve! You're too young to be making such decisions! Besides, Yuki definitely doesn't know much about those kinds of interactions yet! It's wrong on all fronts! You need to wait until you're more mature!"

"Haaah? What the hell are you talking about...?"

"Don't play stupid with me! I know about what you were talking before!"

"...No...I really don't..."

Yuuto easily heard the loud bickering of the brother-sister duo echoing across the street, a sweat-drop trailing down his head at the reaction he had inadvertently forced out of the red-head.

But...despite all of that...

"What's going on...? This ruckus..."

"Ah, Yuki. Sorry about that, but Mio came by and began lecturing me about something again. Don't mind her."

"Be quiet for a second, Naruto."

"Now that was just rude..."

"Anyways, Yuki, now I know that you and Naruto are friends and all, but doing what you're doing is way too soon! And honestly, if you ask me, you're both a hundred years too young for such an upgrade."

"...I'm lost."

"Welcome to my world, Yuki."

The reincarnated devil turned his head to look at the three teens, watching as the hot-blooded Mio continued to lecture the blond and the hero, the socially awkward female human continued to stare at the half-devil with befuddlement, and the male teen continued to shake his head mournfully at the situation.

Despite how...strange the conversation topic was, he could tell that at the very least, none of them were upset or particularly off-put by their talk.

If anything...they seemed to be enjoying it.

The very faint amusement that bled into Yuki's eyes.

The reluctant upturn of Naruto's lips.

And, strangely enough, Mio's growing sense of light exasperation began to permeate her facial features, making the entire exchange almost seem like a charade.

"...Gehehe..."

Steel-grey eyes shifted towards the roof of the building he was next to, focusing on a certain silver-haired loli that was giggling while taking pictures of the scene. Looking more than a little happy to be doing so.

Probably for some blackmail material or the like...

Yuuto's gaze inevitably went back towards his fellow blond, remembering what he said before about what he _truly_ wanted.

His relationships.

Or to put it more aptly; his bonds.

...This scene was a small thing, a tiny thing. A random occurrence that happened during the road of life.

Yet...they were enjoying themselves, at least on some level.

Honestly, he could see why Naruto wanted to protect such a thing, it was something that many took for granted. But when one was involved with the supernatural...such things could easily be taken away.

Yuuto idly turned away from everyone, beginning to walk away as he delved deeply into the question that began to echo in his heart.

Which was more important to him, which did he want more?

His goals?

 _Even now, he could still feel the blood flowing through his fingers..._

Or the bonds that he had forged?

As if he beckoned them, several images flashed across his mind, all of them about the many comrades he had made.

Buchou, Akeno, Koneko, and the newest addition to the Gremory group; Issei.

Not to mention his newest allies.

Without even realizing it, the _knight's_ fists began to clench.

...What would he do? What _should_ he do?

* * *

 _ **Present...**_

He had made his choice.

Yuuto plopped down from his standing position, letting his wounded leg rest, it _did_ get hit by a light spear after all.

The light in the grove slowly gave way to the night as he sat down, the sun dipping down in the horizon.

Indeed, the _knight_ had decided to finally achieve his long-held ambition of avenging his loved ones from long ago, although it should be noted that it was a very close decision.

His decision wasn't one that was made in a vacuum however, rather, it had much to do with an event that occurred just the other day.

That man with the half-mask...

Instinctively, Yuuto didn't trust that man, feeling deep inside that normally such an individual wasn't trustworthy.

But...his eyes... _his eyes_...

In that man's eyes, he very much saw a reflection of his own.

He was also seeking revenge, and in that they had a kinship, however weak it was.

So when the masked man told him about the fallen angels and their latest treacherous act of stealing... _those_ swords...he was at least partially inclined to give that new-found lead a try.

What did he really have to lose in trying?

Of course, that meant that the _knight_ had to check the one place where there used to be significant fallen angel activity, in the hopes of finding some intelligence that might have been left behind.

Then that fallen woman showed up.

The rest, of course, was history.

Yuuto clicked his tongue, annoyed that he lost his chance at learning where those swords may have located. That woman's reaction to his questions definitely gave away the truth of that masked man's words...

So now, all that was left for him were two options; find the fallen woman, or find the masked man.

Since the black-haired female was currently underneath an exorbitant amount of rubble, and the area had probably accrued an enormous amount of scrutiny by the general public as well as the attention of both; the Gremory and Sitri groups. It was obviously not a good idea at this time.

That left his fellow revenge-minded 'ally'.

When they last met, he claimed that he would be hiding out in this area, for what reason, Yuuto had no idea.

Nor did he particularly care at the moment either.

What he did care about was finding him and gaining some more information.

Especially before Buchou found him...

His facial features twitched when he thought of the possibility, before his heart was quickly filled with shame at the very thought.

No...he definitely couldn't let any of his... _former_ comrades see him.

What he has done has effectively spit upon everyone's kindness, he knew that already.

So the last and best thing he could possibly do for everyone that he cared for was...just the one thing.

Make sure that they forgot about him.

He wouldn't say goodbye.

He wouldn't say thank you.

He wouldn't try and soften the blow of his betrayal.

More importantly, if they managed to find him, he would try and inflame their frustrations and anger.

Yuuto wanted them to not only forget about him, he wanted them to hate him, _loathe_ him.

That way...they wouldn't be as hurt by his actions, they would regard him as scum and drop him. As they should.

He would destroy the relationships he made...for their sakes.

The _knight_ nodded grimly, assuring himself that it was the only course of action that was available to him.

A sad smile stretched across the young man's face.

He seriously hoped that Naruto would never find him...that guy would definitely knock him around for making this decision.

Good thing he was a long way's away from here.

Yuuto pushed himself from the ground, expression becoming more neutral as he refocused himself to the task at hand.

Finding the masked man.

So he moved back to the rock in the center of the grove, in wait of the man that he knew on some level understood, ignoring the fall of the sun and the onset of the night.

* * *

"Rias, we're almost there."

Rias was already well aware of that, not really needing Sona's input to see the forest enter her view.

The significantly smaller group of devils had followed the lead that Mio managed to procure from the fallen angel about Kiba Yuuto's location.

Northwest she said...

"It's strange to be back here again..." Akeno muttered out, her words so low in volume that they were barely discernible to her _king_.

Though in regards to her comment, the red-head was inclined to agree. It really was strange to be in this area of Kuoh Town again.

This was close to where the Gremory group first officially met Naruto and Yuki, right after their first clash if she recalled correctly.

Was her _knight_ in there somewhere? Or was he just passing by in order to get away from the scene at the church?

Did this place hold any significance to him, at all?

She wasn't sure, but it practically didn't matter. She would drag him back home with her and get her answers regardless.

"Sona!" the Gremory heiress called out, slowing down her flight so that the wind buffeting them wasn't loud enough to drown out her voice. "Let's descend a little bit! I want to get a decent aerial view of the surroundings!"

The bespectacled girl in question raised an eyebrow, slowing down marginally so that she could speak clearly as well. "I was going to suggest that myself."

With both devils in agreement, the grand total of _four_ devils lowered altitude in order to stay just above the treeline, giving them the most optimal view of the ground below.

As the small group began to studiously inspect the area, Rias reflected on the current situation at hand.

Specifically, on the fact that there were so few of them and why that was so.

The rest of Sona's Peerage was still back at the church, getting rid of any evidence of the supernatural at the scene of the clash that took place there. Leaving only Tsubaki to travel with her _king_.

Meanwhile, Mio has head on home with the fallen angel in order to give her some medical treatment. With Koneko helping her out as well as guarding her, just in case.

Which only left Rias and Akeno of the Gremory group to search for their lost comrade.

Hopefully they won't have to, but if necessary, they could call Koneko to help them if they _really_ needed help.

"Kaichou, I think I see something!" Tsubaki called out, pointing at an arbitrary part of the forest with intense scrutiny.

Sona didn't even hesitate, choosing to immediately stop her generic flyover and instead zero in on the area that her _queen_ pointed out.

The entire group followed suit, with everyone else quickly seeing what the heterochromic-eyes girl was speaking of.

It would have been practically impossible for the normal human eye to see it, but thankfully, their devil eyes were more than up to the task.

A little stain of blood on the ground, which led to _other_ stains of blood, was found by the group. Meaning that they had just found a possible trail to the errant _knight._

It seemed that the fallen angel wasn't the only one harmed in the fight.

"Buchou, should we contact Koneko-chan now? Her senses could prove useful when it comes to tracking." Akeno consulted to her friend, landing softly onto the ground and putting away her devil wings.

Blue-green eyes snapped to the pair of violet pupils, partially to marvel at the complete disappearance of her disgruntlement from before as well as to actually consider her point.

"No." she quickly concluded, landing beside her friend. "We can handle this, we don't need much more than our eyes. Besides, Koneko-chan has been under a lot of stress recently...best to let her relax a little bit."

The black-haired woman nodded, accepting that logic.

...She also accepted the unspoken fact that none of them trusted the fallen angel to be alone with Mio for any extended period of time.

So with that, the small group trudged forward, keeping track of the occasional blood stain in order to let it lead them to their run-away comrade.

Rias couldn't help but marvel at what they were doing however; she was, the heiress of the prestigious Gremory clan and the daughter of the most powerful Maou in all of devil history.

...And here she was, personally searching for clues for one of her lost Peerage - _family-_ members while walking through a dark forest.

This was far more gritty than anything she has ever done in...well... _ever_.

She wasn't really complaining about it, she just couldn't help but marvel at the shift in what she has done before and comparing it to the here and now.

To put it simply, the prim and proper Rias Gremory was supposed to elegantly appear to whatever hot spot or issue that sprung up in her territory. Not _walk_ there while moving the occasional tree branch out of the way that threatened to stab her in the eye.

A reluctant chuckle escaped from her lips as she continued to move, perhaps she was a tad bit spoiled...

Indeed, even the fact that her Peerage was as fractured as it was something that she never had to deal with before.

Then her thoughts froze, latching onto _that_ word with frightening intensity.

Fractured.

Her Peerage was split up.

 _Fractured_.

Sona's Peerage was split up.

"...Isn't this strange, Rias?"

The Gremory heiress turned to her fellow high-class devil, almost immediately knowing what she meant. "Unfortunately...I think that you're right."

Sona nodded, idly pushing her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "Indeed, there's been a few things that made me question whether there is...more to all of this than we initially believed. For example..."

The Sitri heiress crossed her arms, grim. "Isn't it interesting that Kiba Yuuto just so happened to meet that fallen angel, who was allegedly here to simply meet and speak with us? Or how he began to act out just around the time that such an individual would sent by Grigori? Of all times?"

Rias bit her lips, remembering that Mio-chan told them about what the fallen angel was doing here as they were leaving the underground cavern.

It truly was _quite_ the coincidence.

"Yes...it really is interesting." she admitted slowly, her brain trying and failing to connect the dots about the chain of events that recently occurred.

"...But there is another, far more interesting thing that has my attention." the black-haired devil noted, eyes sharp. "Which has everything to do with your _knight's_ past."

The red-head didn't even have a chance to wonder what she meant before her friend leaned closer to her, her demeanor conspiratorial. "You think that this has something to do with what happened to him in his past, correct? That that is the most likeliest of culprits to his complete change in attitude?"

This time Rias did manage to respond, in the form of a wary nod, almost afraid of the conclusions that were about to be made.

Sona raised her chin up, the glare of the moonlight catching her glasses as she did so. "Then let me ask you; is there any possible connection to his clash against the fallen angel and what happened to him in his past? Any connection at all?"

Time stopped.

That was it, _that was it_.

Because from her point of view, there was absolutely no connection between that fallen woman and Yuuto's past. None at all.

And considering that Yuuto's current behavior wouldn't make sense unless he was acting out on that past...

...That meant that the _knight_ must have done this for a reason that she wasn't aware of. A reason that connected the two events somehow.

But if _that_ was the case then, then how could he have possibly gotten that kind of information? Because it obviously wasn't from her.

That could only mean one thing.

"There's another actor in play here." Rias concluded, with her eyes closing in finality.

The Sitri heiress didn't need to even affirm her fellow devil's findings, already having reached that conclusion a little while ago.

Nevertheless, in an effort to ease the negative feelings that this revelation must have drudged up, she couldn't help but ask. "Do you happen to believe in coincidences, Rias?"

Seeing this as the slightly clumsy attempt by her friend to ease the tension, Rias chuckled a little. "Ara...if I say 'yes', do you think that maybe this could actually end up as one?"

"...Unfortunately, I don't think we have that kind of fortune, considering recent events." Sona explained, before her lips twitched upwards faintly. "Though it wouldn't hurt to hope however."

The Gremory heiress allowed for a dry chuckle to escape through her throat, not at all eased, but was grateful for the attempt at the very least.

Still though, they had to do something if there was another party involved. More than that, splitting themselves up to such small groups may have been a bad move...

"Buchou, are you ok? You seem somewhat tense."

Blue-green eyes shifted to the side of her eye, locking onto worried violet of her _queen_ , who had walked up to her from behind after seeing her and Sona speak seriously.

Before she even tried to alleviate her worries, someone else spoke up first.

"Kaichou, the trail ends over here..." Tsubaki called out, alerting everyone else.

All eyes followed after the bespectacled woman's gaze, realizing why this was an interesting predicament immediately.

The blood trail which they were following ended up leading them to a path through some bent trees, which were moved in such a way as to almost look like a door.

Though it wasn't that fact that interested everyone, rather it was what that path led up to.

"...Is that a grove?" Sona questioned rhetorically, not quite able to acknowledge what she was seeing.

Indeed, the path through the trees led to a grove, which completely lacked any undergrowth and almost seemed to be independent from the forest surrounding it.

But natural groves were somewhat rare, especially when so close to a human settlement.

Not only that, but none of the devils present ever heard of the presence of a grove in the area.

Considering that these teens lived and breathed in the supernatural world, it was obvious that they'd all at least be a little cautious of such a place that no one was aware of. Especially when it was so close to their home.

The area was a simple plain surrounded and encircled by the trees around it, with a relatively large rock sticking out of the middle of the field. In addition, the trees that were present also managed to block out most of the light from above, except in the center.

Moonlight pierced through the trees and illuminated the center of the grove.

Tsubaki took a step forward first, aware that she was the only one present with any experience with hand-to-hand combat.

But she might as well as not bothered.

"Yuuto."

Rias' voice echoed in the small area, as if nature saw fit to repeat the word so that all who were present could hear.

And indeed, all who were present _did_ hear.

From behind the rock, hidden from sight, emerged a handsome young man, his impossibly sharp steel-gray eyes focused on the group that just arrived.

"...Buchou." Kiba Yuuto murmured, voice bereft of any inclination of happiness or joy.

Rather, it was about as empty as one could possibly imagine.

Undeterred, Rias took a step forward, her arms splayed out in a welcoming gesture. "Yuuto...it's us. We're here now. Come on, enough of this foolishness. Come home."

If anything, the _knight's_ unfriendly disposition was made worse after his former _king's_ plea.

"...What are you doing here, everyone?" the young man questioned, his voice barely above a whisper. "Especially you two; Buchou, Akeno-san."

This time, Akeno took a step forward, her gaze locked onto her ally. "Kiba-kun...I don't know why you did what you did. But no matter what happens, you're still our friend. You're still a part of our family. Even now."

Yuuto didn't answer at first, staying quiet as he slowly got on top of the rock that he was laying on, getting to the top.

His eyes were narrowed as he gazed upon the devil group. "Leave. _N_ _ow_."

It was by this point that Tsubaki spared a glance to her _king_ , sending a silent query.

Sona raised her hand in response, shaking her head almost infinitesimally.

She would let the Gremory group have a solid try before trying anything, though she couldn't be blamed for intervening should things get...ugly.

Meanwhile, after the revenge-minded young man made his demand, Rias took a hesitant step forward, trying to defuse the situation and understand her erratic servant.

"This isn't a request, this is a demand...Buchou." Yuuto stated in no uncertain terms. "Leave. This has nothing to do with you."

* * *

This wasn't good.

This wasn't what Diodora-sama planned, let alone expected.

The fast devil wasn't supposed to reunite with his former comrades, he was supposed to stay hidden. To keep the devils of Kuoh Town from accomplishing their mission, to keep them spread thin.

So that Diodora-sama could accomplish his _true_ objective.

Yet that hasn't happened, the grove that he created was supposed to hide Kiba Yuuto, not give his allies time to catch up to him.

More than that, they weren't as split up as Diodora-sama wished...

The destruction of the abandoned church has caused far more annoyances than necessary...

...No choice, he had to intervene.

For Diodora-sama, he had to play a part, and play it well. All in order to buy him enough time to complete the daughter of the Original Lucifer's capture.

That man saved his life and gave him back his sanity... _and_ was allied with the _true_ heir of the Original Lucifer.

It would be an _honor_ to die for both; his savior, and the Underworld's true ruler.

So the young man - _beast_ \- focused his attention on the group of devils that entered the grove, carefully bending his knees to strike...

* * *

"Nothing to do with me? _Nothing to do with me?_ Kiba Yuuto...I am; your master, your _king_ , your savior...and your friend." Rias grit out, unwilling to admit how much his words stung. "And if you continue to act out so selfishly...you will leave me no choice except to punish you!"

The _knight's_ eyes narrowed, his face twisting darkly.

Sona shared a knowing glance with her _queen_ , both teens figuring that the talks were just about over.

Akeno closed her eyes, mournful. "...Koneko-chan misses you, Kiba-kun. We all do. We've been searching for you everywhere. Please...don't do this."

At first, if Yuuto's twitch was any indication, it seemed like the young man was actually affected by the reincarnated devil's words. Stopping him short for all of about two seconds.

Then his dark demeanor returned, refusing to be reasoned with.

He opened his mouth, preparing himself to administer another verbal lashing at his erstwhile allies.

At least until he saw the Gremory and Sitri groups both widen their eyes at something behind him.

Yuuto snapped his head behind him as a shadow emerged from the forestry, moving towards him at incredible speeds. So much so that the _knight_ was barely fast enough to respond.

Nevertheless, he managed it, as he jumped away from the rock that he was standing on and created a sword from his _Sword Birth_ so that he could fight. Prepared to clash with another enemy.

He winced when he finally landed however, as his bad leg was still wounded.

Before anything else could be said or done, the blond turned to the devil group that was present. Features more acquiescing. "Buchou...we will discuss my actions in further details later, for now, I'd say that we both have bigger problems. Wouldn't you?"

Rias didn't comment, but she didn't deny his words either, instead choosing to stare at the new combatant that decided to reveal himself.

The possible enemy that landed on the highest point of the boulder gazed down upon them, alert and acute.

The young man in question sported pitch-black straight hair that covered his face and stretched down to his waist in cascading waves, a completely bare chest, a pair of entirely-ripped up jeans, and a pair of sandals to finish off his odd look.

Truly, the Gremory heiress wasn't sure about how she should respond to this interruption.

Turns out that there was no need to find that out, as the young man in front of them took their options out of their hands.

All he really needed to do, was tilt his head upwards to stare at the night sky.

...At something specific in particular.

"...It's a full moon today..." the young man quietly murmured, a grim _edge_ to his voice.

The Sitri heiress' eyes snapped to the sky, or more precisely, to the moon that was clearly visible at the unknown male's current position.

As soon she did so, the black-haired man quickly began to _change_.

Hair began to grow all around his body, covering his skin like a dark coat, almost as if it was... _fur_.

Limbs strengthened and grew longer, hands morphing into claws, feet changing into large paws, nose growing into a snout...

His red eye focusing with single-minded intensity on the _moon_.

Something in Sona's head clicked, forcing her eyes to widen to the size of saucers.

"...Werewolf...!"

Feral red eyes snapped to the devil group, as the beast bared it's impossibly sharp canines and stood upright.

Until it turned back to the moon and _howled_.

 ***Owoooo...***

As if a signal was made, the underbrush that surrounded the grove began to shift, as if something was moving through them to reach the one that 'called'.

All of the devils had no choice except to turn their backs to one another, making sure to cover as much area as possible.

Stray devils.

Stray devils of all shapes and sizes emerged from the general greenery, closing in on them as their feral 'leader' glowered down on them.

"...Kaichou?"

The bespectacled _king_ made a small affirmative-sounding noise to acknowledge that she was listening to her _queen_.

"...Doesn't that beast look a little familiar?" Tsubaki whispered hesitantly. "I feel like I've seen it before."

Sona scowled, the uncomfortable feeling she was getting when she saw that werewolf finally made sense after she heard that little tidbit. Realizing that she, no, _they_ have seen this man before.

Last time he wasn't anywhere near as threatening...or sane for that matter.

"That's probably because you have Tsubaki." the Sitri heiress replied, voice clipped. "We crushed him during our last mission...of course, I never thought that he was a legitimate werewolf."

Rias kept her eyes focused on the feral beings that were inching ever closer to them, but still listened in on her friend's conversation. "So...that means that that man is the stray devil that you destroyed during your last mission? But if that's the case...how is he here? Alive, in perfect health, _and_ sane?"

Sona turned to the red-head, facial features grim. "...I do believe that there's a third party that we're still not aware of yet, correct?"

Ah...

A bitter smile spread across Rias' lips, before it was wiped out to make way for a serious expression. "It seems our hands are tied then...so since this is the case, I'd like to make a little announcement."

She turned to her allies around her, a wry smile plastered on her face as they all spared her a glance. "As of now, there are no _king_ or _pawns_ in this battle, no grand strategy-making, and no organized plans of attacks. Instead...we're all simply comrades-in-arms, back-to-back. Let's all do our best to survive this situation, shall we?"

Akeno smirked, electricity crackling through a magic circle that she created on the tip of her fingers.

Sona, serious as ever, forged her own ice-blue magic circle, water condensing and bending to her will.

Tsubaki refrained from using magic and instead decided to call on her naginata to fight in close combat, swinging the pole with the blade end without any difficulty.

Finally, Rias herself formed two magic circles on both hands, spewing the black miasma that was her _Power of Destruction_. More than ready to try out what she has learned while she trained with her Peerage.

The odd man out of the small group, Kiba Yuuto, held his demonic swords with grim determination. Quietly accepting the fact that he had to fight alongside his comr- _former_ comrades...one last time.

So he closed ranks with them, helping form a perimeter.

And it was a necessary measure, as the stray devils wasted no time in charging towards them when their 'leader' gave them the signal.

* * *

"Ok...there we go." Mio whispered, just as she finished wrapping the last wound around Raynare's rib cage, being as gentle as she possibly could.

The fallen woman winced as she accidentally touched one of the gashes that crisscrossed her torso. But besides that, the older female took it like a trooper.

Still unconscious though.

"...I still don't understand why you've allowed this fallen angel in your home...Mio."

The red-head tilted her head, looking at Koneko through the side of her eye, connecting with curious hazel pupils.

She turned back to the unconscious form of the fallen angel, shrugging almost nonchalantly. "A bit of a long story."

Koneko raised a single eyebrow. "...I think we have nothing but time..."

Mio coughed at that, internally acquiescing the point. "Well...ok, fine. But let me give you the condensed version instead; basically, she knows Naruto, and I think she's trustworthy enough to allow her to stay here. I'm sure Naruto would agree...if he was here."

The _rook_ slid her gaze over to unconscious female, watching as her chest rose up and down in a steady rhythm. Peacefully resting.

She knew Naruto-sempai...huh...?

It's been a while since Koneko was chosen to watch over this woman from the abandoned church, it came as more than a 'little' surprise.

What she expected to do was run out of the church and continue the search for Yuuto after getting new information. What she got instead was a mission to...babysit, essentially.

Yet here she was.

It took a while to drag their limp 'friend' back to Mio's home, but they eventually managed it, and she kept guard over the two supernatural beings for the entire time that the red-head did her work.

Honestly, she was a little sore that she couldn't stay with Buchou. Just a little. But she did understand her concerns.

Still. She couldn't help but wonder if everything was going smoothly-

Koneko froze, yer eyes widening to the size of saucers as, unbeknownst to Mio, hidden cat-like ears twitched after catching the sound of something that chilled her to the bone.

 ***Owoooo...***

"Hey Koneko, I'm gonna go out and grab some painkillers, you wanna come with?" the oblivious red-head questioned lightly, already moving around to grab her bag so that she could carry the item she sought.

" _No_."

Mio's movement stalled, her gaze moving back to the loli that seemed suddenly on alert. Her hazel eyes pinning her to the floor with unwavering intensity.

"...You stay here." the _rook_ stated with authority, not about to be questioned. "...I need to go. Buchou's in trouble... _big_ trouble. I'm going to go help her."

If anything, the half-devil was confused by this response. "Huh? How would you know that, Koneko? I don't sense anything wrong-"

"Trust me." the reincarnated devil replied, her voice clipped, expression stony. "...I need to go, you need to stay here and...protect that fallen angel. I'll be back soon...ok?"

The white-haired teen didn't really even wait for a response as she moved to leave through the front entrance of the house, her movements belaying her rush to get to her _king's_ side.

Mio just watched her go, slightly numb, unable to comprehend what just happened.

Koneko just left her, just like that.

Yes, she didn't really even want her to come guard her in the first place, but there was some kind of comfort that she received by her sheer presence.

She wasn't alone in a house that was meant for a _family_.

As was becoming more distressingly common, her thoughts drifted back to her 'family', heart aching at the fact that they weren't by her side. Backing her up in a situation that very much needed some sort of silver-lining, which she very simply wasn't seeing.

Maria's lighthearted, yet crude, jokes and attitude.

Naruto's overwhelming -and infectious- confidence and can-do attitude.

Both precious.

The last time she was so alone, trapped in a house with such happy memories was...

Was...

No. _No._

Stop. She had to stop _now_.

Yet the memories came anyways, even if she didn't want them to, forcing her to live through events in her life that she once suppressed.

Instead of the well-kept and comfortable house she was now inhabiting, she was beginning to see flashes of the ruins of another house.

Her breathing came out in short and shallow bursts, eyes dilating as she began to _feel_ it.

 _Their_ _blood_...

Even though it felt like years ago...she could still feel their blood on her hands, splattered across her body, refusing to leave her no matter how much she washed.

...Back then, just like now...it was quiet.

The lack of noise was far more deafening than any sound that she has ever heard.

 _Say something._

She didn't want to hear it again.

 _Why won't you say something!?_

 ***Ding Dong***

Mio gasped, her heart in her throat, as she was snapped away from what was very quickly becoming something _dangerous_.

She forced herself to stand, forced herself to throw that grim reality in the past.

It was the past. It had to stay there. No more, no less.

Her family was alright, they were alright...

They were fine.

They were fine. They were fine. They were fine. They were fine. They were fine.

The red-head's breath was suddenly knocked out of her body, forcing her to her knees as she grit her teeth, trying not to cough.

Her fist was embedded in her stomach.

That was it. That was _enough_.

She wasn't alone. Not anymore.

This was her home now, and it would stay that way if she had any say about it.

A crooked smile grew on her face, the young woman newly positive that she would get through this. _All of this._

With those damn two troublemakers back home as well.

So with that, Mio finished her trek towards the door, easily swinging it open in order to thank the person that managed to temporarily get her out of her funk.

But the words of thanks died in her throat.

"Ah. Greetings. It's a pleasure to meet you at last...Naruse Mio."

A sense of restlessness gripped her heart, keeping her still as she gazed upon the young man in front of her.

Dark green hair.

"...How do you know me?"

Eye closed into a slit.

"Ah, that would be telling, now wouldn't it? For now...let's just say that you have a secret admirer. One that knows of your worth."

A well-educated noble's bearing and demeanor.

"An admirer, huh? Well...what is it that you want with me?"

Extraordinarily expensive clothes and flowing robes.

"Ah, to the point. I like that. Well...Mio-chan, I'd like to take you to your greatest admirer, he has great influence you see, and he could easily provide you with whatever you wish. Just name it, and it's yours."

A creepy smile.

"...And if I refuse your 'offer'?"

The young man's smile, already immensely unsettling, turned more ugly as the conversation progressed.

Just who was this guy? And who was this 'admirer' of her's?

She had no idea, but there was one thing that she _did_ know...

"To put it quite simply." the young man murmured, his voice soft. "This _isn't_ a request."

Someone that has a happy mask that covers _half_ of their face was simply not a trustworthy person.

So when he essentially threatened her, she wasn't particularly surprised by it. Already coming to the grim conclusion that this guy was not a man that took 'no' for an answer.

"This could go either two ways, Mio-chan." the older male stated with authority, not even bothering with diplomacy by this point. "You could either come with me willingly, or I'll simply take you by force. I suggest that you choose wisely."

Mio already bristled at the far too familiar honorific, but ignored that for the bigger problem that was staring at her in the face.

...No matter how she looked at this, she won't be able to rely on anyone to help her out this time around. Everyone was busy with something else or, even worse, outside of Kuoh Town altogether.

The young woman's hand twitched, seeking to place some semblance of defense in preparation of a fight, or maybe she could even go for a preemptive strike-

"Did you really think that I'd give you time to think your way out of this?"

Pink eyes widened as she felt the creepy man's energy spike in a threatening manner, a magic circle forming in the palm of his hand.

"...You're a devil." she realized just then, growling in frustration.

A growing smile was the devil's only response. "Indeed. Diodora Astaroth, at your service."

If anything, the red-head's already rising sense of alarm skyrocketed, forcing her to take a step back just to cope.

This was the guy that Rias-sempai warned everyone about!

But why was he here, with her? Wasn't he after Asia-san...?

Before this line of thought could be extended, Diodora saw fit to continue the pressure by pushing more power into his magic circle, leaving the implied threat in the air.

"Last chance." was all he said.

Mio snapped her eyes behind her, looking back onto the house that she has been staying in for the entire time she's known Naruto.

Her sanctuary.

Her _home_.

No. Not just her home.

Maria's home.

Naruto's home.

Her _family's_ home.

"Wait."

Diodora raised an eyebrow inquisitively, but he didn't go ahead and attack, so Mio took the chance that was offered and continued to speak.

"...I will not go with you willingly, there's no way that I'll allow myself to be taken away from my home. Not again. _Never_ again. Not from you, not by anyone." she declared, her tone firm and unyielding. "However...a fight here would do damage to the place that I have come to know as my new home. This is the precious place that Naruto offered for Maria and I to stay in, the place where my family lives, the place where I can feel safe..."

Pink eyes narrowed into slits, her own aura becoming volatile as she glared at the former noble devil. "So in order to protect my home...I'm willing to accept it if you took me to a battlefield of your choosing. As long as it is still in Kuoh Town, I don't mind, even it it gave you a tactical advantage somehow. But this home, my family's home, will _not_ be touched. Under any circumstances."

Diodora blinked slowly, staring at her, completely silent following her declaration.

Then he suddenly bent over, roaring in laughter at the prospect of this _girl_ making such demands of him.

It was ridiculous! She was in absolutely no position to be so confident in her diplomatic skills.

"Very well!" the traitorous pure-blood relented with a dark smirk. "In honor of the guts that it must have taken for what you have requested...I will humor you and take you up on your offer."

Mio looked taken aback for all of about a split-second, before nodding firmly, affirming to the deal in place.

Not only would her home be safe, but the fallen angel would be safe from this man's wrath as well. All in all, this was without a doubt the best thing she could have done.

It was time for her to protect someone else, instead of being the one who was protected all of the time.

His dark smile still in place, Diodora spun on his heel and walked back onto the road, a jaunty tune emerging from his throat.

The red-head watched him move warily at first, then sighed, accepting of her fate.

She tilted her head just enough to look at her home, smiling softly at it, even at this grim time.

Then she moved to follow, determined to make good on the promise that she made to herself.

Naruto and Maria would come back, and they would come back home with everyone safe and sound.

Including herself.

* * *

 _Attention, we have arrived at the Central Japan International Airport. This is the final stop. I repeat, this is the final stop._

As expected, everyone that was still inside the large mobile transport began to file out of their door, rushing to catch their flight.

A certain blond was squeezing through the crowd, his cheeks squeezed together as he grumbled in annoyance at how crowded it was.

Naruto finally made it to the airport, with a little bit of time to spare to boot, and with a little bit of training done. Thankfully.

Every little bit helped.

Now all the shinobi had to do was find a place to wait patiently for midnight to come around.

...

And get some food, he was pretty damn hungry dattebayo...

As he rubbed his stomach, trying to do his best to ignore the occasional hunger pangs that plagued him, he made sure to glance up at the night sky that was visible to him through the glass ceiling.

The moon was high in the sky now, watching over the area like a mystical specter.

He still had some time before midnight rolled around it seemed, so what should he do in the meanwhile...?

Well, he should probably make a plausible story first, it would be pretty damn suspicious if he just walked up to this church agent and introduced himself when this was supposed to be a classified mission.

A sigh escaped his lips unintentionally, knowing full well that all of these thoughts, while important, were masking a deeper concern hidden in his mind.

It was a gut feeling, really. But he couldn't help but feel worried over what was happening back at Kuoh Town.

Hopefully everyone was doing alright, standing together against...well...whatever was going to happen over there.

Especially Mio...

Naruto shook his head firmly, gritting his teeth.

No, she was a big girl, she could handle whatever was going on without him. He was sure of it.

...But he was still worried.

Blue eyes shifted to the sky, staring at the bright moon in the sky, knowing that he had to deal with this incident quickly.

The blond had to return home, if not for his friend's safety, then for his own sanity.

So with that in mind, Naruto moved forward, mentally preparing himself for what might be quite the confrontation.

* * *

Diodora was casually walking towards his destination, not at all in any hurry to get there.

On the contrary, he was intentionally taking his time.

The longer that he led her away from the security of her home and allies, the further agitated and fearful she would become. Any confrontation with her after that would be quite simple.

Psychological warfare through tension was a very well established tactic in battle.

Of course...seeing the way her eyes flitted about, nervous, was quite the enjoyable thing to watch as well.

But honestly speaking, he'd much rather hear her _scream_ than anything else...her bravery was a little bit of a let-down.

Oh well, he had plenty of time to change that.

His only remaining eye opened itself up, a dark glint inside his pupil as he fully considered how to milk the current situation.

Beyond his blatant sadism, there was also the fact that there was an area of Kuoh Town that he _knew_ would work in his favor in two aspects; to buy him time and to guarantee Naruse Mio's subjugation.

They were almost there...

"How much longer?" Mio asked quietly, voice somber and listless.

Diodora shivered, trying not to smile at her growing depression. "We're almost there my dear...I was hoping to give you time to reconsider your position by now."

Her pink eyes narrowed at him, disgust evident in those orbs. "...So is that what this entire charade was about? To intimidate me to change my mind? Sorry 'friend', but I'm not that easy."

If anything, instead of getting frustrated by her defiance, the traitorous devil seem to be _pleased_ by it.

Almost like he _reveled_ in her struggle...

It took her all of about a minute to remember that this was the _king_ of those devil girls that Naruto captured back at Rias-sempai's summer home.

...She really couldn't lose to this guy. No way.

Not to his mind games, not to his strength.

"Rejoice, Mio-chan! We have arrived at our destination!"

Mio's attention was brought back to reality as she followed the devil's gaze, forcing her eyes to widen fractionally.

"...An abandoned house?" she whispered out loud, confused.

As she stated, the place that the devil led her to was that of a dilapidated mansion that looked like it was about to topple in on itself any moment now.

It's windows were cracked, the paint dulled, it's tiles falling off...

"This was my temporary base of operations for Kuoh Town, if you're curious." the cruel man commented, as if parting with a fun factoid.

The red-head snapped her head towards her de-facto captor. "What...? So wait...that means that...you were stationed here long enough to have a _base_ here!?"

"Ding!" Diodora mocked, a dark smile spreading across his face. "Got it in one! Indeed...I've been watching you all _verrrry_ closely...especially ever since that _bastard_ left."

Mio frowned, taking note that the former heir of the Astaroth clan had a lot of venom in his voice when he said 'bastard'.

Then she quickly realized why that was, as there was only one person that this man could possibly hate so much.

"...Hoh...?" the half-devil questioned with a growing grin. "So I guess you still have something of a grudge against Naruto, huh? Well I guess that's to be expected...he did defeat you once upon a-"

A furious orange eye speared her with a look, as the man himself let loose a low growl at the temerity of the young girl.

Then he caught himself after noticing her widening grin, realizing that he was reacting just as she wanted him to.

She was, without a doubt, trying to get under his skin.

So the former high-class devil bit his tongue, forcing himself not to jump at her bait. "...Last chance."

Mio raised her chin, her grin disappearing as the moment of truth arrived at last.

"I refuse."

Diodora's face twitched, his patience all but gone now.

"Then _fall_."

Even as he was speaking, the very air itself shifted inexplicably around them, giving her the feeling that she was being moved...

A barrier...! A big one at that!

The red-head spread her wings out, jumping backwards to make magic circles on the palms of her hands, demonic energy pouring into them.

"Not so fast!" the traitorous devil screamed out, easily making his own magic circle which spewed magic bullets at extreme rates towards his 'backpedaling' victim.

Electricity quickly moved out of Mio's palms to intercept the green bolts of demonic energy, crackling through them without much difficulty and reaching for her enemy.

This time the former Astaroth heir was forced to stretch his wings to fly, using them to help him move higher into the air faster as her attack neared him.

As luck would have it, he managed to barely dodge the magical offensive as it shred apart the pavement that he was previously occupying.

Angered at this, Diodora raised his hand in order for another emerald-green magic circle to appear above his head, glowing brightly.

He didn't hesitate at all.

Countless of magic bullets came out of his rune-like construct, twisting around in the air in order to rain down on his opponent with deadly consequences.

Seeing this, Mio quickly switched to the defensive, using her left hand to make a magic shield to hold over her head as she turned around and ran from the 'rain'.

The red-head growled as she felt the attack make contact with her shield above her and the ground around her, smashing apart the earth and throwing up enough dust into the air that it clouded her sight.

Damn it...! She needed to get out of the fire zone! Fast!

Her right hand was already forming her escape plan, but she needed time to gather more energy first, so she just needed to hold out-

"Do you think that you're getting away!?" the insane man from above gloated, easily creating more magic circles around him to increase the pressure that he was placing on the girl.

This time however, his new magical constructs were aimed directly at her, all while he continued with his rain assault.

A two-pronged attack from different directions.

The half-devil clenched her eyes, forced to make a choice as she moved to turn at the end of the street block in order to use the buildings as temporary cover. Hiding herself to give her a mini-respite.

Diodora wasn't giving her that chance though, as the new magic circles did _not_ spit out bolts of demonic energy this time.

Rather, _beams_ were sent forward, which were easily controllable to the young man.

So much so that he actually managed to navigate them _around_ the building that she was hiding in. Their large numbers overwhelming.

Not to mention the fact that his last bits of 'rain' were aiming for the area as well!

 ***BOOM***

They detonated as soon as they all converged, blowing up a piece of the small shop that his prey was hiding behind. The rubble falling all over the area. Covering the area in dust and smoke.

...

A single orange eye peered into the destruction, a flicker of worry passing through them as the young man considered that he may have taken this too far.

What if he actually killed her? Lucifer-sama needed her alive in order to properly take her inherited power...

As he was seriously trying to decide how he should delicately inform his lord, a blur shot out of the cover of the smoke and rose high into the sky.

Mio glared harshly at her enemy, doing her best to ignore the numerous scratches that covered her body, her left hand high above her head.

Diodora's eye snapped to her, widening slightly in surprise to see her well.

What he didn't know was that she was forced to use up a bit of her charged demonic energy in her right hand to get out of that in one piece.

Nevertheless, the red-head aimed the magic circle on her left hand towards him and _fired_.

As soon as she set her attack loose, the large fireball that appeared came flying towards him. Seeking to incinerate him with it's car-sized largess.

The former high-class devil scoffed, raising both of his hands to his front to create a barrier, stopping the pathetic attempt on his life in well swell swoop.

He succeeded.

The fireball crashed right into his barrier, barely denting it as it attempted to try and break through.

Unamused, the servant of the _true_ Lucifer waved away the attack with his demonic energy, splitting the fire into two with derision.

As he did so, he quickly realized his error.

Mio closed the gap between them as she used her last attack as a smokescreen, buying her enough time to finish her preparations.

Her right hand was raised in front of her this time, her eyes scrunched together, focused on this one effort.

Even as she was moving, something below her was converging towards her position, helping her, standing _with her_.

Water.

Water from the pipes in the houses.

Water from the fire hydrants.

Water from the small ponds.

Water which she herself just made at that very second.

The very same water that Mio used to block most of the explosion that rocked her from behind that building. Much like what Sona did just earlier that day.

They joined together to create an elemental construct in front of her, which in turn was heading straight towards the enemy devil with reckless abandon.

On the other hand, all Diodora really saw after he got rid of the fireball that was thrown his way, was the large _jaws_ of an oriental dragon's head made out of _water_. Of which, could easily swallow him whole.

Fear penetrated his dark heart at the sight, as he quickly flew backwards and formed new barriers to stop the 'beast'.

But since he barely had time to concentrate, those very barriers were far too weak to stop such a heavy concentration of elemental power created by demonic energy.

So it slowly began to catch up, it's creator gritting her teeth as she desperately tried to hit him, knowing that she couldn't keep this up for much longer.

As the maws slowly caught up to the former heir, his fear began to become more and more acute, his still-beating heart hammering in his rib cage.

"...No _..._ "

Closer.

"No..."

Right in his face.

" _NOOOOO!"_

Diodora's bellow echoed across the sky, his hands glowing bright green as he released his pent up power to stop the unstoppable beast.

From his hands, emerged what could only be called a 'wall'. One that came down like a barrier that was made out of glass, which separated him from the water-based jaws that were about to engulf him.

The maws immediately crashed against the 'wall' that was put into place, viciously battering at it with overwhelming water pressure, cracking it.

Pink eyes dilated as the red-head focused all of her strength on pushing her water construct to break the border separating her and her enemy, pouring more and more power into her offensive.

However, her attack began to deform against the wall, slowly losing it's shape against the seemingly unbreakable shield.

It was obvious that the former heir of the Astaroth clan was barely holding it at bay though, since the cracks on the wall became more and more pronounced the longer that the water kept pushing against it.

Until...little by little...

 ***Crack***

The fissures made by her attack became _too_ big...

The entire wall fell apart in short order, shattering into what seemed like a million pieces that fell towards the ground, like snow.

Unfortunately for Mio, her attack wasn't in much better shape either.

The maws that were supposed to take down her opponent was left as nothing more than a blob of liquid, which has lost it's shape after clashing against the barrier.

So all that was left for the magical attack to do was explode in a shower of water, not actually completing the task that it was sent out to do.

Said liquid splashed against Diodora, wetting his clothes and soaking him to the bone, but did nothing more than that as the leftover water rained down onto the ground.

Mio stared at the shower that she had inadvertently created, shaking slightly in her fatigue, as well as her faint despair.

Her grand plan _depended_ on that large amount of water to crash against Diodora, in order to knock him to the ground so that she could finish him with a heavy dose of electricity...

At least, that was the rough draft of her idea.

But now what? She was fatigued by this point, and there was no way that that bastard would waste his chance to take her out while she was weakened. Let alone let her do something like that a second time...

That inkling of despair slowly bloomed in her chest, giving her a sense of hopelessness as she felt that her options were slowly being taken away from her. Giving her no real options to choose from.

She couldn't do this.

 _She_ _couldn't do this_.

Her confidence was being slowly drained the longer she thought about it, bringing her spirit down into a crippling depression that slowly forced her towards the ground.

Her body very simply did not have the will to continue this fight.

To put it more simply, she didn't have what it took to win, she was nothing but a burden...even now.

The red-head bit her lip, clenching her fists at the stinging truth.

She wasn't as strong as Maria.

She wasn't as brilliant as Rias-sempai.

She wasn't as talented as Akeno-sempai.

She wasn't as fast as Kiba-san.

Hell...she didn't even have the sheer _guts_ that the pervert; Issei-san, had.

...But more importantly...

And at this self-realization, she truly then felt the prickling feeling of pain, as her eyesight became blurry and red.

...She wasn't _anything_ like Naruto.

Not as brave.

Not as powerful.

Not as charismatic.

Not as positive.

Not as creative.

She was _nothing_ like the person that she sometimes embarrassingly called her 'onii-chan'.

They were like night and day, with her being so far behind that...

That...

 _They almost couldn't even be considered family_.

...To some, it could even be considered an insult. The gap was truly just that massive.

Did...she even have the right to call him that?

Mio had no idea, no clue whatsoever.

"But..." the half-devil whispered, voice still despondent at her grim thoughts. "Even now...I..."

Her feet tapped onto the pavement again, the rain that she made flowed down her hair and peppered her without relent, as she stared up at her sadistic enemy.

He glared down at her, his eye mocking.

"Have you seen how futile your struggle is now?" Diodora cackled out, his voice echoing in the din. "Give up! You stand no chance against me!"

Puffy pink eyes met his single orange one, the young woman hiccuping as she tried to stand tall, refusing to be cowed.

Even now...she...

Mio straightened her body, ignoring how heavy her body was because of her wet clothes, locking onto him with a brave face.

Then she paused suddenly, freezing, something clicking in the back of her mind, alerting her.

Hope flooded her chest as she finally found another way, giving her the energy to create one more magic circle on her right hand, focusing calmly, hoping that the young man didn't notice what she was doing.

Unfortunately, he did.

"...She hasn't given up yet? Hmph...this time, I better make sure I break her spirit apart properly this time." the disowned high-class devil remarked, smiling darkly.

He raised his hands up, with magic circles quickly occupying them.

The half-devil clicked her tongue, seeing magic bullets once more rain down on her, swiftly preparing to take her down.

Instead of moving to run away this time, she stood her ground, eyeing the magical constructs warily. Ready to move at a moment's notice.

As soon as the magic bullets reached her position, she did just that.

A twist of the body to the left as a fast object sped past her waist.

A flick of her head to the right before another object could cut off her ear.

A tilt of her leg so that the next demonic attack couldn't pierce her thigh.

Magic bullets kept raining down, as Mio twisted her body around to narrowly dodge the attacks from hurting her, intensely focused on this _one_ objective.

Pink eyes blinked, momentarily seeing rocks moving at increasingly faster speeds instead of the attacks that her enemy were flinging at her.

Seeing a certain red-head that was grinning as she continued to 'help' her during her training...

Turned out that it did.

While she wasn't that much better physically than before, her reflexes and body coordination had improved by _leagues_ compared to before.

Which was exactly why the ground was getting shattered into oblivion around her whilst still remaining unharmed, the 'rain' continuing at it's constant rate.

Diodora's eye narrowed, annoyed at this development.

He almost didn't care about bringing the girl back alive...this was becoming too annoying for him.

A snarl emerged from his throat at the fear he felt from this _girl's_ last attack, driving himself to a frenzy to the point that he began to see _red_.

He moved to up the ante.

Several more magic circles appeared beside him, spewing more bullets as if they were assault rifles.

Mio had no choice but to stand her ground, her entire body bobbing and weaving around the magical constructs as they slowly tore apart the area around her, the rubble crashing against her skin after every small explosion.

But, slowly but surely, she was beginning to get overwhelmed.

She first got the hint when a bullet barely managed to graze against her hair at an awkward angle when she turned her head to the side. Burning off both of her ribbons which kept her trademarked pigtails up. Letting her long hair cascade down her back in all of it's glory.

Too bad she didn't have enough time to worry about that.

A bullet grazed against her right arm almost immediately afterwards, making her wince and crashing her concentration.

She quickly regained it soon after, but the more she got hit, the more difficult it became to keep up her dodging.

Soon after, a bullet pierced her stomach, forcing her to cough a little bit of blood in recompense.

Then her left shoulder.

Then the area right below her left collarbone, but luckily still above her heart.

But it wasn't until another bullet shot right through her right leg that she was finally brought low, crashing into the ground with a wet gasp. Her head knocking harshly against the severely damaged pavement.

As soon as she was down onto the ground, the 'rain' ceased, as the enemy devil was seemingly satisfied with the pain that he dispensed.

The red-head managed to drag her head up from the pavement to glare at Diodora with harsh pink eyes, her bangs covering up the blood that was flowing down from her forehead.

All she got was a triumphant smirk in return, looking down on her from on high.

Now she could easily see why Naruto didn't like this guy, as if she didn't already have enough of a reason to want him gone.

But it was fine...it was fine.

Because _it_ was ready now.

Slowly, the half-devil brought her right arm from under her body out, ignoring the pangs of pain, as she raised it above her head. Aiming it at the renegade devil.

A relatively small magic circle was on the palm of her hand, ready to activate.

"This is it!" she declared, activating it, expanding it so that it was now twice her size.

Diodora's eye snapped to the magic circle, widening, forcing his hands to create another magic barrier like before. Predicting that this was another play at creating a charged magical attack.

Immediately, just like last time, a barrier that looked like a wall of glass appeared in front of him. Separating himself from the younger female, preventing anything from getting to him.

Mio's eyes narrowed at this, absolutely _glowering_ at her enemy above, still keeping her right arm raised up.

The device on her hand which was about to release her next attack still glowing bright.

...But, suddenly, inexplicably, it began to dim.

Until the young female teen gasped and allowed her arm to flop down onto the floor, gritting her teeth as she grasped at it with her other arm.

Diodora stared down at her, confused for all of about a second.

Then it clicked.

"...You've run out of demonic energy, haven't you?" he almost whispered disbelievingly, a growing smile stretching across his face. "You've used too much energy when you were using different elements, so now you've thoroughly exhausted yourself...am I right?"

The red-head didn't answer, she just kept clutching her arm, teeth grinding against one another.

A chuckle escaped the servant of Lucifer, before he even began to break down into an incessant cackle that seemed to encompass the entire barrier that was placed. Ringing in everyone's ears, _mocking_.

"So _this_ was your final attack then!? A pathetic show, I have to say!" he crowed, smirking smugly. "I have to say...your abilities, while diverse, are pretty pathetic considering that you're the _daughter_ of the _Original_ Lucifer! You really are a failure, aren't you?"

Mio lifted her head up, her gaze hooded by her long red bangs, giving him only a glimpse of her eyes.

"...You're right..." she admitted lowly, her eyes pained. "I...I'm the daughter of scum...but at least he was powerful scum, _talented_ scum. Yet...I don't have that power or that talent. I'm just...average."

Even as she was speaking, the teen was already pushing herself off of the ground, a little bit of blood trailing down from her forehead to her chin.

She raised her chin, defiant, a small grin on her face.

"That being said..." she spoke up softly, her grin growing wider. "My 'average' self is more than enough to beat someone like you."

Diodora's smirk disappeared.

What the hell was she yapping about-?

All his thoughts ceased.

Suddenly overtaken by one, overbearing sensation that he was simply not used to.

 _Pain._

Something, he wasn't sure what yet, smashed against his back, sending him careening towards the ground at breakneck speeds.

The young man desperately tried to recover in the air, spreading his wings out to slow down his descent, _furious_ that his enemy managed to pull a fast one on him.

But he didn't stop slowing down.

On the contrary, he began descending _faster_.

What...? Why!?

That was when he noticed, a key, yet small, thing.

His wings were wet.

His clothes were wet.

His entire body? _Wet_.

Diodora quickly realized that the water that splashed against him earlier in the fight was weighing him down, doing nothing but making him sink faster.

But no...that shouldn't have been enough to make him fall this fast...

Then another thing occurred to him.

The sound of wind was deafening to his ear, yet wasn't it louder than usual...? Even at this speed it was simply too loud.

And that was when he realized.

 _Wind_.

Yet he didn't see her cast any wind! So how did she-!?

Then the final piece of the puzzle was finally put into place, making his eye widen to the size of a dinner plate.

She created this gust of wind _behind_ him...! That was the only way!

It was a powerful gust that was pushing him down, nothing too impressive if she created it with a magic circle in close proximity to her body, but she _didn't_ create it in close proximity to herself.

This...wasn't just 'average' anymore...

Only one that trained for years with the element should've been able to do something like that...

Yet, once more, his thoughts were cut off when the overbearing sensation of pain interrupted them, which was caused by the fact that he _crashed_ into his own barrier.

The glass-like wall was shattered, as Diodora never bothered to reinforce it from _his_ side, sending it all crashing down to earth.

His body eventually, finally, crashed down to earth, creating a decent-sized crater on impact while knocking the wind out of him.

Diodora squirmed on the spot, wheezing, desperate to get some air into his lungs.

As he was falling, Mio was already charging her next attack, knowing that she was drudging up almost all of her last reserves left. This wouldn't leave her totally empty, but she was definitely almost out.

So when he finally crashed to the ground, she was ready.

The teen slammed her hands to the ground, sweat glistening on her face, teeth bared.

Diodora barely managed to bring some much needed air to his lungs when he noticed that the ground under him was _moving_ , almost as if...

His eye snapped to his -damnable!- enemy, who was shaking violently as her hands were clasped on the ground.

She could use earth too!?

That made all five elements...

What could she become with some proper tutelage...?

However, he had no time to think still, as he suddenly realized what exactly his enemy was up to.

"...You...devious cretin...!" he snarled out, bringing his arms out as he very quickly created two defensive magic circles to stop the two objects from smashing on top of him.

The earth under him was pushing against the foundations of two large objects, forcing them to tip and topple over, namely, on top of _him_.

He was in the middle of the street, using two magic circles to stop the _two apartment buildings_ that were threatening to crash on top of his head and envelop his body whole.

By the time he even noticed the danger, they were already halfway there, so he couldn't even escape in time, let alone dodge.

He was stuck holding two buildings afloat.

"Hey...! I'm not...done... _yet!"_

Diodora snapped his eye forward, fear quickly overtaking it as he saw Naruse Mio charging at him, her left arm supporting her right, a magic circle on the palm of her right hand.

The red-head was clearly closing the gap, using the last dredges of her demonic energy for this attack on the palm of her hand.

All she had left to do, was imagine it.

Imagination, that was the key to all of her attacks, and this one especially.

She had to _spin_.

Spin.

Spin.

Spin.

Spin.

The ball of fire she created was rotating faster and faster as she poured her last bit of energy into it, concentrating it into a tight form thanks to the rotation.

The image in her head was of that time...so long ago...

Of a sphere, holding a maelstrom in it's depths, spinning at seemingly impossible speeds.

The _rasengan_.

...At least, that was the inspiration for what she was about to do.

Yet her attack was nothing like that, nothing at all.

Naruto's _rasengan_ not only spun around in one direction, it spun around in _every_ direction, giving it that grinding effect that made it so strong.

At least, so her brother gloated.

Her's did nothing more than spin in one direction, concentrating her power into a single point, like Naruto's, but without the grinding.

She wasn't even sure if it was possible to imitate that attack with demonic energy, yet she tried anyways.

This was the result, thanks to her training.

It was a pale imitation of a truly great technique.

Some bitter, dark part of her mind couldn't help but believe that it fit her like a glove.

Yet even if she was a 'failure'...

Mio jumped up, raising her spinning ball of fire, thrusting it forward at Diodora's face.

Even if she couldn't measure up...

A single orange eye watched the orb reach him, hallucinating in his fear of what was about to happen.

Instead of the young red-head that was about to shove an orb of power into his face, he saw something else _entirely_.

A young blond, with piercing blue eyes, soaring towards him, roaring out his attack's name as he raised his sphere and smashed it into his face.

Then his mind returned to reality, seeing his _sister_ do the same.

"Even if I'm a failure...!" she screamed out, her face contorted in her effort. "I will still never lose to a _bastard_ like **YOU!** "

The spinning fire smashed against his mask, it's flames spreading and engulfing that side of his face without remorse.

 **"GAAAAAAAGH!"** he screamed, hands clasping his face as his mask melted, trying to put out the fire.

His concentration was broken.

And so were his magic circles.

Mio scrambled out of the zone of immediate danger, moving with all of her might to get away from the destruction that was about to happen.

She barely made it.

The ground under her split to pieces, knocking her off of her feet and onto the ground as the shockwave of what went on behind her also pushed her away.

Mio was sent away in a tumbling roll, as billows of dust overflowed her senses simultaneously.

She barely managed to tell, but as the world was spinning around her, she saw the remnants of both apartment buildings crash towards the ground, as the tops of both buildings ripped each other apart when they intercepted one another on the way down.

When the teen finally managed to finish rolling, debris was still falling all around her, but she couldn't tell what was going on more than that thanks to the dust cloud. Even while squinting.

"...D-Did I do it?" she asked quietly, peeking through her bangs to look at the the damage that the buildings have done.

The falling buildings have completely laid waste to the area, leaving nothing but the rough fragments of the once whole structures.

Mio crawled back up to her hands and feet, struggling to actually get onto her feet properly, but eventually managed it.

She walked -limped really- towards the ruins that were recently created, cautious, inspecting it for her enemy.

After a few tense seconds, her eyes snapped to the little bit of movement that she saw in her peripheries.

A harsh gasp erupted from the ruins, confirming her suspicions about where the former noble devil actually was.

The man himself was still buried deep in the rubble, with most of his body caught underneath, with only his single orange eye visible to her.

That same eye locked onto her when she limped closer, unwavering in it's intensity as she moved to stand in front of where the body should be.

"...Hate... _you_..." a muffled voice spoke up venomously, eye wishing death on her, if such a thing was possible.

Surprisingly, Mio was somewhat impassive to the man's words, just choosing to stare down at him with a neutral expression.

It took a little bit for her to actually take a breath and speak again.

"...I'm a failure...in your words anyways, even if they have a layer of truth in them." the red-head stated quietly, a hint of self-depreciating humor interlaced in her words. "But...just a thought...I think that someone that _loses_ to a failure...is quite a bit more pathetic than the actual failure...don't you think?"

That single eye widened in outrage, as the body underneath began to rumble a little bit to the force of the devil's rage.

"...Both...you and your _bastard_ of a brother...should die..." was all he managed to choke out.

But once more, the half-devil didn't care, opting to instead pick up a stray metallic rod that was lying on top of the rubble and raise it high above her head, focusing on Diodora.

She glared down at her enemy, jaw clenched at what she was going to do.

She's...never done this to a sentient being before...so she wasn't sure if she'd be ok afterwards, but this man couldn't be allowed to stay in this world.

Someone that even Naruto regretted to leave alive could _not_ be allowed to stay that way.

"...Say what you will about me." Mio excused without much fuss, but her gaze sharpened just as quickly at what she said next. "But don't you _dare_ speak about my Naruto like that."

Without much hesitation at all, the young woman thrust her rod down at where she felt the man's cold and dead heart was.

Blood splattered across the ground, it's obscene color spreading across the remains of the buildings that both of the combatants were occupying.

The single orange eye that was staring at the young female teen was blank for a few seconds, not reacting to the blood one way or another.

Then a surprising thing happened.

That eye widened in _triumph_.

 ***Clang***

A metallic rod clattered on the ground, slipping through limp fingers.

Mio wasn't paying attention to the rod anymore.

Rather, she was paying attention to the claw that pierced her stomach from behind, watching as blood slowly spilled from the wound and all over the floor.

It took a while for her to actually register what was happening, she just couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

She had it. She had _this_.

So then...what was this?

The claw exited from her body, leaving the wound wide open.

As soon as that happened, Mio fell backwards, unable to do anything else, numb.

It was all hazy, and clouded.

When she fell over, she met the very beast that attacked her from behind, seeing the malformed visage of a human-scorpion hybrid, it's mandibles clacking lowly.

She already knew what she was looking at.

"...Stray devil..." she mumbled quietly, eyes blank.

"Got it in one again...consider me impressed, Mio-chan~" the mocking voice of Diodora said.

He also appeared right in front of her, blocking the moon with his body.

...Wait, that was impossible.

How? How could he possibly be-?

"Confused about how I'm in such a good condition after such a dramatic attack?" Diodora asked, smirking darkly. "Well...let's just say that I took some...precautions when I started this battle."

Indeed, his body, while full of wounds and scratches, was still in pristine condition if one considers the fact that two buildings just fell on top of him.

Meanwhile, instead of verbalizing what his 'precaution' was, he jerked his head back to where he was initially entombed underground.

Warily, Mio allowed her gaze to follow through.

What she saw made her ill.

Two mutilated bodies were laid inside what should have been Diodora's grave, replacing him in effect.

And just by judging them on their disfigured bodies, she could tell that they were stray devils.

"...The mansion that I led you to when we started our battle...in that building I found the remains of a dead stray devil, one that was actually quite strong. It seemed that someone took the liberty to destroy the insane beast before I had arrived." Diodora mused out loud, tapping his charred chin in thought. "Not only that, but that stray devil seemed to have cowed the _other_ stray devils in the vicinity..."

As if directed, several grotesque beings suddenly began appearing from around the vicinity, flanking the traitorous devil as if they were guards.

His single orange eye was dancing at the flash of fear that appeared in his prey's eyes.

"So after I revived him...not only did I actually win the jackpot by getting a new servant...but I've also gained control of all of the stray devils that were gathering in Kuoh Town by proxy! So when you left me for dead under those buildings...at least two of my slaves were already ready to throw their bodies on top of me and absorb most of the damage in order to preserve my life."

Even as he was speaking, the young man couldn't help but delight in watching the teenaged _girl's_ pain.

He wondered what kind of face she'd make after he revealed _why_ all of these stray devils converged on Kuoh Town in the first place?

Not focusing on that yet, the twisted man splayed his hands apart, smug in his demeanor. "In short, while you may have managed to nearly kill me...actually, no...you _would_ have killed me with that little stunt of yours, it doesn't change the fact that you still failed to account for my back-up plan. In the end, you're still just a little girl playing with the big boys."

Mio was silent, focusing too much of her strength on keeping herself from losing consciousness, as she felt her blood continue to pool around her.

Diodora leaned closer to her, close enough that she could see _why_ he used a mask to hide the other side of his face.

Burned beyond recognition, lips destroyed to the point that it couldn't hide the rotten teeth underneath, a jaw that was holding onto his face by a thread, and an empty socket without any trace of an eyeball.

She couldn't help but be a little proud of the damage she's done.

But her pride was cut short when she felt Diodora cup her cheek with his hand, eye filled with nothing but malevolence.

"...I'm supposed to bring you back to Lucifer-sama alive." he murmured, eye drinking her up. "But your attitude will be a problem...so I think I have to break you in a little bit."

If the red-head could have, she would have bit back with a harsh response, but she was barely able to stay awake. Let alone fight.

Nevertheless, the former heir of the Astaroth clan turned to his subordinate stray devils, giving them a single command.

"Hold her down."

Pink eyes widened, fear gripping her heart as she forced every ounce of any possible hidden strength that she might have kept in reserve to _move_.

To get away, _now_.

But two hideous stray devils moved closer to her, intent on following the orders of their 'master', their claws stretched out to capture.

Then they froze on the spot, moving their heads upwards to focus on something else.

As soon as they made that strange reaction-

 ***BOOM***

-something exploded right in-between the two mindless beasts, stopping their march forward.

Just as Mio was trying to figure just what was going on, she felt two arms hook from under her armpits and drag her back. _Away_ from Diodora.

"Hold on! I got ya! We need to make a little bit of space though first!"

The daughter of the Original Lucifer felt her heart skip a beat as a gasp escaped her throat, unable to actually believe who came to back her up, of all people.

She was then unceremoniously dropped like a sack of potatoes, making her grunt at the rough treatment, until her body suddenly felt...soothed.

Bleary pink eyes watched as a green aura began to close down the wound that the sneak attack from earlier made, marveling at it.

She tilted her head up, locking with the concerned green eyes of a certain nun.

"...Asia-san..." the half-devil managed to croak, her strength slowly returning to her. "What...are you doing here?"

Asia was holding her hands over her body, the rings on her fingers shining and releasing a green aura which was restoring her physical body back to full health.

The human teen offered her a shy smile as she continued to heal her wounds. "W-Well...we were out trying to get some medicine, but then we somehow got caught inside this barrier..."

Mio blinked, unable to believe that these two were getting _medicine_ at a time like this...

But considering they were here, she wasn't gonna complain.

"Yeah! It was a big coincidence that we got dragged into this...but now that we're here, we can finally do something!" the young man that dragged her back claimed excitedly, before offering her a thumbs up. "So don't worry about a thing, I got this!"

Pink eyes dully considered the red gauntlet that was giving her a thumbs up, unamused. "...Didn't you lose to this guy last time, though?"

Hyoudou Issei's facial features reflected that of confusion, giving her the impression that he had no idea who exactly he was fighting.

She was right.

The perverted young man turned his head to peer at where their enemies were now that the dust finally settled down...

"... _You!_ " Issei rumbled lowly, eyes turning into daggers at the familiar visage of Diodora Astaroth.

The former heir of the Astaroth clan didn't look too happy to see him either, clicking his tongue in annoyance at the interruption.

"...Yeah, it's _that_ guy." Mio coughed out, still a little pale from her injuries. "Look...thanks for getting me out of that situation, both of you, but that bastard over there made this fight personal. Don't interfere-!"

The owner of the _Boosted Gear_ loudly snorted, cutting her off, much to her annoyance.

"What? You think that I don't have personal beef with this guy too?" he asked, completely serious. "No...I'm definitely joining in this fight. This is the chance that I've been waiting for!"

The reincarnated devil pumped his fist, his eyes burning with raw emotion as he glared at Diodora. "I...I couldn't beat this guy last time. I would have died if Naruto didn't intervene last time...but now it's different, I'm stronger now. Not only that, but now I can actually pay Naruto back for back then...by making sure his imouto comes out of this alive."

He then turned back to her, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. "Basically, you're outta luck. Sorry about that."

Mio stared back at him, studying him, not responding for a moment.

Then she closed her eyes, sighing.

"...If you don't take him down by the time I get back on my feet." she stated matter-of-factly, quirking an eye open to give him a look. "Then it'll be _you_ who's out of luck...Issei."

Issei smirked, taking the back-handed acknowledgement.

So all he had to do was bash this guy's face in before she recovered? He could do that.

The young man raised his red gauntlet, more than ready to let loose his new abilities onto the asshole that nearly took his beloved away from him.

"Now come on, Mio-san...lay down so I can continue to heal you." Asia coaxed the half-devil, who slowly followed with the 'doctor's' orders.

Mio tilted her head to the sky, seeing the moon reach it's zenith in the sky.

It was definitely late, and she couldn't help but worry about how everyone else was doing.

"...Are you looking at the same moon as me...Naruto...?" she wondered quietly.

She didn't receive an answer.

With that, the young woman finally decided to allow the nun to continue healing her. There was no way that she would let the pervert get Diodora all to himself.

* * *

Naruto looked up at the night sky, frowning.

It was midnight.

Well damn, how time flied when he was focusing on other things.

Strange enough, he just... _had_ to look at the moon for some reason...

How weird.

"Hey, uh...excuse me, do you know when the airliner from...uh...I think it was 'Frankfort'...? No! Frankfurt! So yeah, when does the next flight from Frankfurt Airport come in?" the shinobi stammered out, a little embarrassed at his constant screw ups.

The man he was speaking to, a cashier from behind the counter for one of the many fast food restaurants in the airport, just stared at him blankly.

"...I do believe that it was announced that the Frankfurt flight has arrived earlier than scheduled, sir." the cashier replied bluntly, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto's jaw dropped at this burst of information, feeling a sweat-drop flow down his head.

"...Really?"

"...Really."

...

"Oh _shit!_ " the blond cried out, jumping off of the stall that he was lounging in and running towards where he knew the people should've been getting out of the plane.

The cashier stared at the spot where the young man used to sit, his eyebrow twitching sporadically, realizing that the blond completely forgot to pay him for the food he ate.

Naruto quickly managed to reach the terminal where the church agent should have exited from, despairing when he saw plenty of people leaving the area, giving him the impression that mostly everyone had left the airliner already.

Damn it...! There were a hell of a lot of announcements, so of _course_ he'd ignore a few of them! How was he supposed to know that the plane would arrive earlier than expected?

This was not his fault, damn it!

The shinobi scanned the area desperately, trying to look for someone, _anyone_ that might look like an agent sent by the church.

Naruto winced at the thought, what was he thinking exactly? Of course an agent sent by the church wouldn't look...well...suspicious. They were supposed to be an agent after all.

Ah...but then how was he supposed to-?

"Excuse me sir, you seem lost."

The shinobi paused his thinking to turn around, on the verge of excusing himself so that he could continue his search.

But he stopped in mid-action, his blue eyes zeroing in on the clothes that the young man was wearing.

Said young man was wearing clothes that befits a wealthy priest from a wealthy church, with cross symbols all around his clothing, and what looked like... _feathers_ around his collar.

His clothes were about as eye-opening and ostentatious as was humanly possible.

Naruto wanted to facepalm, but he didn't want to waste the chance that was given to him.

This was the guy, this was _definitely_ the guy!

So the blond opened his mouth, about to tell him his rehearsed story-

"...You're troubled, aren't you?" the church agent asked rhetorically, giving the teen a sympathetic look.

Naruto paused in telling his story, befuddled at what the hell this guy was talking about.

The psuedo-priest just kept going, his green eyes beseeching him. "I sensed your hidden conflict as soon as I landed in this country, blaring out at me with the force of a hurricane...and I knew that you'd be searching for me."

The shinobi still had no idea what the hell he was on about, but the fact that he somehow 'knew' that he'd be searching for the agent shocked him.

Did he know why he was here then?

"You see..." the green-eyed man continued, rambling. "I have a special ability that allows me to control weather, but since I have such an abnormal amount of talent with that 'ability', I could actually use it to connect with others emotionally, to a certain extent. Especially with my _Speranza Bolla di Sapone_ , but normally I wouldn't be able to actually feel someone else's emotions to such an extent...but yours were simply that powerful."

Naruto's eyes widened fractionally, taking in all of this information, but didn't respond outside of that.

It was by that point that the church agent suddenly stopped speaking, his eyes glued onto the blond's face, before a wide smile graced his features.

"I see. So you _are_ aware of the supernatural."

The whiskered teen's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, gaping at what his fellow male just said, did he just hear him right...?

"You didn't dismiss my words." the unknown man stated simply, still smiling. "Most people, after hearing what I have just said, would have dismissed me as insane, yet you didn't. Only someone who was already aware of the supernatural would react in such a manner...or I suppose someone who was legitimately insane, but I doubt that this time."

"...This time?"

"Long story."

Naruto accepted that answer.

He could sympathize.

Though...to think that this guy could determine that he knew about the supernatural through such a roundabout way...

This guy was good, no doubt about it.

"Anyway." the psuedo-priest continued, getting back on topic. "I just wished to inform you about the current state of your psyche, as I'm sure that our meeting was supposed to happen, whether by luck or Providence's will. What you do with that knowledge is up to you, but I must be on my way. As I have a duty to complete myself. Have an excellent evening, sir."

And so the church agent turned on his heels, moving to leave and complete the job that his superiors gave him.

At least until the man felt a certain someone place their hand onto his shoulder, stopping him short.

"Wait." Naruto stated calmly, voice firm.

As told, the man waited.

"...Now, I don't know about the other stuff that you said, but I'll admit it, I came here to speak to you alright...about that very mission that you gotta do."

The church agent was silent for a few moments, still looking away from the blond teen.

Then he slowly tilted his head to look at Naruto, looking at him through the side of his eye. "...What's your name?"

A slow grin spread across his lips, raising his chin in challenge. "Uzumaki Naruto."

In return, a slow smile stretched across the other man's face as well. "...Dulio Gesualdo...but I suppose since this is Japan...it's Gesualdo Dulio. A pleasure to meet you."

Dulio then turned his body to face the teen, his dirty blond hair covering his eyes for a split-second.

"Very well then...let's _talk_."

* * *

Ruby eyes were locked unerringly onto the specter in the dark sky, giving the world illumination during the quiet night.

It was a beautiful sight, maybe even a romantic one if one were so inclined.

But it mattered very little to the young woman that was watching it, as such a thing wasn't meant for rulers. Such sentimental drivel were meant for those _beneath_ her.

No...as a matter of fact, she wasn't even looking at the moon. Not really.

Her eyes were looking past the moon, past this world, past space and time itself to...something else.

A dream? A vision? She wasn't sure what would one call it.

But through the chairman, she _saw_ it.

As the memory trickled back to the forefront of her mind, it was almost like she was transported back to when she herself personally experienced the vision, when she was still a little girl...

Back when she first reached her conclusions about life.

Back when she didn't really have anything more than the vague aspiration of 'becoming perfect' as her goal.

Her very first vision into another world.

The first time she saw that _boy_...

Yes...it was a repeat of the one that the chairman himself first saw.

The one with the boy and the mirror, where he simply stared at himself, almost as if he was trying to study about his own existence.

It was something that she could understand, especially as a child herself, back then.

She remembered hearing all about the old man's grand ambitions, how she would use this boy as a conduit to greater powers and abilities.

And she would, to an extent.

But while it aided her in her understanding of...certain things, there was something else that interested her far more. Both then, and now.

Back then, when she first saw the vision, one of the first things that she remembered seeing was a mirror.

At first, seeing the eyes that were reflecting off of them, she thought that she was looking at herself.

...She wasn't.

What she saw had already happened in that world, all she essentially was was a ghost that replayed an event for research.

She could watch, but not interfere.

So the mirror was reflecting off of the boy that was _truly_ there, the one that was right behind her, looking through her, staring at _her_ with the mirror.

That was the first time that she met the boy that she would know as Uzumaki Naruto.

Ruby eyes blinked, focusing on the entity in the sky again rather than what happened in the past.

In her quest for perfection, it almost seemed appropriate for him of all people to be the one to stand in her way.

The principal road block to her success.

Over here, she was the undisputed ruler; a tyrant.

There were only two individuals that ever bothered to refute her supremacy, but neither of them ever tried to usurp her authority.

Not anymore.

Although, the one that fancied himself a 'king' sometimes grumbled a little, he knew that he was beat.

There was a reason that she was now known as the 'king of kings' after all.

But Uzumaki Naruto on the other hand...he didn't know about her sublime self, he had no idea.

...And even if he did know, something told her that he wouldn't bow to her. At least not without a fight.

Not only that, but if he ever caught wind of what was in motion in this institution, he would without a doubt come and stop her.

Unbidden, she felt the corner of her mouth twitch upwards.

It was fitting too...as she wanted to face him, even if he wasn't standing in her way.

Even if he wasn't the key to making herself complete.

...After seeing him for the first time in that vision, she would peer into the many key points of his life thanks to the chairman, studying him. Learning.

But, even back then, no, _especially_ back then, she noticed a change in him.

It was something that she was sure that the chairman noticed, but compared to her, he never really cared about such a thing.

It was the boy's eyes.

They _changed_.

When she first saw him, his eyes had that dull quality that only those who have understood the fruitless nature of life itself could have possibly obtained.

It was the eyes of enlightenment, at least to her.

Of someone who has transcended normal thought and morality.

Yet...that changed.

Dull blue shifted to the _lie_ that was the bright blue.

Why?

Why?

Why?

She couldn't understand it, she almost didn't want to.

Just why did he turn away from the _truth_ _?_

Even as she was thinking, she absent-mindedly felt the tiles under her fingers crack and split apart, a snarl making her face _ugly_...

"Ah...! I found you at last! Listen, the chairman was trying to contact you, K-!"

The 'king of kings' turned her head to the side, looking at the woman that interrupted her thoughts.

Said teenaged female quaked at the look that she was given.

"Uh...a-apologies for interrupting you." the messenger stammered quickly, knowing her life depended on this. "But the chairman said that the arrangements have been made...and that you're free to go after you meet with him..."

Ruby eyes widened fractionally.

"I see...very well then." the purple-haired ruler replied, tone clipped. "Then inform the chairman that I'm on my way."

A flash of relief flitted across the messenger's features as she immediately scrambled away from the tyrant, aware that her life depended on her getting away.

Already forgetting about the measly existence that was just talking to her, the ruler pushed herself away from the roof, her cold heart beating a little faster.

Finally...they would meet.

 _Finally..._

* * *

"...How annoying."

At least that was Shiba's clear opinion when it came to the side mission that he had to complete.

The traitorous hero had literally _just_ returned back to the Japanese branch of the Hero Tribe, with many of his 'comrades' questioning where he has been for so long.

Thankfully Shiba had already traveled to the ruins of the Chinese branch, were the remnants of the Hero Faction were now temporarily stationed. And he took the liberty of obtaining evidence of his stay there, using that to belay the suspicions of others.

But apparently there were still some who were still dubious of his claims.

Of course, this request from the old man was one that he made when they made their 'transaction' with one another...and it _did_ potentially put him into an uncomfortable position.

Oh...but the possible benefits...

Put simply, if Shiba used his sensing abilities to find Uzumaki Naruto again, and then give the old man his location...then a clash would inevitably occur in such an instance.

If something like that happened, then that would definitely take off the heat on the battered faction that he has inherited from Cao Cao.

But more than that, he could very much take out _two_ enemies at once.

The old man wasn't his friend, not by a long shot, so if Uzumaki Naruto could destroy the has-been and wreck his plans, that'd be mighty appreciated.

And if he died trying? Well...that wouldn't be a bad thing either.

As long as one or the other is weakened or taken out, he would be fine with this, that just meant that there was one less rival on the chessboard.

And thankfully...Uzumaki Naruto's energy signal was very easy to remember. It _was_ quite vibrant.

So all he had to do was take some time off of his day to spread his senses...and wait for the young man to use his powers.

He would get a fix on him almost immediately, as long as he was near Japan anyways.

Shiba raised his head a little when his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door.

He knew exactly who that was.

The young man swiftly stood up, his trademark smile and slit eyes plastered on his face, getting ready to play his part.

"Why hello there, Jin-dono." Shiba remarked warmly after opening the door, seeing the faction leader of the Hero Tribe on the other side of the door. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Toujou Jin, who was usually a lax man at the best of times, was strangely serious as he nodded to him in acknowledgement. "Shiba. Come, there's going to be a meeting among the elders in a few minutes in the Grand Hall, and we need as much information as you could provide about what happened."

The traitorous hero expressed light shock at this, despite the fact that he already knew that something like this would happen. "Oh? So the Hero Tribe higher ups are already preparing an appropriate response then, huh...? Sounds like a big deal."

The powerful hero nodded grimly. "It is. Which is why we need to be as informed as possible. Especially when we contact the other branches of the Hero Tribe, mostly around the Pacific."

Once more, the younger man was more than aware of that, but for simplicity's sake he just continued to act ignorant. "Of course, then please lead the way Jin-dono. I'll do what I can."

"Good." the Great Hero stated briskly, a small smile gracing his features. "...Just don't get 'lost' this time...would you...?"

Shiba twitched, back tensing.

"...Of course."

Sharp brown eyes remained on the younger hero, studying him without comment, before Jin turned on his heel and moved towards the meeting place. Not making any further comment.

Shiba watched him go, sweating slightly.

He sometimes forgot, but that man was indeed dangerous.

...More than that, he was suspicious of him.

The brown-haired man couldn't stay at the Hero Tribe for too much longer, one more slip up and he was a dead man.

He could at least take some solace in the fact that he twisted his son's mind for quite a few years, and since the boy was recaptured, that information should reach the 'Great Hero' soon enough.

A distraction like that would be more than enough for him to complete his task.

All he needed now...was patience.

* * *

 **AN: Hey everyone RekkingPride here. Just finished this chapter, it's a doozy ain't it? I hope everything was to your satisfaction? :)**

 **Anyways, can I ask you guys for a favor? I don't normally do this, but can you guys send me as many reviews as you can this time around?**

 **Apologies, but just yesterday I got my wisdom teeth removed, and now I'm stuck in bed, in pain through intervals. And reviews would be awesome to read while I recover:P**

 **So just this once I will ask for reviews, I try not to be a review whore, but this is obviously special. Thanks a bunch you guys. :)**

 **Last thing, I have decided to rewrite chapters 1-4 due to the gap in grammar. I already did chapter 1, so plz check it out. Should be far more readable now. Plz tell me if you got any criticisms. They are roughly the same with some minor changes, so don't worry about any real changes.**

 **Alright, that's all. Cya all later!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	35. Chapter 35

**AN: Damn, better than before, but somehow managed to get above 30k. I have no idea how, I was determined _not_ to do that too!**

 **Still, baby steps, right?**

* * *

Naruto stared blankly at the array of dishes in front of him, unsure of how things got to this point.

Okonomiyaki, that was what this dish in front of him was, right?

...Correction, the dish that _was_ in front of him.

The shinobi in question was currently sitting in a stall with a certain church agent, side-by-side while he was eating a large amount of Japanese food beside him.

Rather, he was _inhaling_ them.

Did he have time to breathe while going that fast?

Some part of himself, deep inside his brain wondered if this was how people saw him eat ramen.

He should probably apologize for all those times that he ate in front of Mio and Maria then...

Anyway, the young agent; Dulio, wanted to make sure that he ate as many delicacies as possible while in the country of Japan, as he seemed to have a penchant for gobbling up as much exotic food as possible.

So here they were, sitting in a stall, where the agent essentially invited the blond to eat along with him.

Naruto lost his appetite roughly around the same second that he saw the guy start chowing down.

If anyone asked though, the shinobi would deny that the two events had anything to do with each other, he definitely just had a stomachache dattebayo...

"Hey, Naruto-dono."

Naruto was quickly brought back to reality by the church agent, with his blue eyes quickly registering the young man's slightly excitable features.

"...Are you going eat that?" Dulio asked politely, pointing at something in front of Naruto's body.

The shinobi followed his finger, deadpanning at the tempura dish that managed to escape the man's stomach for so long.

It was a trooper, but even the mighty tempura must fall sometimes. As all exotic food must in front of this glutton.

"...Help yourself." the teen _tried_ to say, but the dish quickly vanished from his eyesight, erased from existence by Dulio's bottomless appetite.

The shinobi couldn't help but notice that he would have to split the difference of the cost of all of these meals, despite the fact that he didn't even eat anything in the first place...

"Ah~ That was good. So this is Japanese food, hm? It really was worth skipping over breakfast and lunch for this~"

Oi, he skipped over breakfast and lunch? No wonder he was hungry!

Poor Gama-chan, his faithful toad-themed wallet...he would be a hell of a lot skinnier after this...

As the blond continued to lament his decision to split the bill, Dulio finally turned his attention back to the teen. All smiles. "Well, I'm sorry for the shoddy introduction earlier, I was quite hungry you see, and was _really_ looking forward to trying out the food in this country. I might have actually overdone it a bit, but it was worth it in the end I think."

The agent paused for a moment, frowning, before he quickly turned back to the table to snatch a napkin, wiping his face of all of the leftover food.

Naruto stared at him, a single eyebrow twitching sporadically as he waited.

He could tell that the guy was a good person...but even good people could annoy the crap out of you sometimes.

For a while, the 'priest' wiped his mouth with the napkin, taking his leisurely time, until he finally returned his gaze back to his newest acquaintance. "Alright, I'm good now. So, you ready to talk now?"

The shinobi wanted to hit the guy now, he's _been_ ready to talk for the entire time!

But he -somehow- managed to quell that overwhelming desire and swallowed the feeling away.

"...Yeah." the blond remarked, huffing. "About your mission, if you even remember?"

While Naruto was admittedly annoyed, and mostly said that due to his petulant attitude, he didn't _actually_ expect to see the glutton next to him blink confusedly.

"...Oh, right." Dulio murmured, eyes widening.

A blank look was all that the shinobi could spare to the church agent.

Nevertheless, Dulio took the silence as a chance to finally begin speaking about the serious topic at hand. "Ok, so you told me before that you wanted me to back off from my assigned mission, yes?"

Seeing that they were finally getting the show on the road, the shinobi straightened himself and nodded.

"...I see." the 'priest' spoke softly, before tilting his head to the side in curiosity. "But how exactly do you even know about that mission? It was very much classified information, and I fail to see how you could have gotten that without...an informant."

Like flipping a coin to see another aspect of the same thing, Dulio's demeanor shifted to a far more serious side to his personality, suspicion in his eyes as he pinned his fellow blond with a stare. "...It wouldn't be something like that, right?"

Naruto already had an answer ready for him, mentally rehearsed for a few hours for just this moment, and he opened his mouth to deliver it.

But then he paused mid-action, reconsidering on the fly.

...

"Yes, actually. That's exactly how I found out." the teenager admitted easily, sliding in closer conspiratorially. "Not only that, but I'm here because the leader of the fallen angels; Azazel, has requested me to be here."

The 'priest' blinked, all pretenses of seriousness gone from his face as he looked at the powerful teen with an owlish expression. "...Really?"

Blue eyes were lit up in amusement at the look he was getting. "... _Really_."

Yes, instead of trying to justify where the blond got this information from, he'd just be blunt and honest.

It would catch the agent in front of him off-guard, give himself a sense of honesty, _and_ he'd be able to stick it to that old bastard.

...Ok, that last part was a bit petulant, but still, he wanted to get back to Kuoh Town, not be out here trying to stop a possible war from breaking out.

That should've been _Azazel's_ job, or at least one of his underling's.

Yes, yes, he knew that there were other circumstances that prevented this, but the entire thing still irked him regardless.

...He'd at least make sure to properly explain the situation to the church agent next to him, and make sure to get Azazel-san's agent out of whatever post he was in unharmed.

Dulio leaned back, looking apologetic if anything. "That...seems kind of irresponsible of him, don't you think?"

The whiskered teen couldn't have agreed more. "I know, right!? Where the hell does he come off, interrupting my peaceful days by dragging me into this!? The man's definitely super irresponsible!"

The church agent sighed, sympathizing. "Yes, sometimes the higher ups just don't understand the feelings of those below them. Sometimes I wish Michael-sama would give me a break on these missions so that I could try out the local cuisine more..."

Suddenly, instead of talking about the serious topic of subterfuge and Dulio's mission, the two began complaining about their 'bosses' like a pair of tired salary men.

One could be forgiven if they rolled their eyes at the scene, as neither of their complaints were _that_ valid, but still, the two were practically forming a sense of camaraderie due to their respective situations.

Still, Naruto knew that even if he wanted to deny it, he still had a stake in this. So he had to cut this nice complaining session short.

However, it would seem that Dulio had the same idea.

"...That being said, Naruto-dono, why are you so intent on aiding someone like Azazel if he interrupted your 'peaceful days' as you've put it?" Dulio wondered, seeking understanding. "He's not threatening you, is he?"

Getting right back into the thick of things again, Naruto refocused and shook his head. "No, nothing like that. Actually, I was exaggerating a little back there, as I _do_ have a stake in this. But it's pretty complicated dattebayo."

Taking this chance, the teen continued, absentmindedly tapping his index finger against the counter that they were occupying. "You see...if you left to go to Kuoh Town, then there'd be a chance that a... _big_ misunderstanding could occur. A massive one. So I'd like to avoid that if possible, as I have people that I care about that live in the area, and I don't want anything bad to happen to them. So to that end, I'd like for you to cancel this mission."

The church agent leaned in closer, a frown marring his features. "So...there are circumstances in Kuoh Town that could cause a misunderstanding? Well then, maybe you should tell me what's going on so that it doesn't come to that."

Ah, if only it was that simple.

The shinobi honestly thought about that as he made his way to the airport as he considered his options.

Explaining the situation, especially after telling the man that he was sent by Azazel-san, would just make him look guilty.

'Hey, I'm here to stop you from seeing Azazel-san's representative meet with the imouto of a Maou in regards to the legendary blades that were stolen by Kokabiel. So please don't come to Kuoh Town so that we don't get into a misunderstanding~'

Yep, that sounded bad.

Best to just avoid that mess.

"...Yeah, I'm gonna have to be unfair and ignore that reasonable advice."

"...So...you'd like me to cancel my mission on the off chance that you're being straight with me?"

"Yep."

Dulio went silent after that, eyes blankly locking onto the blue pupils of the completely unreasonable blond teen.

Then the 'priest' did something unexpected.

He began to _chuckle_ , looking entirely amused rather than anything else.

"You..." the agent couldn't help but say out loud. "Are an interesting one, you know that?"

"...Oh boy, I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say something along those lines before." the shinobi replied, a tired grin stretching across his lips.

An easy-going shrug was the teenaged blond's only response. "I figured that you would hear a comments like that on a pretty common basis, considering your personality and all. Though, that being said, we now have quite the dilemma, don't we?"

The church-aligned man allowed his form to lean back, away from the counter, before simply laying his arms onto his stomach in relaxation. "How exactly are you going to convince me to back off from my mission? While I think that you're a decent man...I don't necessarily think that you're a trustworthy one, at least in regards to something so important. What you're asking of me is pretty unreasonable after all, you _do_ realize that, right?"

Yeah, Naruto was definitely being unreasonable, at least he probably looked that way in Dulio's point of view.

But it didn't change the fact that his motives were decent, and that someone aligned to the church couldn't afford to see something so...easily misunderstood.

Hell, even if Dulio seemed like a decent guy, his superiors, who he'd have to report his findings to, might use this as a convenient excuse to fight.

So, ever the improviser, Naruto offered a suggestion.

"Trade fists with me." the shinobi offered, his blue eyes dancing.

In what was possibly the most 'normal' reaction to such a strange request ever, the young man tilted his head and gave his fellow human an inquisitive look. "...Why would you want to beat me up?"

Despite being seated, the teenager nearly tripped over himself.

"N-No...that's not what I meant." the young blond denied, eyebrow twitching again. "Haven't you ever heard of the concept of 'understanding one another through our fists' before? That's what I was talking about dattebayo..."

Despite the explanation though, Dulio didn't look any more enlightened to what the point of trading fists was.

"...Can't we just talk it out over some food?"

" _No!_ "

The church agent winced, scratching his cheek nervously as he looked away from his companion to get the attention of the cashier, who had, up until this point, stayed away from them.

Talks about supernatural things naturally tended to spook some people away.

Before he could even try to get his attention-

"Oi! Don't order anymore food! My wallet can't handle more of your lust for food!" the shinobi protested hotly, a red tick on his forehead.

Naruto moved to raise his hand in his anger, trying to intercept the order that was about to be given-

" _Do you really want to do this?_ "

The hand froze in mid-action, it's owner's eyes snapping to his fellow blond in genuine shock at the tone of voice that was used in the question.

It was only when he actually looked at the young man that the Vatican sent, that he knew that something changed.

His eyes were suddenly shadowed over by his dirty blond locks, but his serious demeanor was easily noticeable if one accounted for the complete lack of a smile on his features.

It was such an abrupt change that the whiskered teen had no idea what to say.

"...Naruto-dono." Dulio started seriously, steepling his fingers together as he brought his arms onto the counter again. "Do you _really_ want to fight me? Whether there's some sort of way to understand one another by fighting or not is irrelevant...as I don't think that you're in any condition to fight."

The shinobi felt his hackles rise up in challenge, opening his mouth to express his displeasure.

But the psuedo-priest continued, cutting him off. "...I mentioned it before, didn't I? By the time I was arriving in Japan, I very quickly felt your presence. Or rather, your inner conflict, thanks to my Sacred Gear. This isn't really my business...but I think that you should see a psychiatrist, or at least speak to someone about whatever...'problems' you're going through."

Blue eyes stared at the solemn visage of his new acquaintance, speechless, then quickly moved to scan their surroundings, making sure that their conversation was still private, before turning back to him with a stern look. "Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. If there's any kind of 'problem' that I'm having today, it's trying to convince you as quickly as possible, as I want to get home sooner rather than later. So come on! Let's get this over with before we fall asleep, huh?"

Dulio's green eyes crinkled lightly, silent for a few tense seconds.

Naruto didn't respond either, maintaining eye contact with the -presumably- powerful member of the Vatican, hoping to convey his need to rush.

Apparently he managed it, as the psuedo-priest let out a sigh, relenting, and slid off of his seat, walking off. "Come on, if we're gonna do this, then we should make sure that we involve as little people as possible. And I think I know just the place."

The shinobi watched Dulio's retreating back, slightly disturbed at the change in topic, but was grateful for the fact that they were about to move back into far more familiar territory.

Fighting.

So Naruto slid off of his own seat, prepared to follow him.

"...Aren't you forgetting something there, kid?"

...Until the authoritative voice of the owner of the moderate-sized stall stopped him, much to his chagrin.

Slowly, the blond turned around towards the counter to spare a glimpse at the small landowner, a question at the tip of his tongue.

Once more, he didn't even get the chance to ask. As the slip of paper between the owner's fingers told him all that he needed to know.

It was a receipt.

"You forgot to pay." the man noted gruffly, waving the slip of paper in front of him tauntingly.

Naruto didn't even bother to refute his claim, opting to just grab the receipt so that he could pay and get this over with.

At least until he saw the number of digits on the slip of paper.

He paled immediately.

...Wait, he was splitting it with Dulio, so this shouldn't be too-

The shinobi snapped his head to the side, eyes on _fire_ as he realized that the bastard _left_ _him_!

He left him to deal with the bill!

" _DULIOOOO!_ Get your ass back here you cheapskate!"

His furious roar echoed across the area, soon followed by his sad whimpers, bemoaning how skinny poor Gama-chan would become.

* * *

 ***Owoooo***

The howl that echoed across the grove was the signal that the stray devils were looking for.

Rias narrowed her eyes as the sick squeals of the numerous stray devils around them echoed back, quickly charging forward to overwhelm their enemies.

"Second wave! Everyone be careful!" Sona ordered her fellow devils, eyes sharp.

The small group didn't answer her verbally, but they definitely heeded her words as they prepared for the next group attack.

The battle that everyone there was a part of has only started a few moments ago, and so far the devils had just gone through their first wave of enemies without too much difficulty.

Far too little difficulty.

At first, everyone was confused about why the stray devils came in a small wave instead of coming at them all at once, especially Sona.

To her, such a move made absolutely no sense whatsoever, as while there were an extreme amount of stray devils around them...they weren't especially strong.

'Stray devils' was the description that any being received if a member of a Peerage runs away from their _king_ , breaking away from them illegally.

However, not all strays turn into monsters, like the ones that were mindlessly following this werewolf's orders. Only weak devils that were overwhelmed by their power without their _king_ turn into monsters.

The more powerful, or at least the ones with moderate control over their power, don't lose their sanity.

But when they _do_ lose their sanity? Well...they tend to turn into twisted beasts that only listened to their new-found animalistic instincts.

So while these beasts weren't much a threat if they were by themselves...they were _far_ more deadly as a group.

But the answer to her concern very quickly became apparent to not just Sona, but to Rias as well.

Their 'leader'; the werewolf, was watching them, studying their movements and abilities.

The stray devils were meant to gauge their strength.

A smart, if cruel tactic.

While the first wave of enemies revealed most of the devils' basic abilities, it also did help the beleaguered group in a roundabout way.

For one, Yuuto made sure to quickly create a new 'wall' around them by using his _Sword Birth_ , creating rows upon rows of demonic swords that ringed around the group to slow down their greater amount of enemies.

Not only that, but it gave Yuuto plenty of weapons to choose from should he lose the weapons he had on him.

To add to that, there was currently a large eastern dragon made out of water that was coiled around the group protectively, controlled by student council president herself with almost frightening ease.

The rest of the devils were simply doing their overall best to entrench into their position, making sure to obliterate any stray devils that managed to get close to breaking through the perimeter that was made.

So everyone was mostly ready by the time that they were subjected to another wave of enemies.

Rias easily created a crimson magic circle, which spewed an obscene amount of _Power of Destruction_ onto the incoming foes, obliterating all that tried to tank through it.

The wave of power only affected a part of the swarming horde however, leaving the rest to try and get over the wall of swords to get to their meals.

Though this task became more difficult when the water dragon that was encircling the group suddenly lashed out, engulfing the front row of stray devils as it made it's pass.

Despite this, more just took their place and moved up, finally reaching the wall of swords as many of them opened their sharp jaws to begin their feast on the sane.

Unfortunately for them, a certain _knight_ took the reins from there by quickly moving up to intercept the horde, flashing forward while dual-wielding two demonic swords.

Yuuto glowered as he stabbed his right blade into the closest stray devil near him, which was a hybrid of a chameleon and a human, and brutally impaled it with his sword.

Flames erupted from the demonic sword and enveloped the monster whole, forcing a screech out of it as it tried to put itself out.

Without pausing, the young man ducked and grabbed another blade to replace the one that he abandoned in the stray devil. Idly noting that a stream of powerful lightning soared over his head and ripped apart scores of strays that were getting close.

Akeno was busy.

The _knight_ couldn't help but silently marvel at how efficient the group was being, working together to make sure that the artificial perimeter wasn't broken.

Hell, the simple fact was that he couldn't fight in his fullest capacity thanks to the wound on his leg, as his speed was drastically reduced. As well as his overall reflexes.

Yet he barely had to move, mostly thanks to the fact that the occasional burst of _Power of Destruction_ or lightning would decimate small groups of the beasts that were attacking them.

Not to mention the water dragon that was continuously spinning around the group and crashing against any stray that got too close.

Indeed, the perimeter hasn't been breached _once_ yet, which was quite the surprise considering the numbers that were getting sent against them.

But still, they couldn't afford to become lax in their defense. As it was obvious that the leader of these monsters was still keeping something in reserve.

Yuuto's thoughts were cut off from there when a crab-squid hybrid swung it's large mandibles in an attempt to rip his neck off, forcing him to raise his left blade up to cut the attack short.

He managed to do just that, as his demonic blade sliced through the mandible and left a stump in it's place, splashing him with quite a bit of blood.

Electricity sparked from his sword as the monster roared in pain, arcing from the blade's tip and towards the open wound.

If possible, the beast roared even louder as it's body began to shake violently from the high voltage that penetrated it's body. Before falling over, it's body smoking.

The _knight_ had no time to watch however, as he had no choice but to weave his body around and glance away the deadly blows with his swords that the three stray devils attempted on him.

Bringing himself to grips with the situation, the blond swung his right demonic sword around so that it could cut off all of the offending limbs that tried to give him harm, succeeding in doing so _and_ beginning the freezing process of the monsters.

Ice elemental swords worked like that.

All of the insane strays backed away in primitive pain and fear, registering the danger that they were in, but it was too late.

Yuuto stabbed the ice sword into the ground, making sure to focus on his demonic energy...

Pillars of ice pierced through the ground _and_ through the monsters before they could get away, their blood spurting from the fatal wounds that they received as they flowed down from the clear ice.

Mercy simply wasn't affordable at this point in time.

...At least another wall was erected to stop the flood of strays, or at least slow them down enough to give them some space to breathe.

...Yes...another wall...

" _Yuuto!_ Look out!"

Grey eyes snapped back to reality just fast enough to see a large husk of... _something_ swing towards him with great speeds.

He was only fast enough to bring his last sword up in a defensive posture, blocking most of the damage, but still managing to knock the _knight_ off of his feet and into the core of the perimeter.

Rias grunted when the young man crashed into her, sending her to the ground.

Her warning came too late.

Sona snapped her gaze to her friend as the two devils tried to get back into position before the strays took the golden opportunity that was given to them, but-

 ***Owoooo***

...Unfortunately, someone managed to catch their moment of weakness, and was about to exploit it.

Before anyone could have said anything, beams of demonic energy was shot by some stray devils out of their line of view and began to rain down on them,

All while the stray devils close to them moved to engage them in close-quarters combat, not caring or knowing about the impending doom that was about to take them all out.

" _Tsubaki!_ " Sona shouted above the chaos, refusing to budge as the water dragon made another pass and obliterated another wave of strays before they could breach their defensive circle.

The _queen_ of the Sitri group, who was taking charge of the front line at the opposite side of the perimeter that Kiba Yuuto was taking, did as ordered, and broke off from her side to address the 'problem'.

The _king_ made sure to work double-time to make up for the shortfall, knowing that her old friend was one of the few that had the abilities to turn all of this around in one swift stroke.

Tsubaki flew up towards the sky, just as the beams of demonic energy was nearing towards the group from the air, and raised her hands.

" _Mirror Alice!_ "

Just as she cried out her Sacred Gear's name, a large mirror formed right in front of her heterochromic eyes, facing the beams that were about to reach them.

Said attacks quickly closed the gap between themselves and the strange mirror, crashing into it with surprising strength.

Yet, it didn't crack.

Nor did it break.

On the contrary, the mirror remained in the air, static, unresponsive.

Then suddenly, without warning, the very same beams that once crashed against the mirror, suddenly were thrown _out_ of the mirror, retracing their trajectory back to their owners.

Not only that, but those beams were glowing far more brightly when compared to their original counterparts.

Squeals and screams echoed across the plains as the demonic-based attacks ripped apart a far-off section of the forest surrounding the grove, probably destroying the stray devils that launched the attacks in the first place.

Sona nodded, more than satisfied with that outcome.

Truly, the ability to stop and redirect an attack while doubling it's power is an invaluable one, especially in terms of strategic counters.

It was too bad that it came with a cool-down.

Still, their position wasn't that much better than before, as the stray devils that stuck to the ground were still pushing against their position. _Hard_.

Rias and her rebellious _knight_ have recovered after their tumble, now due to the fact that the perimeter had mostly broken down -even with the wall of swords- the duo were literally back-to-back against one another. Supporting each other against the horde.

Despite the rough situation, the Sitri heiress couldn't help but find something humorous in the fact that a _king_ and a _knight_ was back-to-back. The optics of that was all wrong.

But really, this entire situation, from beginning to end, was nearly impossible to speculate about and just flat out out of her depth.

Still, she had no time to be reflecting on their situation, especially when she was focusing on keeping her water dragon stable as it made another pass around them.

And her focus stood strong, at least until she quickly realized something after taking a chance to scan the area around her.

Meanwhile, Yuuto had managed to grab another flaming demonic sword and thrust it towards an oncoming stray, keeping the large monster at bay temporarily, despite his bad footing.

The wound that was made from his attack was quickly cauterized thereafter, as the flames severely burned the body which it was currently stuck into.

Still, the beast that he attacked, an abhorrent monstrosity made of wood with some traces of humanity sprinkled in it's form, was still powerful enough to ignore the pain and continue to attack the young man.

Even with that worrying development, the blond wasn't really worried. He just bent over in order to duck the swing that was inevitably about to come.

As well as the absolute power that was his _king's_ attack, which flew over his head and completely erased the arm that came swinging.

Rias' _Power of Destruction_ was crackling on her fingertips, as she had just let it loose onto the monster that nearly beheaded her _knight._

She did _not_ look happy.

Her blue-green eyes were practically boiling over with her anger as a matter of fact, as miasma-like power emerged in her pupils and locked onto the screeching beast.

" _Disappear_."

An even bigger wave of power emerged from her fingertips as it completely overwhelmed the monster, erasing it from existence without any evidence that it even existed to begin with.

Yuuto just watched, the edge of his lips twisting upwards, completely outside of his will and control.

His _king's_ gaze trialed downwards, her mouth open to ask if he was alright, but she paused after seeing the ever-so-light upturn of his lips, surprised.

She blinked.

Then an enigmatic smile grew across her own lips in response, as if there was some sort of personal joke between them.

It was at that moment that the blond stopped, realizing what he was doing. What _they_ were doing.

Sharing a feeling of _camaraderie_.

...He had to stop, before he-

"Rias! Kiba-san! _Above you!_ "

Sona's shout immediately made both devils react as ordered, snapping their heads to the sky, both pairs of eyes widening at the blur that was speeding towards them.

Before the red-head could even try to respond to the attack-

" _Buchou!"_

-she felt herself shoved away, bodily pushed back without warning.

Whatever the blur was, as soon as she was pushed out of the way, it crashed right where she was once standing, smashing the ground apart.

Rias managed to scramble back to her feet, eyes wide as she watched Yuuto throw up an obscene amount of blood, clutching at the massive paw that embedded itself onto his stomach.

"...Yuuto-?"

" _GAAAAAH!_ "

Yuuto's scream rang in the ears of everyone in the grove, voice strangled as he began to choke, coughing harshly.

The werewolf used it's massive claws to hold the young man down, it's harsh eyes glaring at the group around it, as if daring them to do something.

All of the devils present froze up, afraid of the implied threat as the beast put a little more pressure on the blond under it, allowing whatever attacks that they were controlling to fizzle away.

"...Buchou..." Akeno murmured grimly, seeking direction on what to do.

Except the red-head locked up, she had no idea how they could possibly get the blond out in one piece.

And as she hesitated, the rest of the groups hesitated along with her.

Which meant that the horde of strays finally managed to break through the perimeter, crawling or walking over the bodies of the other mindless beasts.

Their de-facto leader just watched all of them with it's animalistic demeanor, no mercy offered or provided.

Sona spared a glance at her childhood friend, lips thinning, knowing full well that she was hesitating _precisely_ because she didn't want to run the risk of getting her comrade mortally injured...or worse.

And she could understand, but it didn't change the fact that such indecision would get them all killed.

If either of them; the Gremory _or_ Sitri heiresses, got severely or mortally injured...well, it would evoke a very _very_ bad response from at least two Maous.

An unfortunate side-effect of having such affectionate older siblings, which just so happened to be extraordinarily powerful.

They had to think beyond their basic circumstances and think about their overall positions, as they both had dual responsibilities; to nurture their Peerage, and to make sure that their stupid older siblings didn't start a war over them.

So even though she was sympathetic to Rias' plight...someone still had to make the call, for everyone's sake.

Even as she was finally solidifying her resolve to continue the fight, whether the red-head approved or not, she refocused her energy on recreating the oriental water dragon so that it could make another pass around them.

She needed to regain control of the perimeter, they stood no chance without some space.

Although she knew that her _queen_ ; Tsubaki, was already aware of what she was about to do, it seemed that others also caught on to her machinations as her demonic energy began to build up.

The werewolf snapped it's eyes towards her, narrowing darkly as it put a little more pressure on the boy under it.

Almost immediately afterwards, Rias turned as well, eyes as wide as saucers, not quite believing what Sona was doing.

But she knew, she _knew_.

"No...! _"_

The water dragon was already taking shape again in the Gremory heiress' peripheries, beginning to thrust itself forward in order to crash against the unsuspecting waves of enemies.

"Stop! _Sona!"_

But she didn't stop, and she wouldn't stop.

And her _knight_ was about to pay the price.

Yuuto himself realized this as well, as he watched the beast above him raise it's foot, presumably to crush the young man's torso.

It was hazy though, just like his mind, while his breathing was more shallow than he thought possible.

Even with this troubling development, and the overall threat of death literally hanging over his body, his hazy mind was still focused elsewhere.

...Why did he push Buchou out of the way?

When the young man saw the werewolf barreling down onto the two of them, he didn't even think about what he was doing.

He just moved, like an idiot.

...The entire point was to abandon his former life and comrades, yet he went ahead and saved his former _king_. What was with that?

It was ludicrous, yet it happened, and strangely enough...the blond wasn't really upset over it.

How irritable.

How unfortunate.

Still, there was a small smile on Kiba Yuuto's face as the werewolf sent it's foot straight down onto him, the weight behind it sure to kill.

 _"Hei!"_

Almost as soon as the beast moved to finish him, a familiar voice entered the young man's eardrums, legitimately knocking him from his mental trip.

Above him, the great beast that was poised to be the last thing he ever saw was gone, sent flying if the loud crash from a way's away could attest to anything.

Instead, all he saw was the short yet strong body of the young _rook_ of the Gremory group, with her short bob of snow-white hair and her firm hazel eyes aimed at their legendary adversary.

"...Koneko..." he murmured, unable to believe his luck.

Like clockwork, the young girl turned to look at him, her classic poker face on.

"...You're coming home." she said simply.

It wasn't a demand.

Nor was it a question.

It was a statement that posits as to what was going to happen.

A simple fact, no more or less.

Yuuto was genuinely unsure about how he should answer.

"Koneko-chan! W-W-What are you doing here!?" Rias cried out, dragging the attention of the two teens as she ran towards them, breathless. "Wait, if you're here, then Mio-chan is-!"

"Safe." Koneko replied, not worried at all. "I'm sorry Buchou...but I knew that you needed help after I heard the werewolf..."

The red-head narrowed her eyes, a reprimand on the tip of her tongue-

However, before she could even do so, Akeno took a step forward while placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder. "Buchou...we need the back up, and the longer that we stay locked down here, the longer that Mio-chan will remain alone with that...fallen woman."

Rias slammed her mouth shut, eyeing her _queen_ sullenly at the sensible fact that she just espoused.

Still, there was a possible third party involved in this...

...Well, it was too late to worry about that now. What was done was done, all they could do now was finish this as fast as possible.

Even as she was accepting their change in circumstance, the werewolf that Koneko knocked away with her fist got back up, snarling.

At least until something _big_ came crashing against it.

An absolute _huge_ body of water suddenly enveloped the beast, as well the large amount of stray devils that were following it, sending them away or outright crushing them thanks to the water pressure.

The entire perimeter was suddenly cleared up, giving them all the breathing space that they needed.

Blue-green eyes shifted to see the owner of the water-based mythical creature walk towards them, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "...It looks like we've got reinforcements."

Rias turned to her, her eyes wary and voice neutral. "So it seems."

Sona didn't respond, nor did she face her fellow high-class devil face-to-face, focusing all of her attention on the enemies that she wiped away with her attack.

Until she finally tilted her head to the side, just enough so that she could look at the Gremory heiress with the side of her eye.

"...I'm sorry Rias, if I had known that your _rook_ was coming to reinforce us, then I wouldn't have been so quick to call that werewolf's bluff. It seems that I unnecessarily placed a member of your Peerage in danger..." the Sitri heiress apologized quietly, meeting with the other high-class devil's gaze.

The Gremory heiress searched those violet eyes for a few precious seconds, before turning away, a sigh escaping her lips. "...I'm sorry too, for nearly getting all of us killed and all..."

Unbidden, Sona's lips twitched upwards. "It seems that we can't help but try to get other people killed today, doesn't it?"

A snort was her only answer.

Koneko looked at both of them, confused, but didn't question any of it, mostly because the werewolf she just punched has just got back onto it's feet.

With it's sleek pitch-black fur wet, it growled lowly in a threatening manner, another group of stray devils backing it.

But unlike before, where the horde of beasts seemed endless, there were obviously fewer than before, at least if the large group of bodies seemed indicative.

Wherever this group of strays came from, there at least seemed to be a limit to their numbers.

So the devil group prepped for another round once more, with the _rook_ making sure to guard Yuuto as he pushed himself back to his feet.

And they needed to be, as the werewolf was done standing on the side lines and studying them.

This time, along with the remaining strays, it _charged_.

* * *

Naruto was squinting, using his eyelashes to try and keep his sight clear as he continued to focus his wind chakra onto the soles of his feet.

Using his recently made ability to jump in the air, the blond soared through the air, trying to keep up with the guy who was leisurely flying towards...wherever it was that they were going.

After Dulio ran off from paying his half of the bill, the shinobi made sure that he caught up with him so that he could express his displeasure...loudly.

But before he could-

'Hey, we should take our fight somewhere else, it's a bit too crowded here I think. Come on, follow me, I know a good place.'

The psuedo-priest made that suggestion all of a sudden, before using his strange powers to levitate into the sky, _flying_.

Moving so high up into the sky that the clouds eventually covered him up whole, making it practically impossible for normal humans to see him.

Which was exactly the point.

So here Naruto was, trying to keep up with the soaring man, wondering how ridiculous he looked as he was essentially hopping in the air while sticking to the clouds.

They haven't been up here for that long, and they were moving pretty damn quickly, so if this place that he was being led to was close...then it shouldn't take them much longer to get there.

The shinobi focused his gaze on the flying human in front of him, every pore of his body language _screaming_ of how lofty he was.

Strange, considering he was super serious just a few moments ago.

But more important than that...was the sheer ease of the man's flight, or rather, how easily he could use his abilities.

Now...just to be clear, Naruto wasn't jealous of his ability to fly, no, not at all, definitely not.

...

Ok, maybe he was a little jealous. It was all just totally unfair.

 _Anyway_ , Dulio claimed that he could control 'weather' with his Sacred Gear before, and the blond supposed that flying would be included in that control.

But what else could he control? Like, what the hell was he dealing with?

'Weather' was super vague, and he supposed that it could encompass a _lot_ of things, so what exactly could this guy do? What couldn't he do?

Blue eyes traveled away from his future opponent's form to check his surroundings, idly seeing the clouds pass him by as they were heading to their battleground.

Then and there, he actually wondered whether he had made a mistake in challenging Dulio, as the young man could very well be the _worst_ match-up for the shinobi.

Azazel-san might have actually had a right to be concerned, amazingly enough.

...Then again, Naruto didn't have to _win_ , he just had to prove his integrity over to his opponent by trading fists.

As long as he did that, he didn't really mind losing.

...

Ok, that was a lie. He wanted to win.

"Alright, this place should be good enough for a small fight, wouldn't you say, Naruto-dono?"

Naruto was knocked from his thoughts when Dulio called out from him, his voice barely recognizable over the air that was pressing against them.

He still managed to get the gist of what he said though, thankfully, which led him to scan the ground to check where they ended up at.

What the shinobi saw surprised him.

A rather plain area filled with misshapen, uneven, and worn out rocks was registered to his brain via eyesight, with a large body of water right next to it.

There was practically no signs of civilization around either, with the only exceptions being a few rundown fishing houses nearby.

"...Naruto-dono, did you know that there's something known as a 'Typhoon Season' in Japan?" Dulio inquired rhetorically, his voice more clearer as he floated closer to the shinobi.

Naruto spared a glance at the obnoxious man, idly hopping up and down, since he had no way to float in the air like his compatriot.

Yeah, he wasn't jealous at all.

Even though the whiskered teen didn't actually respond to his query, Dulio still continued to speak regardless. "Well, due to the fact that this country is essentially just a big island, which happens to be surrounded by an ocean, it should come as no surprise that it is particularly susceptible to extreme weather conditions...such as the naturally spawning typhoons of the Pacific Ocean."

The psuedo-priest then brought a finger up, almost like he was a teacher that was bringing up an important piece of information that was vital to a test. "Now...Typhoon Season hasn't started quite yet, but it's just around the corner, so many who live near the coastline are quite busy making last-minute preparations, just in case. So this area, which is already sparsely populated, should be perfect for our little bout."

Naruto blinked, cocking his head to the side. "Wow, you actually thought this through, huh? Alright, so then I guess that we're gonna be fighting on the coastline?"

Even as he was speaking, the blond had already stopped his incessant hopping in the air, beginning his fall towards the ground.

But before he could even start, he felt the air below him, in no uncertain terms, _pull_ him up, keeping him in his place.

"Wait, no, there's still a chance that people could see our fight if we're not careful. Rather, I don't want to give anyone even the remotest chance of seeing us." Dulio claimed reasonably, quickly offering an alternative by pointing towards somewhere else. "So...how about we just take this out _there_ _?"_

Blue eyes followed after the digit, wondering what his new acquaintance was talking about, but was unable to.

The man literally just pointed at the ocean, or more specifically, the Pacific Ocean, so how the hell was Naruto supposed to know where he was-?

Oh.

 _Oh._

"...You mean...you want to take this fight to the _ocean?_ " the shinobi asked, needing to ask just for clarification, such was his disbelief.

Dulio scratched the side of his head nervously, an apologetic smile creeping it's way onto his face. "Ah, I'm sorry, is that disadvantageous to you? I wasn't entirely sure what you were capable of, so if you want, we can take this somewhere else-"

"No." Naruto interjected, straightening his back. "This isn't a problem, it's better than the air at least, and it does keep regular people from getting involved since neither of us know how to make a barrier. This'll do."

Indeed, even though his abilities could prove to be annoying in the middle of the water, he still needed to get this over with as quickly as possible.

He needed to get back home before the rogue Grigori member; Kokabiel, could make his move.

There was no time to waste.

Seeing the determination that was in his future opponent's eyes, the church agent nodded, accepting his words, and made the very air push them towards the massive body of water.

For all intent's and purposes, they were _literally_ riding the wind, allowing the two humans to cover vast distances with very little effort, which Naruto couldn't help but silently stew at.

Ok, yeah, he was jealous, sue him.

Nevertheless, the pair of blondes eventually covered enough distance for their fight, moving so far away that the coastline of the Japanese islands were completely out of sight.

"Are you sure that this kind of battleground is alright with you, Naruto-dono?" Dulio checked again, allowing the air to lower both of their bodies to the water, slow and steady.

Blue eyes peered into the water, seeing his reflection becoming bigger and bigger as he got closer to it, blue reflecting off of blue. "No...this is good, I don't really even have to beat you anyway, I just gotta prove myself to you, right?"

And with that, the shinobi's foot tapped into the ocean surface, not breaking through it despite being heavy in density, relying on his chakra to stand upright on the water.

Dulio's eyes widened fractionally, seeing the blond stand on water was something that the young man didn't really think that he'd see today.

But he smiled nonetheless, happy to see that this wasn't much of a disadvantage for his fellow blond.

The agent of the Vatican then lowered himself, keeping himself suspended _just_ above the water, and stared down the teen that sought him out.

"...Ready?" Dulio asked, not beating around the bush.

Naruto smirked. "Ready when you are."

Emerald-green eyes blinked, as their owner began to smile bashfully at the unspoken offer.

He was given the right to make the first move.

"...You know..." Dulio started, voice light. "You _really_ shouldn't give someone like me the initiative..."

The shinobi quirked an eyebrow, but didn't bother to question his words when the older male slowly raised his arm.

Then, quickly, used his index finger to point at the whiskered teen.

Naruto was already prepared for whatever the 'priest' had in store for him, watching for any sudden movements.

But, to put it bluntly, he wasn't prepared for what happened next.

It came without warning, and the shinobi didn't even realize what had happened until he suddenly lost his balance, tipping over like a falling tree in a clumsy fashion.

And as he lost his balance, the blond _tried_ to use his feet to recover, but they, for some reason, didn't move in accordance to his will.

The end result was Naruto slamming into the hard surface.

Wait.

Hard?

Yes, hard, but not just hard, it was _icy_.

Almost as far as the eye could see, ice had completely overtaken the ocean surface, leaving both combatants on an icy arena to fight on.

And it just so happened that Naruto not only didn't expect such a tactic, but Dulio also took the liberty to freeze over the blond's feet, sticking them in place.

The shinobi growled and pushed himself back onto his feet, trying to get himself out of the trap, already aware that the fight has started.

But it seemed that the other human wasn't going to give him the opportunity, as he narrowed his eyes and swiftly jerked his hand upwards, eyeing the struggling teen seriously.

"...Sorry, Naruto-dono." the agent murmured, closing his eyes. "But I can't let you win."

In an instant, the ice suddenly swallowed Naruto's body up into his waist, seemingly crawling up from his feet, much the the shinobi's rising alarm.

In the next instant, the ice managed to cover up to his neck, giving the teen one last chance to look at his opponent.

"...This...!" Naruto managed to growl out, teeth clenched. "Isn't over yet-!"

In the last instant, the ice had completely covered him whole.

The whiskered teen's entire body was frozen in time, encased in a large block of ice made Dulio's Sacred Gear, reinforced by it's incredible power.

He was trapped, unable to move, let alone fight.

The 'priest' then spoke up, finalizing what anyone would think in such a situation.

"...It's over, I guess."

* * *

Kiba Yuuto was bodily dragged backwards when the fighting resumed in earnest, with the mighty werewolf leading the charge, and it's minions descending upon them once more.

At least, unlike last time, they had a genuine power-based fighter to counteract that legendary beast's strength.

Even as he was thinking it, the werewolf was physically stopped from getting inside the perimeter made by the devils by Koneko, facing it head-on.

The beast roared as it brought it's massive form forward, surging to face the tiny frame of the _rook_ of the Gremory group.

At first glance, it looked like it was about to crush the first-year high school student, but appearances could be deceiving.

As Koneko, despite being three times shorter than her adversary, actually _managed_ to bring an end to the beast's charge by catching it with her arms, slowing it down significantly until it stopped.

That being said, just through a cursory glance, he could tell that Koneko was very quickly becoming overwhelmed by the werewolf's power.

She wouldn't hold out for long, and he was sure that everyone there was aware of that.

While the two were busy, struggling with one another in their contest of strength, the various monsters under the powerful beast's control moved to take advantage of the loli's weakness, trying to attack her from behind.

Before that could happen however, Rias and Akeno intervened by using their own perspective demonic powers to obliterate the small group of strays that attempted that strategy.

They succeeded, with an explosive display of yellow light and red-black miasma.

Almost immediately afterwards, Sona took a step forward with her hands out, trying to bring her water-based oriental dragon around to crash against the werewolf while it was distracted.

Unfortunately, by this time, the werewolf managed to overpower Koneko, pushing her back enough that her footing was compromised, before _literally_ lifting her up off of her feet.

With her hazel eyes wide, the beast bodily threw her at Sona, much to the kaichou's shock.

Both teens were slammed into the ground once their bodies made contact, breaking Sona's concentration on her demonic construct, making it fall apart into a mini flash flood.

At that moment, the bespectacled woman remembered that their enemy was watching them fight for a little bit before intervening, meaning that it was well aware of their tricks.

Not good.

And this belief was proven further after Tsubaki, her _queen_ , stopped dragging Kiba Yuuto away from the front line and re-entered the battle, her naginata being swung about so that she could hold off the great beast.

At least, that's what it seemed like she was up to.

But in reality, she was actually prepping herself to utilize her Sacred Gear; _Mirror Alice_ , in order to beat him back long enough to buy her _king_ some time.

So she charged forward, grabbing her adversary's attention as well as the brunt of his next attack.

It sprinted towards her on all four of it's limbs, obviously moving to ram her with it's largess.

Despite it's speed however, Tsubaki still managed to form a mirror in-between the two of them, using it as a shield which would strike back against the werewolf with double the power that it produced.

However, when the beast neared the mirror, it actually _stopped_ in place, it's momentum completely gone.

The teenaged girl with heterochormic eyes was caught off-guard by this sudden move, not all aware that the werewolf had unsheathed it's claws into the ground so that it could slow itself down without warning.

But to make matters worse for her, as soon as it had stopped, it had then _jumped_ into the air, completely avoiding the mirror placed in it's way in order to get to the young reincarnated devil without issue.

And that was exactly what happened.

The great beast smashed onto the former human, sending her deep into the ground, forcing her to cough up an excessive amount of blood from the damage.

The loud crash that resulted from Tsubaki's body getting smashed into the ground quickly attracted the attention of Rias and Akeno, who were both busy obliterating the last of the stray devils that accompanying the werewolf.

Both powerful devils shared glances with one another, before turning around to aim their next attacks at their powerful adversary.

Roughly around the same time, Koneko had managed to recover enough to charge at the large creature again, her small fists raised behind her in order to throw it with all of her might.

With all of it's attention on her, it practically didn't even see the red-head and ravenette preparing to blast it with their magical attacks, focusing on crushing the small powerhouse instead.

So when the two strength-oriented beings crashed into one another again, their fists managed to create a shockwave that blew away the ground underneath them, as well as the many bodies of stray devils that were slain prior.

While they clashed, Rias and Akeno took the golden opportunity given to them, and _fired_.

Lightning and _Power of Destruction_ danced on their fingertips as a ball of their respective powers rammed the powerful beast from behind, the air charged with the intensity of their attacks.

However, in spite of this, the beast didn't even _flinch_.

Oh, it was hurt alright, but the damage was minimal at best, and all they really succeeded in doing was pissing it off further.

With a guttural roar, it managed to overpower Koneko a second time, pushing her into the ground, and then using it's clawed hand to grab her face and dig her in _deeper_.

Blood spurted from her head as she struggled to get out of it's hold, her hazel eyes dilated as she _pushed_ against it's hold.

But it was no use, as the beast raised it's other hand as well, prepared to inflict a mortal wound this time.

 _"Sword Birth!"_

Until those words echoed across the field, making the werewolf hesitate, then flat-out back off by jumping away.

It got out of the way just in time, as numerous swords emerged from the ground immediately afterwards, obviously trying to impale the beast.

Koneko glanced around her, seeing the many blades that surrounded her like a protective cocoon, allowing a sigh of relief to escape her lips as she forced herself onto her feet, ignoring the blood that was leaking from her forehead.

As soon as she did that, she was _very_ quickly scooped up from the small hole, as she was grabbed by her _king_ as she passed by with her wings out, flying her away from the spot to get her to safety.

Apparently Rias wasn't the only one with that idea, as everyone else had also moved to group up around Yuuto and Sona, including the wounded like Tsubaki and Koneko, probably so that they could properly prep for a counterattack.

Yuuto clutched at his stomach, his breathing a little shallow as he glanced at the many faces that moved to his position, seeing the wariness on many of his allies' faces.

He barely managed to stop the legendary creature from squashing Koneko with his Sacred Gear, but it wasn't the game changer like he hoped it would be.

He was pretty much out of the fight now, that was as much as he could do, and he lost the element of surprise.

More than that, it actually seemed like that thing was pretty knowledgeable of how to counter their attacks now...was it studying them before?

As he pondered the issue at hand, the student council president very quickly voiced the thoughts that he was wondering about.

"...That werewolf is aware of how we fight." Sona noted crisply, eyeing her comrades critically, especially the ones that were wounded. "We have to change tactics, otherwise, at the very least, we'll get locked into a stalemate for an extended period of time."

And wasn't that the truth?

When her violet eyes scanned her comrades, she already concluded that a 'stalemate' may be a bit of an optimistic conclusion by this point.

Tsubaki was favoring her left arm, which just so happened to be in the way of their adversary's attack when it smashed her to the ground, not to mention the fact that there was quite the gash on her abdomen as well.

Koneko was in similar shape, as she was putting on a strong front after her _king_ let her down after cradling her, but her body was slightly bowed, trying to cover the bloody hole on her stomach.

And Kiba Yuuto, of course, was in no condition to fight.

Which only made the necessity of a new strategy even more paramount.

"...Yes, I think so too." Rias responded levelly, her eyes narrowed at the enemy. "And I think I might have just the plan for that."

Sona shot a look at her fellow high-class devil, intrigued, and that interest was only further strengthened when Akeno moved closer to her _king_ to place her hand onto her shoulder.

"Buchou, you can't mean-?"

The red-head didn't reply to her query, nor did she divert her attention away from Sona, who was looking more and more curious by the second. "Sona, can you do me a favor?"

The Sitri heiress squinted, uncertain of what her friend wanted, but quickly decided to nod her head anyway.

Seeing this, Rias continued. "...I need you to stick with me for a little bit longer, to buy me time to be specific. Then to lead that werewolf to me when the time is right. We need to time this perfectly if this is going to work."

Sona raised an eyebrow, her unspoken question obvious.

Thankfully for her, someone else was going to indirectly answer her questions for her.

" _Buchou!_ You're not really going to be using that new technique of yours already, right? You said it yourself while you were testing it, it's _not_ ready for use in battle!" the raven-haired _queen_ claimed, still holding onto Rias' shoulder as she tried to convince her out of this foolish idea.

At first, when the pure-blood devil turned her head around to look at her, Akeno thought that she managed it, but her next words quickly belayed her of that belief.

"Akeno, I need you to help Koneko-chan, Tsubaki, and Yuuto get back to safety. More than that, you should go to Mio-chan's place, as if I remember right, Naruto once claimed that he placed energy-muffling seals in his home. If they go there, those seals should prevent this unknown third-party from locking them down, if that was the intention of this monster's master anyway." the Gremory heiress stated sharply, her tone leaving no room for discussion. "This is important, we still don't know who this third-party is, and I want to make sure that everyone is present and accounted for."

Even as she was speaking, she was chancing a glance at the werewolf, which was in a crouched position, looking for a chance to rejoin the battle again.

It wouldn't have to wait long.

"...Rias, what are you planning? It doesn't sound quite safe..." Sona couldn't help but drawl out, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose absent-mindedly.

A sly smile spread across her fellow high-class devil's features. "Something that should finish this fight, but like I said, I'll need you to buy me a little time. Is that alright?"

The bespectacled girl stared at the red-head, silent for a few tense moments, her mind whirling.

It took a few seconds for her to understand her friend's vagueness.

That werewolf had managed to understand their attack patterns by watching them, it wasn't exactly much of a stretch to assume that it could make countermeasures to any plan that they make then and there.

Such a beast could no doubt hear them with it's incredibly sensitive ears.

More than that, not only was a new strategy necessary, but the wounded devils around them would probably get in the way as well.

This was probably the best course of action.

"Tsubaki!" Sona called out, alerting her Peerage member to her next order. "Take everyone and retreat back to Uzumaki-san's home, we'll follow you shortly."

Tsubaki didn't hesitate when the order came, forcing herself to ignore her wounds in order to accomplish the directive that was given.

Akeno, for her part, bit her lip in frustration, but didn't question the two _kings_. "...Fine, but please be careful...Rias."

Rias nodded, smiling. "I will. Please take care of everyone until we get back."

Both _queens_ nodded, and spread their wings in order to get out of the field, helping their comrades pull themselves up to leave as well.

Kiba Yuuto in particular was quiet, watching the two pure-blood devils stand close to one another in order to face the powerful beast.

More importantly, so that they could get out of danger.

Almost as if his _king_ heard his thoughts, she turned around to look at him in the eyes, connecting with him for a few sparse seconds.

Then she smiled, expressing her fragile hope.

"Care to stick with us a little longer, Yuuto?" she asked gently, afraid to push too hard, too fast.

The simple fact that she felt it necessary to do that in the first place nearly made him crumple then and there.

Not that it mattered though, as despite his pause, he still slowly nodded after he thought about it a little more.

...It was fine this way, right?

It was alright for him to spend time with his comrades just a little longer.

A last 'hoorah' before he separated for good.

At least, that's what he assured to himself.

Even as he was helped up by Koneko-chan, with her wings out so that they could take to the air, he still didn't stop staring at the Gremory heiress.

And that stayed true as the small group of devils began to ascend above the treeline, moving to recuperate in a safe area, and to give their _kings_ the space that they need for their 'plan'.

The werewolf just watched them go, unresponsive, focusing on the remaining adversaries left to it.

"...I'm surprised that it didn't try to intercept them on their way out." Sona noted bluntly, subtly concentrating on her demonic energy, using the lull in the fighting to prepare herself.

"Yeah, I suppose that it partially heard our planning. Maybe it wants to deal with us now that we're separated?" Rias wondered aloud, idly lowering her hand to slip it into her shoes, slowly leaving herself only in her socks.

The Sitri heiress raised her shoulders in a halfhearted shrug, more lax now that it was just the two of them, not questioning her weird behavior.

But, knowing what effect her next words would contain, she spoke again with barely a whisper. "...I'm ready when you are."

And, just like that, the battle was restarted.

The werewolf suddenly growled threateningly, lowering itself closer to the ground to pounce.

It heard her, despite her caution.

"Sona! _Now!_ " Rias exclaimed, spreading her arms and legs out wide, the _Power of Destruction_ manifesting themselves on the palms of her hands.

Sona was curious about what she was doing, but she didn't have time to ask, as the beast very quickly charged forward as soon as the red-head made her move, obviously trying to take her out before she could accomplish her task.

The devil _barely_ had any time to react, but she somehow managed it, swiping her hand into the air, lips curling in concentration.

As the werewolf charged, it's large form deceptively masking how fast it could move, it was suddenly forced to stop in it's tracks without warning or reason.

Or, to be more precise, it was _forced_ to.

A while ago, the beast actually managed to destroy the Sitri heiress' water dragon, which was wrecking havoc on the battlefield, by breaking her concentration.

However, when it lost it's form, the water that comprised it fell apart onto the ground, making something of a large pond in the area.

And it was this terrain that Sona used to her advantage.

As the beast was charging, the young devil made sure to focus her demonic energy onto the sizable body of water, creating thick tendrils which formed something of a barrier in front of the two devils, and then used it to _catch_ the werewolf before it could reach them.

Immediately after she caught it, she allowed the water to _rise up_.

The pillars of water that were formed rose high into the treeline, bringing the werewolf up with them, and then surrounded it like a jail. Keeping it in suspension, without any way of pulling itself out.

At least, that was the plan.

However, after pausing slightly to register it's new reality, the creature began to struggle, it's powerful roars echoing across the field, disrupting the water that was holding it.

Even worse, it was also flailing it's extraordinarily muscular frame around as well, making the 'jail' fluctuate unpredictably.

Just as the black-haired pure-blood expected and feared.

"Rias...! I can't hold this thing back for too long! Whatever you're planning, I hope that it's fast!"

The red-head didn't even register the words that was given, focusing all of her strength onto this one overriding objective.

As red-black miasma covered the palms of her hands, she carefully crossed her right foot over her left, while making sure to keep her arms spread out.

Then, she pushed herself up by going onto the tiptoes of her feet, balancing herself perfectly.

Finally, she used that position to push herself with that front right foot, keeping her left foot in place so that she could literally _spin_ on the spot.

With a dancer's grace, she spun, her long crimson hair flowing in tandem with the power the she wielded, her hands splayed out as she released the pent up energy that she was keeping in check.

Or rather, she released the pent up energy the she kept stored in her _right_ hand.

At first glance, someone could be forgiven for being confused by the strange actions that the Gremory heiress was taking, but at the very least, there _was_ a reason for her actions.

This entire trick was the method that she came up with in order to solve two basic dilemmas that faced her; a means of defense and how to use her powers more effectively.

If there was one thing that she has learned about the power that she has inherited, it was that the name; _Power of Destruction_ , was a little misleading.

Indeed, the power that she utilized could obliterate anything in it's path, but _only_ if the power behind it is dense enough to overpower whatever it's facing against. Whether it's an enemy, or another attack.

If she used her inherited powers against, say; an angel with five pairs of wings, then her powers would be knocked away as if they were nothing. As she did not have the control to pack enough demonic energy into her attacks to overpower such an opponent yet.

In short, the more demonic energy in her attacks, the more people she could _obliterate_ with her power.

Yet she couldn't do that, not yet.

But with this method, she _could_ potentially do something like that.

As she spun around, almost like a professional dancer, she could release her pent up power in her right hand, keeping it in place around her, and as she continued her arc, she could then use her left hand to help _stabilize_ that very same power.

Instead of actively forming and controlling her attacks all at once, she'd just alternate in making her attacks more denser, _and_ stabilize the energy that she was forming it with. In essence, allowing her to put more power into her _Power of Destruction_ than ever before.

Not only that, but thanks to the fact that she's put such dense demonic energy around herself, she has pretty much made a veritable _wall_ of defense to protect herself with.

So she continued to spin, her right hand unleashed her _Power of Destruction_ in a thin arc around her body, as her left hand then moved to stabilize that very energy, the red-black miasma growing more and more wild after every pass.

As the power held in Rias' fingertips grew more uncontrollable, Sona's hold over their adversary grew more and more frayed.

The werewolf was almost free, the water getting splashed away from it as it swung it's mighty limbs without thought, ripping apart the de-facto prison that was holding it at bay.

Sona was just about to give her fellow high-class devil a warning, that there was a high likelihood that the beast was about to break free any moment now.

But she needn't have bothered.

"Sona...! Get out of here! _Quickly!_ " Rias called out, her voice distorted by the very power that was spinning around her, surrounding her.

For some reason, despite her reservations, she didn't hesitate to spread her bat-like wings and jump into the air, making her way out from the grove as fast as possible.

For some reason, her instincts were _screaming_ for her to get away.

Her flight took her high into the air, speeding away from the battle at high speeds, biting her lip at the prospect of abandoning her old friend.

Especially when she felt, more than saw, the legendary creature break through her demonic-powered water.

So she kept her gaze downwards as she flew up, straining to see what Rias had up her sleeve.

It took a few tense seconds.

One...

Nothing.

Two...

Nothing.

 _Three..._

...

...

Something changed.

It was small at first, a small ball of dark energy that appeared in the middle of the grove, easily noticeable when compared to the greenery around it.

But it didn't stay like that, no, that dark mass very suddenly expanded outwards, becoming something like a disk which encroached in every direction. Swallowing up the grove and the forest surrounding it.

It felt like she was looking into the eye of a pitch-black hurricane, as the _Power of Destruction_ continued to spread, covering the earth with it's energy.

Strangely enough, like an 'eye' of a hurricane, the middle of the explosion was completely bare, and almost bereft of the erasing prowess of the Gremory heiress' inherited power.

Worse than that, bordering on disturbing, was how... _quiet_ this power's expansion was.

If Sona wasn't seeing it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have known that this phenomenon was even occurring, as there was no noise coming from this disk-like expansion at _all_.

It was silently obliterating everything in it's way.

...

As the Sitri heiress continued to watch the new technique that her old friend boasted, she couldn't help but silently reflect how...different this very attack was for the red-head.

Truly, between the two of them, Rias rarely, if ever, had inventive uses for her _Power of Destruction_.

If anything, she was always the type to overpower her opponents, as her inherited powers was always more than enough to deal with her adversaries, until recently of course.

No, it was Sona who always sought for more intricate strategies, for both; her own abilities and for her Peerage.

Indeed, that was the single most important advantage that she held over her friend and rival, especially when considering how much raw power and potential that Rias' Peerage held.

It was practically a brains vs. brawn comparison between the two.

Yet...this wasn't 'brawn' anymore. This was creative, this was strategic, _and_ it was powerful.

She had _changed_.

And she thinks that she knows who helped facilitate that change in mindset.

A certain -annoying- blond teenager popped in her head, flashing a cheeky smile, as if taunting her with her loss of her main advantage over her fellow high-class devil.

...

Once this entire 'incident' is over and done with, that would have to change.

Her extended thoughts about Rias were cut off abruptly after that, as the large disk-like expansion of the Gremory heiress' _Power of Destruction_ soon began to fade away, disappearing without a trace, like a black mist.

And since that miasma faded away, the young devil finally got a chance to look at what happened to the terrain around the grove.

Or rather, the fact that there _wasn't_ anything left of the area around the grove.

It was gone.

All of it.

Completely barren, as everything around the center of the initial expansion was obliterated outright, erased even.

The grove itself, by this point, looked more like an oasis in the middle of a desert than anything else.

And right in the middle of that grove, stood Rias.

With the werewolf, nowhere to be seen.

Sona carefully lowered herself back down to the 'oasis', eyeing the red-head carefully, noting the subtle way that she was keeping her hands close to her skirt, hiding them from view.

As well as the fatigue that were dulling her blue-green eyes.

Before she could even try and ask whether the other devil was alright-

"...Sona, I know what you're about to ask, but don't worry, I'm not badly hurt, just a little tired. We need to get back to everyone and regroup, now that we have the chance." Rias quickly spoke up, a grimace being the most prevalent expression on her face. "That technique is still in the works, suffice it to say..."

Violet eyes narrowed. "What _was_ that technique, exactly?"

The red-head pushed her wings out, letting her hands become visible as she prepared to take flight.

Sona quickly took note of the fact that the skin of her palms were _completely_ erased, which allowed quite a lot of blood to pool from the wound onto the floor.

"...I'd like to call it; the _Malicious Ring_." Rias claimed, as that grimace from before began crossing over with a half-smile.

* * *

Hyoudou Issei raised his fists into a fighting position, a fire lit in his brown eyes, more than ready to take the offer that had been handed to him by sheer luck.

Behind him, were his two allies, both of which were pre-occupied and unable to fight.

Naruse Mio, the imouto of a certain spiky-haired guy that was probably in Kyoto by now, enjoying his time away from Kuoh Town.

Argento Asia, the nun that he swore to protect ever since she even bothered to give someone like him the time of day, forever earning his favor.

...Damn, that sounded sad now that he actually thought about it...

Anyway, those two teenaged girls were out of the fight, so he had to make sure that the _bastard_ in front of him didn't get past him.

He was of course talking about the devil which led a bunch of weird monster-like beings, 'stray devils' if the perverted boy remembered right.

Diodora...uh...whatever his last name was, he didn't know or give a shit.

This guy was targeting Asia, as well as Mio for whatever reason.

No matter how he looked at it, this was the chance that he was waiting for...to get him back for what happened the last time they met.

Back then, at Buchou's summer retreat...

He was weaker then, and he had only just unlocked his Sacred Gear; the _Boosted Gear_.

Now was different, of course, but it didn't change the fact that this guy was a high-class devil.

...He couldn't fuck up, and he couldn't count on this guy being arrogant enough to hold back a second time, like before.

Not to mention he had these stray devils backing him...and where the hell did they even come from anyway?

"...Are you hesitating, boy?"

Issei snapped his gaze to Diodora, his skin crawling at the smile that the arrogant asshole _tried_ to make, but failed miserably at.

It was probably because he had...well...half a face, with the other half burned beyond recognition.

"...You know that you can still run, right? There's no need for you to waste your life protecting someone that has done nothing for you. I'll even leave Asia alone...for now. So why don't you just abandon Mio-chan already?" the scarred devil wondered mockingly, his words slurred thanks to the fact that only half of his mouth even properly worked.

The perverted boy narrowed his eyes, but didn't respond, knowing on some level that the devil was just trying to psych him out.

But he wasn't going to let him, instead, he was just going to wring his neck.

Issei raised his fist, the green orb in the center of his red gauntlet glowing brightly as the device announced the start of his offensive.

 _Boost!_

Diodora's remaining orange pupil dilated at the familiar sound.

"Quick! Before he has anymore time to power up! Destroy him _immediately!_ " the devil ordered harshly, glaring at the monsters beside him.

As expected, they obeyed, refusing to question the master of their leader.

A humanoid with fur all over it's body, hooves, and curled horns charged alongside some kind of abomination made of scales, heading straight for the young reincarnated devil.

Both monsters raised their arms, prepared to crush their target, using their larger frames and presumably greater strength to their advantage.

Though this belief proved to be false, as Issei raised both of his hands and _caught_ both of their swings, knowing damn well that he should have the strength to do so since it was just doubled.

He just needed to hold out a little-

Any plans were thrown out of the window when he saw a dark blur move around him through the side of his eye.

Following the blur, the brown-haired boy moved his head to the side, just in time to see a black spindly-looking creature with sharp claws charge him from behind while he was stuck in position.

He tried to think of a way out, but he couldn't come up with anything by the time that the monster slashed it's claw across his back.

The young man winced in pain, even though the attack wasn't strong enough to do anything serious, but it did do enough to distract him.

So it came as no surprise when the stray devils from before took the chance to ram their fists into him, sending him backwards and against the ground, rolling.

Issei was trying not to wheeze at the blow as he rolled back onto his feet, but he still clutched at his stomach as his body remained bowed, feeling the pain.

Still...!

 _Boost!_

He had bought himself enough time to actually begin fighting back.

"Alright...this should be good..." he mumbled to himself, straightening his body as he eyed the trio of strays, already feeling the increased power bolster his resolve.

Good, because if he got knocked back one more time, Asia and Mio could seriously be put in danger.

"...Hey...are you doing alright out there? Wanna switch out? You're getting your rear-end handed to you, you know that, right?"

Issei tried not to be offended by the clear lack of belief that Mio just uttered, hearing the clear drawl in her voice from behind him.

Screw her! He could do this, damn it!

As the perverted boy swallowed the retort that he wanted to make, the three stray devils began stalking towards him again, slowly, with the two strong ones taking the lead as the spindly one moved behind them.

Then, in a sudden switch, the two monsters in front charged forward, screeching loudly as they descended on him.

This time at least, Issei was ready.

Instead of just raising his fists to intercept the two blows, which were aimed downwards thanks to their taller statures, he did something else entirely.

The young man watched the strays throw their fists, as if their movements were in slow motion, waiting for _just_ the right moment as their close and parallel attacks moved closer.

That moment quickly approached when their fists were mere _inches_ from his face, lighting up his eyes.

At that split-second, Issei took a step _forward_ , moving into their fists, and raised his own in-between both of their arms, which were very close to one another thanks to their attempt at a coordinated attack.

As soon as both of his arms were in-between both of their extended arms, the _pawn_ swung his arms _out_.

Instantly, with his boosted strength, both fists were sent awkwardly away from their original objective, as the young man let both strays fall over themselves when their attacks met nothing but the empty air.

As soon as that happened, Issei swung his body around, throwing his fists out, and smashed _both_ monsters in the head before they could recover, hearing the sick ***crack*** of something breaking under his attack.

Brown eyes blinked, trying to stop his eyesight from spinning after he finished...well...spinning.

Good thing too, as once more, he saw a dark blur move past him through the side of his eye, trying to circle him.

And, as expected, the stray devil that stayed behind charged towards his back and moved to impale him with it's sharp claws.

In it's view, it was about to succeed.

Except, just like last time with the other strays, the perverted boy wasn't about to get caught by the same attack a second time.

But, unlike last time with it's compatriots, Issei wasn't even going to give it a chance.

The reincarnated devil turned his head to look at the stray, seeing where the claw was trying to impale, and then promptly, _moved_.

He lowered his body just enough to cleanly dodge the attack that would have stabbed through his shoulder, narrowly though, since he could literally feel the air shift slightly at the blow that moved past his hair and body.

Without any hesitation, the _pawn_ swung his fist upwards and smashed the beast in it's chin, feeling bone _shatter_ into pieces from the blow as it's body was sent spiraling into the air.

The area was silent following that last blow, with the sound of that stray's body crashing against the ground a way's away being the only thing that interrupted the quiet that fell upon everyone.

Mio blinked as she watched the battle play out in front of her. "...Looks like he _can_ do this..."

Asia, who was still in the middle of healing a bit more of her ally's more serious wounds, smiled in response. "Issei-san has been working very hard during his training with everyone, and I think that he has improved the most compared to everyone else ever since Rias-san made that training center."

Then she glanced away, looking a little bashful. "...Even I, a little bit..."

The red-head spared her a glance, seeing a semblance of pride in her emerald pupils, understanding where she was coming from.

"...Hey, come on Asia-san, finish healing me up." Mio spoke up, a small smile on her face. "I don't want to let the pervert get the final blow against that jerk; Diodora."

The nun, after realizing that she stopped healing Mio despite still being wounded, quickly stammered an apology and began anew, embarrassed at the indulgent smile on her patient's lips.

Meanwhile, Issei finally turned to face the man who was responsible for causing them all so much trouble, eyes narrowed.

Diodora himself, after resting a little bit to regain his strength, clicked the last half of his tongue in annoyance.

He was hoping that he would've recovered enough of his strength by the time that the damn meddler finished with a few of his strays...but it seems that he's gotten stronger.

A shame too, since his demonic energy reserves were pretty drained after his last fight.

It looked like he didn't have a choice anymore...

The former Astaroth heir shoved his hand into his pocket, carefully searching for the backup item that he brought along with him, just in case his mission became a thorough mess due to unforeseen circumstances.

After a few more moments of digging, he retrieved the legendary item from his pocket, a victorious smirk plastered across his features.

Issei's eyes locked on the glass bottle, staying put as another _Boost!_ emerged from his Sacred Gear, not at all adverse to letting himself get stronger by waiting.

Though the teenaged boy had no idea what was contained in the small vial that his enemy was holding, he still made sure to watch it warily in case it was some kind of deadly poison or something.

However, instead of trying to throw the vial at him, Diodora opened the vial and poured it onto his body, allowing the magical effects that it contained to work it's wonders.

And it did, as he quickly began to recover from all of his recent wounds that he had accumulated since his last battle.

All of them, except the thorough mess that was half of his face.

Then and there, did the teenaged boy realize that he no longer had any time to waste, he _had_ to finish this. Now.

And he had the perfect attack for it.

Usually, Issei held a tiny amount of demonic energy in his body, so small that he couldn't really do much with it, let alone fight with it.

However, his _Boosted Gear_ not only doubled his physical attributes, but it also doubled his reserves in demonic energy.

So he only had one chance to let loose before he had to wait again for another boost in power.

It wasn't as powerful as it could be, but it would be good enough!

After Diodora finished pouring the last drops of phoenix tears on himself, while still being guarded by the four remaining stray devils, he refocused his attention back on his newest enemy, before pausing slightly.

The teenaged boy raised his arm, the red gauntlet on his left hand glowing slightly as he focused his power onto it...

Or more precisely, onto the palm of his hand.

A red light began to shine from that very area, lighting up the night as Issei poured more and more of his now impressive demonic energy for release.

Only when the red orb appeared on the palm of the 'dragon's' red gauntlet, primed to fire, did the former Astaroth heir finally register that he was in danger.

He didn't even warn his new 'subordinates' as he took flight.

" _Dragon Shot!_ " Issei roared loudly, as he thrust his hand forward, releasing the pent up power.

All of a sudden, a light began to tinge the area around them with red, as the _pawn's_ attack was launched from his Sacred Gear and ripped apart the ground to reach Diodora.

A large beam that was slightly bigger than the boy himself, flashed towards the enemy group, enrapturing them before the light overtook them whole.

It didn't stop either, as the beam tore through the small apartment complex behind the group and shred through the first two floors, obliterating it.

Said building quickly began to crash down to earth, collapsing in on itself thanks to gravity, with floor upon floor crashing into one another once they reached the ground as the entire mess released an insane amount of dust into the air.

At least until that dust was sent _far_ higher into the air after the beam finished it's route and exploded behind the building it has just essentially destroyed. Sending debris into the sky.

The red light began to die down, finally, after it's owner expended the last bit of his demonic energy, causing him to breathe harshly at the expenditure.

Brown eyes peered into the dust cloud he had just made, sweat dripping down his brow, cautiously trying to find his main enemy in the destruction.

"...My, that was dangerous. You really should be more careful... _boy_."

Issei scowled, carefully moving his gaze to the air, where the voice came from.

As feared, Diodora was completely unharmed, managing to get away from the relatively small beam before it could capture him by taking flight.

Still, at the very least, the stray devils that were guarding him were gone.

It was just the two of them now.

Great.

 _Boost!_

...At least he got another boost in power now.

Diodora watched the former human with new-found wariness as he slowly descended back to the ground, not at all expecting that kind of firepower to come from someone he had soundly defeated before.

Though, despite this new caution, it was quickly wiped away once he saw his young enemy's weary state.

And with that knowledge, came the smug and borderline sadistic smile.

"...I admit, you've grown considerably more powerful in comparison to the last time we met. I'm impressed. But it's obvious that you've expended most of your demonic energy from that last attack...and I'm not gonna let you recover." the devil remarked, as he stopped descending and remained in the air, his power flaring up.

He was prepared to make his offensive.

The perverted boy grit his teeth, already aware that the man was right.

He _couldn't_ use that attack again, not until a few more boosts.

...So he would have to change tactics.

Instead of trying to obliterate him with the _Dragon Shot_ , he'd just go for the up-close-and-personal approach.

Issei clenched his fist, feeling the burning humiliation of his defeat in the past.

He could _do_ this...!

* * *

Dulio scratched the crown of his head, apologetic if anything else.

The young man was supposed to accomplish his latest mission, given to him from one of the highest authorities in Heaven and the Church in general.

To put it bluntly, he was supposed to to be making his way to the small settlement known as 'Kuoh Town'.

A rather quaint area, which in all respects, was rather normal.

If one didn't consider it's strange attraction to supernatural entities and activities anyway.

Nevertheless, the point was that he was not supposed to be _here_ , fighting with another blond male over whether he should even be _going_ to this small town.

Yet here he was.

It was an important mission, incredibly important, _super_ important.

Yet here he was.

Why?

Well, it probably had something to do with the young man that he was currently facing.

As well as Dulio's insane streaks of altruism.

This young man...there was something _off_ about him.

Nothing malicious mind you, but at the very least, the most powerful exorcist of the Church had to believe that the teen may not be thinking his actions through.

Rather, to be more precise, the agent has _seen_ his type before.

He was the type of man that was single-mindedly focused, almost laser-guided really, to the point that he would ignore almost everything else in the name of whatever that focus may be.

It wasn't really bad, but it was something that wasn't sustainable over a long period of time. Especially if there were internal issues that he _wasn't_ focusing on.

And, while he couldn't really explain it, he could at the very least see that the teenaged boy was making his decisions based off of _something_ that happened to him before. A past event that has colored his world view, perhaps?

To put it starkly, the boy was a complicated mess, so much so that the 'priest' could only really use one word to describe him.

Troubled.

...That being said, that was what he sensed under the surface, whatever the problem was with the teenager, he was still holding himself together at the moment.

Whether it was by sheer will, or something else, he wasn't entirely sure.

But he was hoping that the whiskered teen's quick defeat would convince him to not only back off, but also to get him to open up to someone after being forced to let go of his current focus.

Force him to consider his options if you will.

Which was precisely why the powerful exorcist froze Uzumaki Naruto up in a block of ice.

"...Sorry about that, Naruto-dono. But this is for _both_ of our sakes. I hope that you could focus on more important things now that you don't have to think about this incident anymore." Dulio apologized with a sad smile, silently gazing upon the large ice sculpture in front of him.

Or rather, the large block of ice that just so happened to _contain_ an ice sculpture.

However, that sad smile that he was sporting was quickly wiped away from his lips as he continued to look at the block of ice.

...?

Were there cracks on the ice that captured Naruto-dono before?

The ice that surrounded the blond teenaged was completely bereft of any types of blemishes when the 'priest' first made created it, but looking at it now, there were clear cracks all across it.

Not only that, but those cracks were growing larger.

It was only when he noticed this change that he noticed something else as well.

Through the growing cracks of the sculpture, an energy was leaking out, becoming more and more visible and powerful as time passed.

It kind of looked like an azure fire, which was barely visible to his naked human eye. But while Dulio couldn't really pinpoint what it was, he _could_ say that it was rising in strength.

And that realization spurred him into action.

The young man raised his hand, focusing on his Sacred Gear, and _willing_ the ice to encase him even deeper than before, figuring that there had to be some kind of upper limit to whatever he was doing.

At his beck and call, the ice rose up to create a large pillar that grew as high as six stories, and became as thick as an apartment complex, keeping his acquaintance even deeper in the ice than before.

Initially, it looked like that was enough.

But it _wasn't_.

As, to put it simply, the teenaged boy's strange powers were pushed up a few notches.

Before, that fire-like energy was seeping through the cracks, almost like it was idly looking for a way out rather than anything else.

But that changed, now that energy was flooding out, attempting to smash it's way out, creating massive fissures across the ice surface instead of seeking a more civilized escape route.

And the ice simply couldn't hold back the flood gates.

So, in consequence, the ice block simply _shattered_.

The energy that the sculpture was desperately trying to keep in check was suddenly released into the ice field, knocking Dulio back harshly enough that his feet were ripping apart the icy ground under him as he tried to slow himself down.

Instead of an energy, it felt like the exorcist was facing a whirlwind, as his long blond hair was being pushed away from his face, his clothes were flowing behind him violently, and he was forced to raise his arms to cover his eyes just so that he could see properly.

Thankfully, Dulio's green pupils managed to peer into the middle of the storm.

Uzumaki Naruto was right there, in the eye of the storm, his energy flaring with such power that the very ice that froze him solid was stuck in suspended animation around him.

At first anyway, as soon enough, that same ice was then flung far away from him without warning, tearing at the icy ground underneath him with violent force.

Not only that, but as the ground was getting shredded apart, the ice itself was beginning to collapse into the water below or was moving to rise into the air like pillars. Everything was simply getting contorted by the energy that the teen was releasing.

" _HAAAAAAAAH!"_

The shinobi let loose an unearthly roar, his power changing the frozen landscape around him, as if he was trying to transform the area into his liking.

But more than that, this constant release of power was stopping Dulio from even _trying_ to freeze him over again, thanks to the fact that his power was breaking apart anything that tried to form on him.

Dulio couldn't trap him again, pure and simple.

...Despite this setback however, the powerful exorcist couldn't help but smirk slightly, even as the powerful energy buffeted him with it's fierce presence, feeling a bit happy that his acquaintance didn't capitulate so easily.

"...Didn't you hear me before?" Naruto shouted out, raising his fist with a massive grin. "This isn't over yet!"

* * *

Shiba was keeping his fingers steepled together as he watched the proceedings in front of him, holding back his feelings of disgruntlement by masking it as deep consideration.

He was taking part in the discussion among the higher ups of the Hero Tribe about how to respond to the latest 'incidents' regarding their overall faction, listening to the long-winded fossils speak as if they knew anything.

It was annoying, to be frank.

Nevertheless, he was forced to attend, mostly so that he could keep his cover as a loyal dog for a little while longer.

The talks specifically, mostly centered around the destruction of the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe, which unknown to them, was obliterated by the now deceased leader of the rogue Hero Faction; Cao Cao.

But, of course, they weren't aware of that. And as far as Shiba was concerned, they _wouldn't_ be aware of that anytime soon.

So, precisely because of their ignorance, the 'leaders' of the Japanese branch was trying to find more efficient ways of communication between the numerous branches of their faction across the planet.

And, obviously, seeking to find out who was responsible for the destruction of one of their branches.

Now, if the higher ups had _any_ idea about the numerous factions that have emerged in recent years to challenge the established factions across the planet, then they might have something of a clue.

They didn't, of course, so they remained ignorant.

Through Cao Cao, Shiba has learned quite a bit about the many new powers that have emerged following the end of the Great War between the Christian factions, as that event was definitely the catalyst for the sheer _amount_ of rogue factions.

After all, the war between the Christian factions roughly lasted for around two thousand years, and it was quite 'normal' for many among their numbers to fight and kill the other.

So when it ended, that change was no doubt jarring for many, and afterwards, more and more changes to the status quo soon followed.

The fall of the Original Maou in the Underworld.

The partial demilitarization of the fallen angels by Azazel.

And the angels...well, they were in complete disarray after the war ended.

This wasn't even including the new dynamics that emerged between the three factions and the other supernatural factions across planet Earth.

In such an uncertain time, there were going to be those who preferred the comfortable familiarity of the past in comparison to the uncertain present.

Or, just as likely, those who wanted to take advantage of the uncertainty to gain power for themselves, or for some objective.

The Old Maou Faction.

The Hero Faction.

That old man's rogue faction, which was still in hiding for now.

And of course, the many factions that were still waiting in the shadows, patiently looking for a chance to strike when it would be most beneficial to them.

A more disturbing fact than any of that, was the simple truth that, at the very least, quite a few of these factions were connected to one another.

Many of them were loosely connected to one of the most powerful beings in known existence.

And that fact alone, would terrify a lot of the established powers.

But no one was aware of this, of course.

Their ignorance would be their downfall, and of course, he had his own goals and aspirations to aim for.

Which was why he didn't want to be here.

He had to keep his senses open to search for the young man that would help him complete his deal with the old man, mostly so that he could pit the two against one another.

And once that was accomplished, he could continue to destabilize the Hero Tribe from within, making sure to keep his ears open for interesting tidbits of information.

He had to play the long game here, and there were plenty of pawns on the chessboard...

"Shiba-kun, the Great Hero has told us that you have seen the remains of the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe, I _hope_ that you have some useful information for us in regards to what happened." one of the elders spoke up clearly, cutting off the younger man's thoughts abruptly.

All eyes turned to him once he was addressed, desperately seeking more information which they could utilize.

Except for Toujou Jin; the Great Hero, who was calmly regarding him while enjoying his cigarette.

He kept himself in character has pushed himself off from his seat, knowing that he had to deliver the falsified information that he had gathered from the ruins of the-

" _Guh!?_ _"_

Without warning, Shiba suddenly shook on the spot, feeling as if someone smashed their fist into his face, rocking his sense of balance.

He _felt_ it.

An energy signal, a familiar one.

The one that he was searching for.

Uzumaki Naruto's power was blaring out, nearly knocking him off of his feet despite how far away it was, making him feel like someone had just turned on a megaphone and screamed right next to his ear.

He _found_ him.

But unfortunately for him, he had to wait before he could report it to the old man. He had appearances to keep after all.

"...Apologies, I've been a little sick recently, please forgive me." the traitorous hero said demurely, bowing his head a little in deference.

If anything, the many elders simply waved it off, focusing far more on the information that he held than his health.

Though Shiba had to note that Jin's eyes narrowed ever slightly as he stared at him.

He had to be careful from here on in.

* * *

"...Nya?"

That's what a certain cat unintentionally said as she felt the sudden burst of energy from somewhere far off.

It was faint to her, even with her senjutsu-powered senses.

But that wasn't what was so surprising.

No, the surprising part was the simple fact that she sensed this energy at _all_.

She wasn't in the human world right now, no, she was in a completely different dimension actually.

Yet she _felt_ it.

An unwitting smile stretched across her lips, incredibly impressed.

She felt this energy signal before, it was _that_ man's, right?

"...Kuroka...what's wrong?"

The young woman refocused back onto the person in front of her, looking a little sheepish for cutting off her report to her 'leader'. "Sorry about that, Ophis-sama! It's just that...well, I felt _him_ again."

In front of the yokai, was a small girl, the woman's 'leader' for all intents and purposes, and the person that sent her to search for the senjutsu-related energy that she sensed while in the human world.

Accordingly, the little girl's dull black eyes lit up faintly with interest. "...His name...was Naruto, right?"

Kuroka nodded, all smiles. "Yep! Though this is kinda strange...when I sensed him for the first time with his senjutsu, his power wasn't quite as obvious for me to sense as it is now. As I doubt that I would have sensed him the first time in this dimension. Yet I can sense him now, even though senjutsu is supposed to make his power far greater than normal? That's really weird nya~"

The curvaceous woman tilted her head cutely, scrunching her eyes together in thought. "...Maybe it's because he's actually flaring his power now? And he didn't do it before when he had senjutsu? That would make sense...and if that's true, that would mean that he's a lot more powerful than I expected."

Her yellow slits slid to her 'leader', amusement dancing in her orbs. "I guess he's a pretty tough guy nya~"

The little girl stared at her blankly, unresponsive, retaining that silence for a little bit.

And when she actually spoke again, the order that she gave actually caught the yokai female flat-footed.

"...Take me to him." she ordered starkly, gazing upon Kuroka with a blank expression. "You can sense him...right? So take me to him."

Kuroka blinked owlishly, reconciling this proactive approach with the usually passive leader of this coalition of factions.

The Old Maou Faction.

The Hero Faction.

Such factions were technically at her beck and call, but she was so passive as a leader, that most of them just paid lip service to their 'leader'.

They didn't disrespect her to her face however, of course, that'd just get them all killed.

After all, despite her naivete, she was still among the top ten most powerful beings in existence.

More specifically, she was the _second_ most powerful in existence.

As despite the fact that she looked like a little girl, she was actually an extraordinarily powerful entity that had the power to shapeshift, choosing this visage for whatever reason.

More than that, she was an entity that was born from the infinite gap between dimensions, simply known as the 'Dimensional Gap' to most. A space that could be roughly described as the 'space' between worlds.

And that entity was known as the Infinite Dragon God; the _Ouroboros Dragon_.

...And such a powerful being had just asked Kuroka to help lead her to the mysterious man known as 'Naruto' for her.

Probably so that she could attain his power for her own goal.

To kill the being that occupied number one on the list of the most powerful.

Great Red, or the _Dragon of Dragons_.

DxD.

The young woman grinned, giddy if anything else. "Sure! Why not nya~? As a nekoshou, I could use a strong man to help me repopulate my species anyway~"

She was always quite carefree, even in the worst of times.

Because, no matter how she looked at this, there was no way that the young man was going to get out of this one.

As soon as Ophis took interest in him, his fate was pretty much as good as written.

Whatever aspirations or wishes that he wanted to gun for would be pushed to the side, as his life would be in her hands soon enough.

He may as well accept it, and if that's the case, why not make the best of it?

Besides, she knew a few people that would more than welcome an influx of new blood in her ragtag little group~

* * *

Naruto was clenching his teeth, his chakra exploding out of his body in a fashion that he rarely indulged in.

Releasing his chakra in a burst was kinda wasteful, even if it was pretty cool.

But he had to make an exception here, as Dulio's Sacred Gear would definitely just freeze him over if there wasn't anything to break apart the ice before it could form.

By this point, he felt that he ripped apart the terrain well enough, as the ice that used to be under their feet was now ripped apart, leaving it as nothing more than platforms floating on the water.

The field of ice was in pieces.

And Dulio knew that such a trick wouldn't work twice, hopefully.

Suffice it to say, the shinobi was more than ready for any other unexpected plays that the psuedo-priest had in store for him-

"Wait, I have a proposal."

...

"...Huh? What's this about? You want to change how we resolve this _now?_ " Naruto asked with an unhinged jaw, unable to believe how much balls the man in front of him had.

Dulio raised his hand up in surrender, an easy-going smile on his lips. "Sorry, sorry. I know, a bit anti-climactic, but you have actually managed to convince me a little after that little stunt."

The shinobi did a double-take, his disbelief obvious. "...Really?"

"Really. That strange energy of yours...I don't know how, but I _felt_ your sincerity, as well as your good nature through it." the exorcist insisted, but his smile went away in favor of a more serious look as he continued. "However, while I'm more convinced that you have good intentions than ever before, I still have one last hurdle for you. Something more simpler and quicker, but also something more...meaningful."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "...Alright then, what is it?"

Seeing that he at least had the teen's tacit approval, Dulio continued. "You see, as I've mentioned several times, I have an abnormal amount of control over my Sacred Gear, where I'm actually able to connect to others emotionally in a roundabout way. And to that effort, I have actually created a technique that could help others remember things that are most important to them, for better or for worse."

After that initial explanation, Dulio moved to raise his hand, using his index finger and thumb to create a circle, and then blew into it.

Strangely enough, as the young man continued to blow, a bubble quickly emerged from the circle, floating off of his hand and towards the younger male.

Naruto stared at the bubble, a sudden feeling of apprehensiveness gripping him.

"...If you can touch that bubble, my _Speranza Bolla di Sapone_ , take the memory that it forces you to look back on, and continue to stand tall, then I'll back off from this mission. Whereas, if you waver because of it, you will have to give up. Deal?" the pseudo-priest concluded, raising his hand up in a handshake with a winning smile.

The shinobi narrowed his eyes at the bubble, the feeling of wariness not at all diminished after his explanation.

But Naruto still felt that he had little time to waste, and his abilities were still largely unknown anyway.

This was the safer bet.

"I accept."

* * *

The cloud of dust that was spawned after the apartment complex's destruction slowly trickled to the ground after being sent into the air, coating the area in an artificial fog as it settled down.

It was something subtle, and something that neither of the combatants counted on when they started this fight.

Yet the fact was that it was there, and it was definitely to _Diodora's_ advantage than Issei's.

As when the cloud settled, it not only covered everything in an ashy atmosphere, it also began to hide Diodora from the former human's view, being just thick enough to do such a thing.

As soon as that happened, the _pawn_ finally realized just how poor his position was.

To make it worse...that was something that he did, it wasn't Diodora's doing at all, much to the perverted boy's annoyance.

...Great, he should probably plan his attacks better or something...

Those thoughts were prematurely cut off once _something_ came out of the fake fog.

Now, much to his annoyance, Issei couldn't even tell _where_ the -soon to be apparent- demonic-powered beam came from, as it pierced through the haze, aiming right for him.

The brown-haired boy narrowly swiveled to the side, eyes wide, watching the beam punch through the pavement, making a hole that was no wider than the energy construct itself.

But what alerted him to the inherent danger of his position, was the fact that the ground began to _glow_ , as if there was a light underneath the ground...

"Shit...!" the _pawn_ cursed as he jumped sideways, the ground suddenly erupting under his foot as his enemy's attack blew up inside the earth.

Thankfully, he was merely singed by the attack, but more and more beams were easily replacing the initial attempt on his life afterwards, forcing him to jump around, unless he felt like getting himself skewered.

So Issei did just that, hopping around the battered town streets as beams came raining down from somewhere in the air, trying to focus on _where_ exactly the attacks were coming from and waiting for-

 _Boost!_

Ah. There it was.

With that power boost, the perverted boy was more than ready to take the fight to his opponent, trying to zero in on where exactly he was shooting from.

The heavy dust cloud was still present around the battlefield, making it difficult, but he at least had a rough idea.

But by that time, suddenly, inexplicably, the attacks _stopped_.

Issei had no idea why they stopped, but he didn't wait to find out, as he immediately moved forward to try and catch the man before he could attack again.

So he moved, his legs carrying him forward as he tried to catch Diodora and smash his face in.

And he eventually made it to -roughly- the last possible area that he was in, eyes scanning around above his position, knowing that his enemy would stick to the high ground.

He wasn't there, nowhere to be found as a matter of fact.

So then where the hell was-!?

He gasped suddenly as a beam crashed into his back, cutting off his thoughts at the sudden pain as it burned through his Kuoh Academy jacket.

Issei wasn't exactly a good sensor, or the best with his instincts, but even should've been able to sense _that!_

Yet he didn't, he had no idea that it was even coming.

Damn it...! This cloud of dust was making this fight so much harder than it had to be!

More than that, he couldn't even tell when the attack was coming, or where for that matter...

Actually, now that he thought about it, Naruto mentioned that he wasn't able to sense this guy's presence at all last time they fought.

So basically, he _had_ to close the gap between the two, fast.

At least, that was what he was concluding, as another beam obliterated a piece of the street that he was jumping around on.

Even as he was dodging attack after attack, the amount of beams that came down continued to increase, both in scope and frequency, with the eruptions around him becoming more and more powerful as time went on.

The young man jumped backwards as the ground erupted, the explosion heating up the front of his body with an unbearable heat, but forcing himself to ignore that as he sidestepped another beam which knocked him off of his feet.

As soon as he landed on the hard ground, with hard rubble raining all over him, he desperately forced himself to keep moving by pushing away from the ground to force himself into a roll, another beam impaling itself right where he just was a split-second ago.

The expected rumble of power once more knocked him away, sliding, singes all over his body, as he tried to recover as quickly as possible.

And, as though his enemy decided that he deserved a respite, the barrage of attacks stopped all of a sudden, giving him the momentary pause that was needed to get some semblance of awareness of his surroundings again.

At the very least, though he was shaken, he was still able to fight.

Issei carefully regarded the dusty air, trying to find any sign of his enemy, unable to do so after a quick scan.

...That bastard was probably moving to a new location, making sure that he remained hidden so that the _pawn_ couldn't try to counterattack.

Bad.

This was _bad_.

No matter how he looked at it, Diodora was being very cautious this time, making sure to crush him while keeping a distance.

How was he supposed to beat him like this...?

...

Again.

It was just like before.

Just like-

 _"Face it. You are far too weak to stop me. It's over."_

Those words echoed across the young man's head, taunting him, as the masked man; Diodora, looked down on him with both of his - _sick_ \- orange eyes, back _then_.

Issei smashed his gauntlet into the ground, eyes dilating, grinding his teeth together at the thought of what happened back at the summer retreat.

 _No..._

Not again, he couldn't let that happen again!

But what could he do?

He wasn't strong enough...

 _He wasn't-!_

 ** _"Oi, idiot."_**

Issei's eyes widened, freezing in place.

Those words...

Where'd he hear that from-?

 _"...If you begin thinking like that, especially if you're in the middle of a battle, then you might as well throw in the towel."_

...

No.

He remembered where he heard those words from.

The young man's heart steadied as he physically and mentally calmed down, brown eyes closing softly as the memory trickled in...

* * *

 _ **Less than a week ago...**_

Issei licked his lips nervously as he stared at the house in front of him, standing in place at the entrance, trying to find it within himself to just go ahead and ring the bell.

This wasn't rocket science, this was Naruto's house, nothing special or intimidating.

Still, the perverted boy just remained standing in place instead of going ahead and ringing the doorbell, stuck in indecision.

...Maybe he should come back later.

...No, wait, he heard from Buchou that Naruto was planning on leaving Kuoh Academy for a little bit...so this may well be the last chance that he's got to speak to the guy.

He even made sure to not bring Asia with him, so that he could talk to the crazy blond alone, this was kind of a big deal here.

"...Come on man, you can do this, it's just a normal and friendly visit." Issei muttered to himself, trying to bring himself the motivation to take another step forward. "Just _go_."

...

...

He still wasn't moving, much to his rising frustration.

Before he could even begin to rage at this stupid development-

"...Oi, what the hell are you doing just standing outside of our house, you creeper?"

-his attention was brought to the front door of the house he was trying to enter, with a certain red-head standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and a dull look on her face.

Ah...

"H-Hey! I'm not being a creeper or anything! Don't make such stupid assumptions about people!" the _pawn_ complained loudly, annoyed at the charge.

Mio, who was wearing a casual yellow tank top with a pair of beige cargo shorts, rolled her eyes. "...I saw you standing outside the house through the window a while ago, and you just _stayed_ there for the longest time, what else am I supposed to assume?"

Redness quickly flooded the reincarnated devil's cheeks, feeling the sudden sting of embarrassment after finding out that little tidbit.

Despite this, the young man was still going to retort against the charge against him, at least until another voice chimed into the conversation.

"Oh come on Mio-sama, there's no need to be so harsh to the poor guy, he's probably just too embarrassed to try and ring the doorbell, that's all!" a voice claimed from above both teens.

As Issei snapped his head to the sky, Mio was already in the midst of groaning.

On top of the roof, with her long silver hair and her gothic lolita dress fluttering in the wind, stood Maria with a stupid grin on her face.

"So _that's_ where she was..." Mio grumbled out, already feeling a headache come on from the completely unnecessary addition to the conversation.

Ignoring that comment, Maria crouched low while retaining her position on the roof, looking down at their brown-haired visitor. "Well, come on, we all know what you're _really_ here for. Just spit it out already."

Brown eyes widened, surprised that the silver-haired girl had the perception to find out what he was here for.

Seeing his expression, Maria's grin only grew wider. "That's right, you're totally transparent in what you want here. So go ahead, with your heart in hands, and confess your love to Mio-sama!"

...Then his positive impression of the loli was crushed mere seconds after it was established.

And while he wanted to, very much, comment on the impossibility of what she had just claimed, he knew damn well that he should stay quiet.

To figure this out, all he had to do was notice the pulsating tic that appeared on Mio's forehead as she grounded her teeth together.

"Maria..." the red-head warned, a threat inherent in her voice.

Instead of heeding that, she saw fit to dig herself in further. "...So you're _not_ here to confess to Mio-sama...? Wait, does that mean that you're here to confess to _me!?_ No, wait, maybe you're after Naruto-sama...?"

" _NO!_ On all fronts, just _no!_ " Issei roared out.

Mio just facepalmed, walking slowly up to the _pawn_ as she sighed quietly. "...You're here to see Naruto, right? At least that's my guess...if that's the case, come on in. And please, just ignore the troll that lives on the roof."

Still infuriated, Issei took in heavy gulps of air to calm himself down, nodding steadily as he walked inside the house.

Meanwhile, as he was making his way inside, he heard the loli on the roof speak again. "Eh...? But Mio-sama, I don't live on the roof ya know?"

"Wrong. You _didn't_ live on the roof...but after this stunt, you can go ahead and begin doing just that."

"EH!? No, wait! It was just a prank, Mio-sama! And I really did need to talk to you, please!"

"Well I'm not listening!"

Issei somehow managed to ignore the back-and-forth between the two half-devils, moving to take a seat somewhere as he waited for the blond to show up.

So, the young man quickly decided to seat himself by grabbing a chair in the table located in the living room.

And as the _pawn_ took his seat, with Naruto nowhere in sight, he couldn't help but silently marvel at the sight around him.

It was kinda hard to recognize the fact that Naruto, the guy that always managed to get on the wrong side of the student council, owned a house.

Even harder to recognize the fact that he was living with women already.

Damn it, he was a virgin just like him, yet he lived in such an enviable position...!

"...I think he's thinking about something perverted, Mio-sama..."

"Yeah, I pretty much figured as much."

Issei was snapped from his jealous thoughts by the exchange of the two females as they grabbed seats on the opposite side of the table from him, one of which was giving him a sly look, and the other giving him one that most resembled distaste.

Unwilling to admit that they were correct in their assumption, the young man coughed into his hand in order to get onto the topic that he wanted to get into. "W-Well, sorry about what happened before. But yeah, I wanted to talk with Naruto about...a certain problem that I'm having. I'd be grateful if you could get him for me."

Mio frowned, tilting her head to the side as she considered the perverted boy's request. "Well, it's not like I mind getting him for you, but I can't get him right _now_ -"

"Ah!" Maria piped up all of a sudden, cutting her charge off. "That's right, I forgot to tell you! Mio-sama, Naruto-sama asked me to tell you to replace the toilet paper as soon as you were done glaring at the window. He said it was super important."

The half-devil's eyes widened, her cheeks flaring up a little at being called out, but still got up from her seat to rush and do as asked. "R-Right! I'm on it!"

Like a flash, the red-head disappeared from the table and moved to grab toilet paper.

She moved so fast that Issei honestly didn't even see her move.

"Wow, when it comes to Naruto-sama, she really does work fast..." the succubus concluded quietly, before turning to their guest with a chipper smile. "Well, what was it that you wanted to talk with Naruto-sama about?"

Despite getting caught off-guard by Mio's disappearance, Issei still responded in a somewhat calm demeanor. "Sorry, but I wanted to make this a one-on-one talk. It's pretty personal, nothing against ya."

Maria didn't look offended at all, instead, her chipper mood only seemed to brighten. "Oh! It sounds important! Well then, I wouldn't want to intrude on something personal, so it's a good thing that Naruto-sama is about to come out in a bit anyway."

The _pawn_ blinked, feeling that there was more to her words than he was catching.

And of course, he was right.

Out of nowhere, the sounds of crashing and shouts echoed across the house, easily heard by both individuals on the table, eliciting two very different reactions.

A surprised jump from Issei.

And a knowing grin from Maria.

The sounds of crashes ceased suddenly and without warning, creating a tense stillness to the house, at least until the sounds of someone running towards the living room quickly became apparent to the both of them.

" _MARIAAAAAAA!"_

As well as that blood-curdling scream.

Like some sort of demon from hell, Mio came out of the hallway, glaring at the two that were sitting down casually. Her eyes bloodshot, her face bright-red, her breathing labored, and her entire body twitching sporadically.

Issei could only stare, speechless.

So it was up to Maria to ask the obvious question.

"Mio-sama, you seem to be somewhat...stressed, did something happen?" the succubus asked curiously, the picture of innocence.

The red-head breathed harshly as she glared daggers at the silver-haired girl, veins visibly _throbbing_ on her forehead. "You... _you_... _!"_

"Me, Mio-sama?"

" _YOU TRICKED_ ME!" the half-devil screeched.

Maria blinked, using her index finger to point at herself. "Me?"

If possible, Mio's eyes became more bloodshot than before, with her whole frame shaking violently in repressed _rage_. "You...! Don't you play stupid with me! You never told me that _Naruto was still in the bathroom!_ "

Issei practically choked on his spit by this point.

"...Eh? But I never told you that Naruto-sama was done with the bathroom, Mio-sama."

The red-head's jaw dropped. "It was _implied_ you little-!"

"Now, now...let's all calm down here, even though I have no idea what the hell's going on dattebayo..."

Everyone in the room stopped speaking when a young man intervened, walking in, already looking tired as water droplets dripped from his bare body.

...He also happened to only have a small towel wrapped around his waist to protect his decency.

And that guy was-

"N-N- _Naruto!?_ Why are you walking around half-naked!?" Mio cried out, her eyes as wide as saucers as she quickly rushed to cover her eyes from the sight, cheeks flaring further.

Indeed, Uzumaki Naruto had just walked into the room after finishing his shower, and after Mio had just peeped on him.

Instead of being embarrassed however, he just stood tall, crossing his arms across his pectoral muscles as he gazed at his imouto with a stern look. "Alright...I think I know what's going on here."

Despite staying quiet, everyone around the blond turned to look at him, curious about his 'findings'.

And he very quickly delivered. "Mio...you've been feeling really weird around boys recently, right? You're getting curious about things that you were once never curious about, right? Well, first I have to tell you not to worry, we all go through this phase in our lives. We just have to get through this together, alright?"

As the blond continued speaking, everyone else remained silent, whether it was through rising horror or out of dangerous curiosity, akin to watching a train wreck about to happen, no one had any idea.

It was by that point that the shinobi spread his arms out in a welcoming gesture, a soft smile on his face. "Look, there's no need to peep, but...I do think that it's about time that we have 'the talk'."

...

...

Managing to do the impossible, Mio's face grew brighter and brighter red, matching the sun by this point as she desperately tried to stop him. "No...t-that's not it...it was Maria..."

"It's ok, I got 'the talk' really late too. You're not alone in this, I promise that you'll know all that you need to know about this confusing time in your life." Naruto assured, nodding sagely. "Really...I feel like I've failed as an 'onii-chan'...I should have known that this was happening ever since you began interrogating me and Yuki yesterday about relationships."

For the second time that day, the half-devil's jaw just dropped, speechless.

Meanwhile, Maria was covering her mouth up desperately, wheezing as she lost her breath to her giggling fits.

Issei just watched, his questions to the blond lost in the soap opera that was unfolding before his eyes.

It was like watching a ticking time bomb.

And it was about to go off.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Naruto...I..." Mio whispered, voice listless. "...I think I'll...just be going to bed early today."

It looked like the time bomb flopped.

Naruto didn't really even get a chance to respond, as the teenaged girl already began moving to leave the living room, deathly pale with dull and lifeless eyes.

She pretty much looked like she just gave up on life then and there.

The shinobi watched her go, confusion in his eyes, before turning to the succubus that was still sitting on the table. "...Did I do something wrong?"

Maria, who was clutching at her stomach as her eyes began to water up from holding back laughter, tried to answer. "Ah...no, you got it - _hmph!_ \- totally right... - _ha!-_ without a doubt!"

But she couldn't stop the occasional burst of laughter that managed to break through her lips.

Still, unbelievably, Naruto believed her words and nodded to himself with confidence. "Alright then...I gotta talk to her about it tomorrow."

The _pawn_ gaped, unable to believe what he was seeing.

There were no words that could be spoken.

It was - _finally_ \- by that point that Naruto finally noticed his presence.

"Ah... _woah!_ " the shinobi exclaimed, doing a double-take as his gaze accidentally passed by the quiet teenager. "Issei...? Is that you? What the hell are you doing in my house?"

The young man locked eyes with the blond, feeling more than a little awkward at his intrusion. "Hey there Naruto...it's been a while. And I'm here because I wanted to talk to you about something personal...but then I got caught into something weird."

Illustrating his feelings on the subject, the young man waved his arm, implicating that the very house itself was spawning the weird events that recently unfolded around him.

Frankly, the whiskered teen didn't look surprised. "You sorta get used to it."

Oh, that explains a lot actually.

Without missing a beat, Naruto walked up to the living room table and slid into the seat opposite of Issei, taking a second to glance at the still coughing Maria. "Oi, do me a favor and comfort Mio, would ya?"

The succubus was still 'coughing' from before, completely unable to recover after the beautiful scene she had just engineered. "I'm - _hah!_ \- on it...Naruto-sama!"

Maria slowly pushed herself off from her seat, giggling insanely, and began moving to the hallway so that she could 'comfort' the red-head.

And by that, of course, she meant tease.

It was this very incident that would convince Mio of something later on.

Mostly, that she didn't need to consider _how_ she got the succubus to join Naruto on his planned trip to Kyoto, which was planned for in the beginning of Kuoh Academy's reopening.

She'd just stuff her inside his baggage.

No muss, no fuss, right?

Anyway, Naruto finally turned to face the _pawn_ , quirking an eyebrow in curiosity. "So? What's up?"

Issei dragged his eyes away from the retreating back of the mischievous silverette and onto the man that he actually came to see. "Right. You see...I've been training recently, especially ever since we've gotten a lot of free time after Kuoh Academy's temporarily closed down for repairs..."

For some reason, the shinobi saw fit to cough uncomfortably at the mention of the school's repairs, going shifty.

Ignoring this, the perverted boy continued. "...And while I'm making a lot of progress in terms stamina, as well as making up a new move...well, actually, that's just the problem. If I'm only thinking about my basic abilities, I've only really gotten a little better in terms of stamina and strength when compared to when I was Buchou's summer retreat."

So, after that small explanation, Issei finally got to the crux of his problem. "Basically, I need to make some improvements, and fast. And I'd like some advice on how I could do that, since...well, you're the guy who likes throwing punches the most out of everyone I know."

A snort emerged from Naruto's throat at the blunt admission. "Oh boy, you have no clue dattebayo..."

Then the blond shifted around in his seat, lackadaisically crossing his arms behind his head as he carefully regarded his fellow male. "...Well, I can definitely understand why you'd come to me for something like this, but you gotta understand that I ain't a miracle worker. There isn't a way for you to become a badass overnight."

If the brown-haired boy's roll of the eyes was any indication, he obviously didn't believe the whiskered teen's words too much. "Oh come on, Naruto! You're really strong, right? You've fought in a lot of life-and-death battles, right? So surely you've got some kind of method of training that could help accelerate my growth!"

Naruto just quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah...I've been in a hell of a lot of fights, but that's kind of not the point. I don't have a quick-fire way to make you powerful or anything like that, and even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you."

Seeing the indignant expression that began to creep into the reincarnated devil's face, the blond continued without missing a beat. "Look, there are many ways that someone could grow strong. For the most part, everyone has there own way to fight, or at least a unique spin to their fighting style. We both may like to use our fists, but that doesn't mean that we'll fight the same way, or that we'll have the same strategies."

Issei plopped his head down onto the table, disgruntled. "...I have no idea what you're saying."

Oceanic eyes dulled.

"...Basically, I can give you some pointers, as well as some training in helping you form a basic fighting style...but after that, you're on your own." Naruto explained more clearly, crossing his arms across his chest. "If I do more than that, then I'd be interrupting your growth."

The shinobi's eyes narrowed, firm in this. "Fact is, I want you to build upon your abilities your own way, to find you own way forward without my meddling. I want you to fight as Hyoudou Issei, not as a cheap clone of Uzumaki Naruto. Do you kinda get what I'm saying?"

The _pawn_ leaned back from the table, eyes widening, knocked silent as his brain finally registered what the blond was saying.

His chocolate-colored orbs turned downwards, unable to look at his host. "But...what if I take too long to get stronger? What if I can't protect Asia again..."

That was right.

Once upon a time, there was this devil that was targeting Asia, for what reason, the former human had no idea.

What he _did_ know, was that when the time truly called for it, he wasn't strong enough to stop the bastard himself.

...What if he couldn't beat him the next time he met?

What if-?

"Oi, idiot."

Issei was snapped from his internalized worries, locking eyes with his fellow teen once more without even thinking about it.

"...If you begin thinking like that, especially if you're in the middle of a battle, then you might as well throw in the towel." Naruto criticized, sighing a little. "You need to keep your head held high, and you need to have the confidence to face your next enemy, no matter who they are. Otherwise you'll stand no chance."

The shinobi closed his eyes silently afterwards, as if pondering.

"I remember...that Rias once told me about some interesting things about the supernatural in general after we first met, from the 'Top Ten' most powerful beings...to how Sacred Gears basically worked." he began, focused.

The _pawn_ leaned back into the table, ears perked at what the blond's possible point was, keenly looking for anything that could help him out.

And as expected, the point very quickly became obvious.

"Specifically, I remember what she told me about Sacred Gears." Naruto noted, sliding his gaze onto his guest again. "And how someone is supposed to become more powerful while utilizing them."

Issei's eyes lit up. "Oh...! I think I remember Buchou mention something like that once, something about my 'desire' if I remember right..."

"Yeah, apparently your 'desire' could make your Sacred Gear evolve if it's strong enough." Naruto remembered clearly, though his facial features belayed his dissatisfaction. "But, to be honest, I don't really believe that it's _that_ simple."

The reincarnated devil squinted. "How do you figure _that_? You're not a Sacred Gear researcher or anything, so wouldn't Buchou have more information on something like this than you?"

A shrug was his only response. "Personal experience."

...That wasn't an answer though.

Ignoring the thorough vagueness of his words, Naruto allowed a calm smile to awash across his features, at ease now. "Issei...answer me this; how badly do you wanna get more powerful? To protect not only Asia-san, but to protect your new comrades?"

The perverted boy didn't even hesitate. "I would sacrifice my arm for it."

This time, the blond's only response was a toothy smirk. "Good answer, but here's another question now; why the hell don't you have the power that you want so badly if you're already 'desiring' it?"

Issei opened his mouth, ready to answer...

Then paused, suddenly uncertain.

Seeing his fellow male's pause, the shinobi raised his nose into the air. "You get it now, right? There has to be more to this Sacred Gear thing! See, this is why you shouldn't question my wisdom, I'm just too smart for my own good sometimes~"

Dry brown eyes watched as the blond's ego began to swell to massive proportions, forcing a sweat-drop out of the still-confused young man.

It took a few more seconds for Naruto to bring his ego back down to the planet Earth.

"Anyway, as I was saying before, there's probably more to this Sacred Gear thing than we think, as your desire is pretty damn obvious right now. Though, I suppose you could say that your 'desire' could reach a peak in dangerous situations, which in turn could trigger your _Boosted Gear_ to evolve, it doesn't change the fact that you probably...no... _definitely_ need one more thing to get stronger."

Blue eyes locked with brown ones, reflecting each other's visages as the shinobi breathed out the two words that went on to echo in the small room, their importance understated, yet not.

 _"Your will."_

* * *

 ** _Present..._**

 _Boost!_

Issei smashed his gauntlet into the ground, splitting it apart with his incredible strength, using it to force himself onto his feet, a green aura beginning to swirl around him.

"...Oi...you blond bastard..." the reincarnated devil murmured, eyes shadowed by his brown hair.

At least until he tilted his head upwards, a toothy grin plastered across his face. "Don't try and say such cool shit...when you've only got a towel protecting your decency...huh...?"

The brown-haired boy then took a deep breath, before breathing out, easing himself as he glared at the sky, trying to plan out what to do next.

He only had a rough idea of where that bastard was, so he would have to wait for him to make the first move, and go from there.

...And...while he couldn't, and shouldn't, use his _Dragon Shot_ , which probably wouldn't hit the asshole anyway, he could still try and use something in it's stead.

Rather, to be more specific, he could improvise.

And improvise he would, as he just barely saw something flash in his peripheries, breaking through the dust to his right, moving for the kill.

In response, Issei jumped backwards as the beam obliterated the ground where he just occupied, his brown eyes snapping to where he -roughly- knew where the attack originated from.

He already knew that the bastard wasn't gonna let up, as a matter of fact, he was counting on it.

Which was why he was focusing demonic energy onto his _Boosted Gear_ once more, making it glow faintly, as a small orb appeared in the palm of his hand.

That being said, the gauntlet wasn't glowing anywhere near as brightly as last time, with the red orb being significantly less powerful than the last orb that occupied his palm.

And that orb was being aimed just when another beam pierced through the dust cloud, heading for him.

With as much precision as he could muster, he raised his left arm, clutching at it with his right, and called out the new attack that he literally just came up with one the spot.

" _Dragon Barrage!"_ he declared, his _Boosted Gear_ glowing brightly as it released the attack to intercept the enemy's magical attack.

And indeed it did.

 ***BOOM***

Both attacks impacted one another in the air, not too far off from the ground, and cancelled each other out in an impressive light show of an explosion.

However, even as Issei was firing off his demonic-based orb, another beam was breaking out of the fog, coming out in short order after the last one.

Then again, it was called, a _Dragon Barrage_ for a reason!

"Keep going...!" he urged himself, creating another orb immediately after the last one. Firing it off to meet with the latest attempt on his life.

Like he expected, his attack once more canceled out Diodora's, but he still continued to barrage the air in order to keep up with the increasing number of attacks on his enemy's end.

The air became riddled in small explosions, shaking the earth under the constant air pressure that it was picking up, knocking everything away from the points of detonation.

Which was exactly the point...!

Even as the perverted boy was forced to jump backwards after failing to stop a few stray beams from getting through, the dust cloud that once hanged overhead like some kind of looming threat was being pushed further and further away from the explosions.

And it was thanks to that, that the young man was able to see the silhouette of a certain devil, standing on top of an apartment complex a way's away from him.

Gritting his teeth, metaphorically clutching his heart in his hands...

He _jumped_.

 _Boost!_

This was it...!

His felt his Sacred Gear give him his last burst of power, his stamina unable to accommodate more than this last power up.

And because of that, his _Boosted Gear_ let loose everything he had in one full burst.

 ** _Explosion!_**

His very muscles felt like they were set on fire, as his Sacred Gear announced that he has reached his zenith in power.

He had no idea how much time he had...

But...!

Issei very quickly closed the gap between himself and his enemy, who was preparing another volley, unaware that he was incoming.

So he raised his left hand, his gauntlet, and heaved it forward, knowing instinctively that it was going to crash _beautifully_ into a certain asshole's face.

Diodora for his part, was cautiously waiting for some of the smoke to clear up so that he could get a clearer shot on his enemy, focusing on creating more magic circles to attack with, and considering whether he should change spots to confuse the former human more.

What he didn't expect, was to see said former human come crashing through the smoke from the explosions earlier, his fist raised, primed to smash his face in.

His single functioning eye widened, caught off-guard by the reckless offensive.

But he managed to pivot on the spot by sheer reflex, muscle memory activating as he remembered their last clash.

By mere _inches_ , Diodora managed to dodge the mighty swing, his face twisting up in a dark smile as his eye lazily watched the fist pass him by, as if in slow motion.

Yet, Issei didn't look at all worried by this fact.

If anything, a shit-eating grin overtook his features.

" _Issei, if there's one thing that you need to know above all else...it's that you're the type of guy that likes to use his fists. But to actually get the chance to use them, you've gotta actually make sure that your enemy is wide open."_

Naruto's last piece of advice echoed in the perverted boy's mind, as he began to seriously concentrate a bit of his demonic energy onto his Sacred Gear.

 _"Remember, you're not me. You're you. And knowing you, anything that you come up with to make that opening will sure as hell be blunt and ham-fisted. Which is fine, but just remember one thing..."_

Issei pooled that power into his gauntlet alright, specifically, on the back of his hand, which just so happened to be facing Diodora as he made his pass.

 _"...Whatever you do, however you do it, when you get your chance to attack..."_

That power made the jewel that rested on the back of his gauntlet _glow_.

Until...

That very jewel _flashed_ brightly, as if it was a flash grenade that just went off, blinding anything or anyone that happened to see it for that very sparse millisecond.

"Ugh...!? W-What!? I-I can't see! _I'm blind!_ "

Like Diodora, who clutched at his last eye, stumbling over himself as he began to wail at the intense pain, which was amplified thanks to his sensitive devil eye.

An absolutely vicious grin split Issei's face apart, as he flew past the blinded devil, tucking himself into a roll the same second that he touched the roof of the apartment complex.

It was called the _Boosted Flash_ , meant to blind any opponent that dodged his fist by pouring demonic energy into the jewel on the back of his Sacred Gear.

It was ham-fisted, and completely unsubtle.

And it was one-hundred percent just like him.

Anyway, as soon as he was able, he forced himself onto his feet so that he could turn on the spot, prepared to utilize this golden opportunity.

His feet was cracking the floor as he sprinted towards his weakened opponent, forcing his fist back, his muscles expanding as his fist was sent thrusting forward with overwhelming strength.

" _...Make sure that you beat the shit outta the bastard!"_

Issei's fist crashed into Diodora's waist by the side, instinctively forcing the devil's muscles to bend awkwardly to try and minimize the damage done, an automatic measure to help spread the damage more evenly to the rest of the body.

It helped very little, as the former Astaroth heir was sent crashing through the guard rails that were erected to prevent people from falling, coughing blood at the sudden attack.

" _And more than that...if you ever have such a golden opportunity...make sure that you don't stop pummeling them. You'll be in your element. So until you've done as much damage as possible, or until you're satisfied, keep up the pressure! No matter what!"_

 _"_ Damn..." the _pawn_ ground out, smashing his foot into the ground and pushing himself off from it. "Even if you didn't say anything back then, I still would have done that anyway!"

Brown eyes fiercely focused on the devil that was sent into the air, his own body lifted off from the ground after he used his feet, refusing to relent on his offensive.

Issei caught up to him quickly, this time using his right fist to barrel into the hapless high-class devil, knocking him further away.

At least, it was supposed to, but before he could be sent away, the former human drove his gauntlet forward and grabbed the man's fancy robes, dragging him back for more.

Using this chance, Issei literally _smashed_ his head into Diodora's forehead, snapping his head -and body- back, as the sheer force of it ripped up the clothes that he was clutching onto.

With as much speed as he could muster, the teenaged male managed to grab the devil's arm before he went too far, however, the momentum his body was exhibiting was strong enough to force the former human to drag the bastard's body back, lest he slip out of his hand.

This pull swung Diodora's body around him in an arc, as Issei literally spun his enemy around him while remaining in the middle of the air.

Instead of trying to stop the momentum that was sending his enemy in circles, Issei quickly opted to swing him around faster.

The perverted boy clutched at Diodora's arm with a vice grip, heaving his body around him in a spin, speeding up his swings to the point that he felt, more than heard, the man's arm pop out of his shoulder.

Ignoring the scream that this elicited, the wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ used every bit of his strength to make one more swing around, feeling more and more of the devil's arm detach from his body as he did so.

Until, with that very same strength, he _launched_ his enemy towards the ground with such tremendous violence, that the already battered concrete roads didn't just break apart to make a crater.

No, the very road itself simply _shattered_ , collapsing in on itself, as if the structural integrity finally gave way to all the punishment that it was forced to endure.

By the end of the collapse, a large crater was all that remained of that piece of the road.

Issei peered at the ground, watching his handiwork, silently acknowledging the announcement that his _Boosted Gear_ made as he began to descend from the air.

 _Reset!_

Ah. That meant that his Sacred Gear was resetting his power back to it's normal state.

As soon as that announcement was made, he felt his strength suddenly leave him, very much feeling the fatigue hit him right then and there.

But despite this, he still managed to, haphazardly, land safely onto the crater that he made.

Yet the perverted boy still had to lean against a piece of concrete that was sticking out of the ground, huffing and puffing from exertion.

It took a split-second before he could push himself away from the crutch he temporarily made so that he could actually see the man that he was fighting, knowing that he had to make sure that he was actually _down_.

So, cautiously, the teen trudged deeper into the crater, which was at least a couple of meters wide, and focused his gaze onto the bottom of it, knowing that Diodora was somewhere down there.

After a few tense seconds of meticulously climbing down the relatively sizable hole, he reached the edge of where his opponent laid.

The former Astaroth heir's head was turned away, his body motionless, and one of his arms was almost completely detached from his shoulder, with blood pooling under him from his many wounds.

Issei leaned in with squinted eyes, unsure whether he was unconscious or actually dead...

As soon as he did however, that once motionless body suddenly _moved_.

Swiveling on the spot, with his arm out, a magic circle on the palm of his hand, aimed right at the _pawn_.

Brown eyes widened to the size of saucers, a curse on the tip of his tongue as he registered the insane look in his opponent's single orange eye, suddenly remembering that the man could hide his energy signal.

The magic circle glowed bright green, shining in the teen's face as he tried to backpedal out of the danger zone.

Yet it seemed that he was too late, as flames suddenly blanketed his eyesight, nearly blinding him with the luminescent light in the dark hole.

...

But it didn't touch him.

"...Ugh...? _A_...- _ARGH!?_ "

Issei's eyes, if possible, widened even further when he realized that Diodora didn't release those flames, it couldn't be, as the devil suddenly screeched when flames suddenly engulfed his body, setting him on fire.

Brown eyes scanned around, trying to figure out what happened, until the perverted boy looked up and noticed two figures at the edge of the crater.

Mio had her hands out, panting, and shaking with her last bit of demonic energy spent.

Asia, who was holding said red-head up as she struggled to even stand up properly, was letting her use her body as a stand-in clutch.

An unwilling grin spread across his face at the two, breathing out in relief at the save.

"Hey...! You...alright down there...?" Mio spoke out, her question disjointed every time she took a second to take a gulp of air in, before being quietly scolded by Asia for trying to speak.

Issei opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, another scream interrupted him, coming from the very enemy that was set on fire.

All eyes turned to watch as the devil desperately tried to put himself out, rolling around in the earth as the flames began to turn his skin ashen.

His expensive clothes weren't helping either, as it was only giving the flames fuel to burn with.

Everyone just silently watched, somewhat unnerved as they watched someone getting burned alive.

No one there was experienced with the concept of a sentient being getting killed by their hands, as everyone there was still new to the world of the supernatural.

No one, for all intent's and purposes, had the blood of a sentient being on their hands.

Neither did any of them watch as someone was getting tortured either.

So even if the man was scum, it was still a disturbing sight to behold.

Made even worse, when Diodora finally stopped trying to put himself out, instead trying to use his only good arm to climb out of the crater, pulling at the newly-made slope of earth desperately.

As he tried to climb, his last eye glared at the sky, full of unrelenting _hate_.

And it was aimed at Mio, who was stuck in place, locking eyes with the man who was sent to capture her by 'Lucifer', unbeknownst to her.

"You..." the man growled lowly, his voice distorted as he continued to pull himself up, inching closer towards her location. _"You...!"_

The red-head stared, unable to speak as he slowly ascended up the recently made cliff, his snarls of pain obvious as the fire continued to steadily incinerate his body.

She could hear his snarls slowly morph into pained chuckles, mocking. "...I bet you're proud of yourself...right? Oh, how well you've...done today! But...don't pat yourself...so quickly...when you were the reason...that all of this started...in the first place...!"

Diodora stopped his climb for a moment, his entire body pretty much covered in fire by this point, the only thing visible being his eye, which was unerringly aimed at the half-devil with unnerving intensity.

Mio couldn't move, her feet was stuck into the ground by nothing more than her astonishment, as well as her dangerous sense of curiosity.

Almost like he knew this, he continued, his voice becoming more and more raspy. "...Your blood...your blood is...special. It speaks of authority...it speaks of _power_. And feral stray devils...are drawn to such power like a moth is to flies, _especially_...if the holder of that blood isn't that strong yet."

That orange eye dilated, insanity in it's depths, as blackened lips stretched to smile. "Ferals are like animals...they want power...they want to be _alpha_...they wanted your _blood...!_ "

A pained cackle emerged from his throat, joyous despite the torture. "Do you have any idea...how hard it was to...keep those strays in line? The only reason they obeyed me...was because they obeyed their alpha...and because...they believed that they would get a chance to devour you..."

There were no responses to this, to any of this, just a tense silence that weighed everyone down.

"Y-You're wrong." Mio said lowly, her voice barely above a whisper, shaking her head, hands shaking, refusing to believe. "This...it's not my..."

" _It's all your fault!"_ Diodora accused gleefully, his slasher smile obvious through the flames. "Your friends have been ambushed by my servant in the forest! They...are all going to die! And it's because of you! I would've never been able to get those stray devils if it wasn't for you! I would have never came to this place if it wasn't for you! _IT'S. ALL. YOUR. FAULT!"_

Mio recoiled, deathly pale, shaking her head. "No...! They're not...! No! They trained! They got stronger! Naruto helped them train! They won't die-!"

" _Naruto...?"_

Diodora's whisper, despite being just that, somehow managed to be so impactful that it knocked the red-head into silence.

His single orange eye was wide, as if the man had just made a great discovery.

Then, much to everyone's rising alarm, the burning devil managed to get onto his feet, flames still burning his skin to charcoal, as he limped closer to Mio and Asia.

"You...know him...? You know him...! The man who started _all_ of this..." Diodora rasped quietly, remembering vividly the sphere that was smashed into his face less then two weeks ago.

Then he remembered the sphere that the daughter of the Original Lucifer herself used against him, and how similar it looked to _his_.

"...You admire that man..don't you...?"

Mio didn't respond, her heart hammering inside her chest, her entire body shivering as she watched a dying man continue to speak.

But she infinitely preferred a faster heartbeat when compared to her heart stopping, which was achieved thanks to the next words that were uttered by this sick, _sick_ man.

"...How would he feel...if he figured out that you were the cause of the deaths of so many...of his comrades...?" Diodora asked rhetorically, melted skin dripping from his body as he took another step forward. "How would he look at you...?"

The red-head locked up, choking up, an instinctual _fear_ preventing her from trying to escape.

To get away, from him, back up and away from the crater.

To shut her eyes and refuse him the pleasure of even listening to him.

To do _something_.

Yet she stood there, as stock still as everyone else.

And the devil continued to move closer, with his silver tongue continuing on it's quest to expand on things that she didn't want to think or contemplate over, let alone admit to exist.

"...That attack you used against me...it looked just like his...but it was _pathetic_ compared to his...a shoddy copy. Were you trying to emulate him...? Too bad for you that you're weak...as well as a liability that will get everyone around you killed. You're nothing but a _burden_...!"

Mio tried to back up, her entire body shivering uncontrollably, cupping her mouth with her hand as bile threatened to break out if she didn't.

"He'll realize this one day...you know...? He'll see what I see..."

"...No..."

"That you do nothing except hold him back...!"

"No! Just...stop...!"

"He will see this...and he will ignore it...and one day..."

" _Shut up!"_

Diodora smiled, despite his body literally falling apart, focused on this one overarching _need_...

To leave one last parting shot for these brats, to do as much damage before he was gone.

And to that end, he made his grim prediction.

"... _One day...because of your weakness...he will **die** trying to protect you_..."

Mio's heart stopped, her irises dilating to such an extent that they were merely pinpricks in comparison to the whites of her eyes.

"...Did you hear me? I said...that he will _die_ because of you..."

"No. No, no, no. You're wrong. That's not true. He can't...he _won't_ -!"

"He will _die_...because of _you...!"_

" _Didn't you hear me!? I said that he won't...!"_

 _"He will die, because of_ _you!_ " Diodora bellowed with absolute glee, using his remaining hand to point at the red-head in accusation. _"HE WILL DIE! AND YOU WILL HAVE NO ONE ELSE-!_ _"_

" _Stop. Talking_."

Blood splattered all across the rock surface that the former Astaroth heir was laying on, accomplishing the request that was given to him by the teenaged male that smashed his fist into his back.

And it really was _inside_ his back.

Diodora turned his head around, blood trickling down from his mouth thanks to overflow, and simply _looked_ at the wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ , shocked at what he had just done.

Issei, in turn, stared right back, trying to stay firm and resolute, but...

"...So...how is it...?" Diodora wondered quietly, eyeing the 'dragon' with genuine curiosity. "How does...your first kill...feel like?"

The _pawn_ flinched, far harder than he cared to admit.

"...How did you know?" the former human questioned, voice solemn.

A pained smirk slowly made itself known on Diodora's lips. "...Someone like me can tell."

And with that, the insanity quickly returned to color the devil's features, even during his last breath, _especially_ with his last breath.

"...I hope you _burn_ this visage into your memory, this moment, right here. I _hope_ that you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat as you remember the _blood_ flowing past your arms. I hope that you remember my _screams."_ the insane man said vehemently, his orange eye glazing over as he used his last moments to curse his enemies.

To pray for their suffering.

As he did in life.

Though now, that was coming to an end.

Little by little, his rantings began to get lower and lower in volume, and his strength felt like it was leeched from his body.

Until he didn't have the strength to speak, or to keep his head lifted as he glowered at the reincarnated devil.

So his head drooped, and his eye lost it's focus, staring blankly ahead without direction.

The soft crackling of the body's fire was the only thing that Issei heard as he silently watched the decaying body, brown irises blank.

No...there was one other sound that was prominent to the young man.

He could hear Mio's muffled whimpers on the edge of the crater as well, the only other noise that he could hear then and there.

A part of him wanted to go up there and comfort her, as he had no doubt that Asia was trying to do, yet...

He couldn't.

It wasn't like he didn't give a shit, he did, but it was just that...

...

He was tired.

Yeah, that was it.

Despite the fact that such a disgusting piece of shit was dead, and the fact that he just did the world a huge favor by getting rid of him...

...Well, he wasn't smiling.

There was no celebrations, no cheers, there was none of that, even though he felt like he should.

No...he just felt tired.

Issei tilted his head to the sky, idly seeing the night sky return to the normal colors that he was familiar with in the human world.

The barrier was broken after Diodora's demise, which meant that they were free to enter back into the real world again.

All the damages done in their battle disappeared, as if they didn't exist in the first place, as they never took place in the 'real world'.

And just as the barrier fell...

"...Ah! Look! The barrier fell apart!"

Those words echoed across the night sky, originating from somewhere above the perverted boy's location, prompting him to look up.

His eyes widened slightly as he took in the visage of several devils floating high above them, a few of them looking battered and tired, but well nonetheless.

As he was studying them, Akeno descended towards the ground, a relieved smile on her face. "Thank goodness you are all alright. We were worried after we sensed that there was a barrier put into place out here."

That relieved smile soon fell by the wayside however, as she quickly noticed the pale features of Mio, who was shaking violently, and was barely keeping herself up thanks to Asia's assistance.

"Akeno-san..." Issei murmured, his own lethargy obvious. "It was that guy that Buchou warned us about...it was all him."

The _queen_ of the Gremory group shot the _pawn_ a confused look at first, until realization lit up her violet orbs. "Oh no...ok, we need to regroup, now. Buchou and the Kaichou are busy dealing with the last of our enemies, so they'll join us shortly."

Issei definitely did not have a problem with that plan.

"...My house."

Both teens turned to look at the pale red-head, who, despite looking like hell, was forcing herself focus again.

"...My house is closest, and Naruto has placed seals on it that muffles energy signals...we'll be safe there. And...I have to watch over Raynare-san as well." she continued, heaving her words out, as if she was about to vomit.

At the mention of the fallen angel from the abandoned church, Akeno's features darkened somewhat, but she still nodded firmly. "Then that's where we'll go."

* * *

Naruto nervously watched the bubble drift closer, wondering what he would see when it tapped against his body.

Dulio, for his part, was curious too. As this would, without a doubt, tell him whether the teenager was in any shape to take up his mission.

Would he stand tall? Or would he crumble?

These questions were about to be answered as the bubble _touched_ the shinobi.

...

...

 _"When a person...has something important they want to protect...that's when they can become truly strong."_

 _"How...? How can you be so strong...?"_

 _"If I can't find the answer, it will be up to you to do it!"_

 _"I believe in you."_

 _"Know Pain."_

Naruto fell to his knees, the water splashing underneath him as memories assaulted him.

Of a selfless and kind soul, treasuring the man that saved his life.

Of a confused young boy, that was seeking a different path to the one he was walking on.

Of a perverted and wise old man, gazed upon him like a grandson, and passed on his dreams to his student.

Of a handsome young man with spiky blond hair, rubbing his head and uttering the words that he craved to hear for _so_ long...

 _"...You know the pain of solitude, just like I have."_

The shinobi winced, taking a step back, shaking his head, clutching at his brain as those words echoed, reliving the words that were uttered by the one he considered his 'sibling'.

 _"It's that very pain that makes you and I stronger...Naruto."_

That wasn't true.

That wasn't where his strength came from.

He didn't believe that, he _refused_ to.

Because...

Naruto opened his eyes, his head bowed, looking at the clear water under his feet.

...

...

 _No._

What he was looking at...it was just an aftereffect of what he just saw.

Nothing more, nothing less.

The thought comforted him as he straightened his back to face the young man that was aligned with the Vatican, making his lips curl upwards into a lopsided grin.

"...How'd I do?" Naruto asked, that stupid grin prevalent.

Dulio blinked, taken aback if anything.

Then, after a moment of silence, he grinned as well.

"...Looks like I've got some free time to kill." the blond man joked lightly, stretching his arms loosely as he turned on the spot. "Welp, I'll leave the rest to you from now on, alright? I'll be seeing ya."

Anti-climatically, the exorcist began floating into the air, waving his hand goodbye as he drifted off and away, content with the state of affairs.

Blue pupils trailed after him, expressing nothing but dry amusement, figuring that this was the guy's lopsided way of telling him that he had faith in him taking on his mission.

He was a pretty chill guy.

Naruto's eyes hardened, clenching his fists as he turned resolutely, prepared to make his way back home.

It's been a while, but he had a feeling that he should get back home, and soon.

Before he made a move however, he looked down one last time, his lips curling disdainfully at what he saw.

It felt like a mirage, but more likely than not, it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

As his bright blue eyes looked down, he saw a pair of dull blue eyes stare back, apathetic and dispassionate.

Those eyes...he remembered those eyes.

Those were eyes of someone who has given up.

And, much to his eternal shame, his own once upon a time.

But that time was long gone, everything about that 'Naruto' was dead and buried, and it was never coming back.

It was nothing but a phantom, he had nothing to worry about.

...At least that's what he assured himself, but a part of him couldn't help but flinch at the eyes that stared back.

And, more than that, maybe he should've never looked down in the first place...

Naruto shook his head violently, cutting off his thoughts there, knowing that no good would come from it. He had to focus.

He'd deal with it later.

The shinobi lowered himself, prepping himself to move...

Then took a mighty step forward, starting his spring to race back to Kuoh Town, internally hoping that everything was alright.

He was coming home.

* * *

Dulio lazily drifted towards the sky,taking out his cellphone so that he could contact Michael-sama about the change in plans, figuring that he was about to get chewed out.

Man, he really was too nice of a guy sometimes.

His green eyes flickered back to the large blue depths of the Pacific Ocean, where blocks of ice lazily drifted about.

He had a better grasp on that teen now.

He could now definitively say that Uzumaki Naruto could accomplish his mission, both; in a fair manner, and overall in a satisfactory conclusion.

More than that, he could say that the 'issues' that's plaguing him were well and truly buried, whether consciously or unconsciously.

That wasn't to say that it wasn't a problem, but at the very least, it wouldn't be much of one unless someone intervened and drudged it up from deep within his psyche.

And hopefully, before his problems become too big, he could open up to someone.

Until then...well, he'd just have to wait and see. He had a feeling that this wouldn't be the last time that they meet.

By that time, he idly managed to find his boss' contact number, making him sweat a little as he considered how to gently word his next few sentences.

...Oh, this will be pretty difficult.

Still, there was one thing that bothered the young man.

Why would Naruto-dono focus on keeping him out of the picture specifically?

To put it bluntly, there were still church agents in Japan now, even if you dis-included him.

As a matter of fact, he was sent here specifically to reinforce the two exorcists which were initially sent to the small settlement known as Kuoh Town.

...

Wait, Naruto-dono mentioned earlier that there was a spy in the Church, right?

So...what if this spy happened to be a part of the more weaker councils in the Vatican?

If that was the case, then that spy would likely have completely missed the fact that he was supposed to be _supplementing_ existing exorcists. As the initial group was sent anonymously, mostly so that the legendary weapons that they were carrying wouldn't be tracked to a single area.

...Naruto-dono was aware of that, right?

...

Meh, he was sure that the blond was aware of it. There was probably some kind of complicated reason that he focused entirely on Dulio, he was sure of it.

...Speaking of the spy, he supposed that he should flush him out, then let him go after that.

Yeah, he'd do that.

* * *

"Alright brats, I've fulfilled my end of the deal by transporting you lot back to Kuoh Town. What you do from now on has nothing to do with me, so as long as you don't drag me into any incidents later on by mentioning my involvement...we should be fine."

"...Even if you didn't say anything, we still would have been aware of that."

"I still had to say it, one can never be too careful with you brats."

Yuki rolled her eyes at the fretful leader of the fallen angels, she never thought that she'd be nagged by such a powerful figure, let alone _this_ man in particular.

Though considering the trouble that they were dragged into recently, she supposed that he had ample reason to be concerned.

"...Yeah, yeah, we got it. We won't blame you for any buildings we might destroy later. Happy now?" Maria snarked, a deadpan on her face.

Azazel glared at the succubus, refusing to take the olive branch. "I'd prefer if you you lot just wouldn't...oh I don't know... _destroy_ any buildings!"

Yuki raised an eyebrow, refusing to believe that even they were _that_ bad. Her partner was obviously being facetious.

They only destroyed small patches of wildlife, they didn't destroy residential areas. At least as far as she was aware of.

She was positive that no one among there little group of misfits would so blatantly destroy buildings.

Maria echoed this sentiment by snorting in disbelief. "Oh come on! just because we got into a little bit of trouble, doesn't automatically mean that we're going to break apart buildings now."

The Grigori leader shifted his gaze between the two females, serious. "...Fine, I suppose this is the best I'll get out of the two of you. So I suppose I'll just leave you both here, at the edge of Kuoh Town, just to be safe."

The hero narrowed her eyes warily at that last bit, already aware that Kuoh Town was liable to blow up in conflict soon, but not completely privy to _how_.

Nevertheless, Azazel already turned his back to the duo, demeanor lackadaisical. "Now be careful you two...wouldn't want to see either of you get killed."

Before anyone could even ask, the far older entity disappeared in a flash of teleportation magic, leaving both allies stranded somewhere in Kuoh Town.

An excellent start to the new day.

And despite the fact that it was night, it _was_ a new day, if Yuki's knowledge of astrology was correct.

Midnight had come, and had passed quite a long while ago.

She hoped that nothing major happened while they were gone...

"...Before we keep going, I have a quick question; Yuki-san."

The hero glanced at her ally, receptive. "Yes?"

Maria turned to her, her deadpan even fiercer than before.

"...Why do _I_ have to carry around _your_ friend?" she asked, annoyance laced in her words.

Yellow eyes trailed to the back of the succubus, seeing the limp form of Toujou Basara on her back, still unconscious after all of this time.

"Isn't it obvious? You're physically stronger than I am." the female teen admitted, her logic as solid as always.

If anything, the loli looked displeased at this line of reasoning. "...It's the principle of the damn thing, Yuki-san. The principle."

Yuki stared at her blankly, not understanding at all.

Purple and yellow locked with one another, both females sending blank looks at one another.

At least until Maria grumbled and turned away. "...Never mind. Let's just go."

Yuki shrugged at the strange behavior that the succubus exhibited, figuring that she was just being strange as usual, and followed her shortly.

As the two trekked their way back home, Yuki carefully picked her phone out of her pocket, regarding it like it was some kind of bomb.

She hasn't managed to dredge up the guts to contact Toujou Jin, her adoptive father, yet.

His blood-related son was alive, yet she couldn't bring herself to contact him.

It was quite frustrating, and she wasn't even entirely sure why she was so nervous.

And this dilemma was _still_ present as the two females moved forward on the completely empty streets.

It was very late, so the emptiness wasn't unexpected.

If anything, it would be unexpected that there would be anyone still roaming the streets.

So when the small group continued moving forward, making some progress, Maria suddenly had to stop moving after she noticed something...unexpected.

Yuki didn't notice this until she nearly crashed into the loli from behind, prompting her to look up from her phone.

What she saw elicited her to raise an eyebrow.

In front of them, were two figures wearing long flowing cloaks with green and yellow accents, walking towards their direction with purposeful strides.

The hero's remaining working hand twitched, prepared to summon her katana at a moment's notice, knowing that with her cast, she wasn't at a hundred percent quite yet.

But she definitely had to be the one to fight if it came down to it, as Maria-san was the one that was taking care of Basara.

So the young teen was very much prepared to fight if necessary.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like it was going to come to that, as the two figures stopped in front of them and addressed them cordially.

"Hello there! Sorry for interrupting your evening, but can you tell us where...um...Kuoh Academy is? We're kind of lost, you see, and it's been a while since I've been here." the cloaked person on the left claimed with a feminine and chipper tone.

Yuki's form slowly lost it's tension after the young woman genially asked her that question. "Ah...well, we were roughly going to be making our way there shortly. If you want, you can tag along I suppose."

Even from under that large cowl, the chipper woman's violet eyes were clearly visible as they shined in appreciation. "Awesome! May God bless you both for your kindness!"

The hero's yellow eyes snapped to her right, seeing Maria wince, feeling a little sympathetic.

However, now that she was actually focusing on the succubus, she noticed that she was looking a little pale as she regarded the two cloaked individuals, tensing her back up again.

"...Yes, thank you for your kindness." the other cloaked figure claimed, her voice -and it was a her- far more serious and monotone in comparison to her partner.

Yuki refocused back onto the two confirmed females, unsure about how she should feel about them. "...So, now that we're travelling together, how about we introduce ourselves to one another?"

Once more, the hero could practically see the chipper one's excitement. "Oh! Ok then! I'll go first!"

With a casual movement, the chipper woman pushed the cloak's hood off from her face, revealing her long chestnut-colored twintails, and her happy violet eyes to the world. "Hello there! My name is Shidou Irina, and I'm a former Kuoh Town resident that is happy to be back! Nice to meet you two!"

Without missing a beat, her partner casually pulled off her cloak's hood to reveal her short chin-length blue hair with a strange fringe of green hair on the right side of her head, and her serious dark yellow eyes, which were focused on exclusively on Yuki. "...My name is Xenovia Quarta, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Hey, Xenovia! What the heck! You're supposed to give your surname _before_ your first name! That's how Japan does things!" Irina suddenly protested, pouting.

Her partner twitched, whether it was because she was irritated at her partner or at herself for forgetting the custom, Yuki had no idea.

But she was sure of one thing at the very least.

...These two, were going to be trouble.

* * *

"...What's taking this man so long?"

"Now, now. Patience is quite the rewarding character trait, don't you know? You'll have your coordinates soon enough, young one."

Ruby eyes narrowed at the jab at her age, but didn't say anything, keeping her piece for a little while longer.

The 'king' was currently sitting in the couch of the old hero's office, trying not lash out at his impertinence for making her wait for so long.

She knew damn well that he reveled in getting a rise out of people, and she didn't feel like dealing with his shenanigans then and there.

No, she was saving her energy for something that was truly worthwhile.

...Just thinking about the upcoming confrontation was making her already limited patience fray to the breaking point.

And in that tense atmosphere-

 ***riiiing* *riiiing***

-a phone rang.

The elder man's phone to be precise.

Ruby eyes trailed after the former elder of the Hero Tribe as he got off of his seat in order to reach the landline phone, picking it up to answer.

And that man very much felt his protege's eyes lock onto him, knowing that her patience was reaching the breaking point.

"Hello?"

"Hello, hello? Ah! There you are chairman! I was worried that our enemies may have managed to get to you without our knowledge somehow! Glad to hear that you're safe, after all, we all have to stick together as comrade-in-arms, do we not? Anyway, I have called to inform you that we're all in position, and that we're awaiting your orders!" a hot-headed male voice exclaimed on the other line.

Even as the young man was speaking, the former member of the Hero Tribe was already getting a headache just by listening to his loud voice.

Nevertheless, a dark smile stretched across his wrinkled features as he heard the report. "Excellent, remain on standby until further notice."

"Of course!" that hot-headed voice exclaimed again, before cutting itself off.

The elder placed the phone back down onto the receiver, turning on the spot so that she could gauge the 'king's' reaction.

He was given pause by her completely nonchalant attitude.

"...So _that's_ what you were up to." she murmured softly, crossing her arms under her bust as she coldly regarded her senior. "I was wondering why _those_ six were deployed without my knowledge, so you're playing your old games again, are you?"

Unintentionally, the elder man stood straighter. "You knew about this?"

The tyrant hummed. "I was. Nothing happens inside this institution without my knowledge. But I figured that you had your reasons for deploying those six, so I took the liberty of adding two more members to your little strike force...just in case things went awry."

Alarm colored his blue pupils. "W-Who did you send? This is a delicate operation! If you send someone...unruly along with the strike force, then the objective will-!"

"Then I suppose that you'd better inform me about what your _objective_ is, so that I, in turn, could inform my two additions. We wouldn't want this ploy of yours to crash and burn." the young woman stated in no uncertain terms, _daring_ him to try and call out her bluff.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, as the two humans stared at one another, unresponsive on both of their parts.

But it was the older man that broke first.

"Who did you send?" the man repeated.

This time, instead of ignoring the question, the ruler answered. "One person that you could talk out of this, and another person that will only listen to _me_."

If possible, the former hero's wrinkles deepened as his face scrunched up, knowing that he had to give up this little battle in the name of the greater good.

"...Those six that I've deployed...they were sent to the outskirts of the Japanese branch of the Hero Tribe, awaiting my orders so that they could complete their objective; search and rescue." the seer admitted slowly, his lips thinning. "If my...acquaintance; Shiba, doesn't make contact with me after a specific period of time, I was planning on 'rescuing' him, with that excuse."

The tyrant raised an eyebrow, already understanding what he was planning.

Essentially, the chairman was very much aware that Shiba held quite a bit of influence in the Hero Tribe, not a lot, but enough that he had an overall advantage over the chairman himself.

However, if the chairman 'freed' Shiba from the Hero Tribe, then he would completely sever his ties with that faction, preventing him from using his high position to push the Hero Tribe to destroy him and their little institution. Should their rivalry come to blows.

He was weakening the competition before they truly became competition, something standard in cut-throat politics.

Of course, it would only work if he had an excellent pretext to attack.

In short, he was _waiting_ for the opportunity.

...Which meant that she was wasting her time here.

The 'king' forced herself onto her feet, making her way out of the large room, newly apathetic.

As expected, the elder man raised his hand out, opening his mouth to try and speak to her.

But she was already a few steps ahead of him.

"I'm done here. I'm going to go inform my last-minute additions about your objective while they complete the ones that I have given to them. Make no mistake chairman, your plan will succeed without a hitch."

If possible, the former hero's eyebrows shot up into his hairline, such was his growing surprise. "...Were you aware that they were going to the Hero Tribe? Also, what objective did you give your additions...?"

The tyrant was already at the door, opening it up. "Yes, but I wasn't aware of what your objective was. As for their goal? Well, I figured that they could help me with a little project of mine, that's all."

As the door was sliding open, she paused, tilting her head a little to the side so that her ruby eyes could glare at the elder through corner of her eye. "...Don't try and pull a stunt like this again, or, I promise you, there simply won't be a third time."

And with that, the young woman slammed the door open, leaving the room with one last thing to say. "Seeing as your informant is either incompetent or stupid, I won't bother trying to use him to intercept Uzumaki Naruto, instead...I think I'll be visiting Kuoh Town and, I'll simply wait for him there. A proper greeting is in order after all."

The former seer of the Hero Tribe watched her briskly walk out of the room, her long hair flowing behind her, a reluctant smile on his face.

That girl was growing increasingly dangerous as time passed, there was no doubt about it.

Even if she _was_ underestimating him.

He wasn't aware of her machinations, but he was more than aware of what her objectives were, at the very least.

...It didn't change the fact that he probably needed to do something to keep her in check, just in case he lost complete control over her.

...Oh well, at least her attention would be focused on someone else for a little bit.

* * *

 **AN: I is tired. I shall go to bed. Nighty-night.**

 **Lol, but not before I say that I hate the fact that I can't lessen these chapters to something more manageable.**

 **Better than last time, but still over 30k, this has to be one of the weirdest problems that I have ever had.**

 **Anyway, sorry about how long this took, after I got my wisdom teeth removed, I got a hell of a lot of fever blisters all over my mouth, pretty much pissing me off too much to write.**

 **Ah well, hope you enjoyed, criticize and praise at your pleasure. :3**

 **-RekkingPride**


	36. Announcement!

_**Announcement!**_

Hello everyone! Apologies, but this isn't a chapter, rather, this is an announcement that I have to make to everyone that has been reading and following this story. An important one that I've been meaning to make for a while, but didn't really know when.

Ok...now, due to recent events that have been occurring in my private life, I have decided to take a drastic step in the course of my daily existence.

I have joined the military, and I'm gonna be shipping out on October 4th.

Now, as I'm sure that you've all guessed by now, that makes it extraordinarily difficult for me to update my 2 stories. (Yes, I have 2.)

And that's the announcement; as of Oct. 4th, I will temporarily be on hiatus from fanfiction for, at worse, 4 months or so.

At best, 2. But that's a rather optimistic outcome since I'd only be armed with a phone to actually type anything with. Which ain't easy, mind you.

Anyway, I was planning on getting out 2 more chapters before I went on hiatus, and this _is_ a hiatus, not me backing off from fanfiction permanently. Boy, I've suffered from authors leaving me hanging before, and I don't want to do it to you guys. But, of course, this time I've got no choice in the matter.

So I'd like to apologize for the abrupt announcement, as I don't want to make this announcement, and I don't want to stop writing, but I've made a commitment and I can't bail on it. I hope you all understand.

Now, this announcement isn't all doom and gloom. I wanted to ask you lot a few questions before I make my leave for a while.

First; since I'm gonna be gone for a while, it's likely that a lot of you will forget what the hell is going on in this story after such a long time gap.

So I had a thought; why not make a recap chapter for you lot after I get my hands on anything that could possibly let me write again? I mean after the hiatus, of course.

It'd be set up in a funny chibi manner too, with familiar characters having more knowledge of the plot than their 'real-life' counterparts so that they could comment on what's going on? Maybe some 4th wall-shattering hijinks too!

But, I got the original idea of this little recap chapter by a follower of this story (you know who you are) as that person noted that they were lost in what was going on.

Basically, the idea was to make a recap chapter to cover everything that has happened so far *now* rather than later, for those who were lost too.

So here's the thing, I don't want to make two recap chapters, definitely not. It inflates my chapter and word count, as well as inconveniences those that are managing to follow the story just fine, as it takes precious time to make new chapters after all.

Basically, my question is this; do you all want the chapter recap to happen for the next chapter (for those that are lost now) or do you all want it to happen after I get back into fanfiction? I won't do it twice.

Another thing; and this applies for next chapter.

I'm gonna be adding an ost (Original Soundtrack) onto a scene in the next chapter, just to test out whether I can incorporate it into what's happening. There will only be one, and hopefully it will increase everyone's reading pleasure as the soundtracks sets the mood.

Of course, it's optional, but I hope that it will help. Tell me how it is next chapter if you can. :)

Lastly, while you don't have to do it now, you could also contact me via PM or review about any suggestions or criticisms about the route that the story is going while I'm gone. It could give me something to think about as I have my head slammed into the ground by a drill sergeant. As I'm fully aware that some are a little peeved about giving other characters more...screen time I guess?

Idk how you would call it if it's in s story, but basically people want more Naruto, which is understandable. But a 'why' would be helpful in fully understanding opinions.

That being said, if you have no problems or are just generally supportive of the direction, then go ahead and tell me, as I don't want to change my mind on something due to the loud voice of a minority after all! XD

...Sorry, I'm just rambling ideas off here, apologies for the poor structure, but yeah, I'm really gonna be gone for a while. And it's also likely that no one will hear from me for at least a month and a half until I get my phone back after going through basic training.

So...yeah, sorry for laying this all for you so suddenly. Hope that you all have a great day (or night), and I'll see you all later for the next chapter!

Anyway, to make you all feel a little better...

* * *

 **Here's a preview for the next chapter!**

Mio bit her lip, eyes downcast as she tried to find her inner balance, idly noting that her foot was incessantly tapping onto the floor. Her restless energy obvious.

In frustration, she raised her foot and then slammed it into the ground, hoping that the excess energy was spent.

It wasn't.

A snarl made her bare her teeth as she was just about ready to-

"Mio-san."

The red-head froze up, forgetting that there were others in the same room with her, as the soft voice of the nun reminded her.

Asia placed her hand onto the half-devil's arm, steadying her slightly, despite the fact that the she wanted nothing more than to snatch her arm away.

"...If you're feeling troubled, you can talk to me, if you want?" the human girl hesitantly offered, her emerald eyes shining in worry.

Mio didn't respond, all at once wishing to hug the girl and to get up and run away from her.

She chose the middle option.

"...Thanks, but I think that I'll just go and rest in my room for a little bit." the daughter of Lucifer responded softly, getting up to go and do just that, wanting that isolation for a bit to think.

She wasn't given the chance, as another hand latched onto her arm, stopping her short.

It wasn't Asia's.

"...You...? You're Naruse Mio, right...?"

Mio snapped her eyes backwards, recognizing the voice that was referring to her.

Her pink eyes met the bleary -but quickly sharpening- violet gaze of the once-unconscious fallen angel.

"...I'm not sure what has happened since I lost consciousness..." Raynare said, her gaze snapping around to take in her surroundings as best she could, frowning. "But there's something else that I've got to know first."

Her violet gaze focused back onto the red-head's pink, serious, despite still being a little sleepy.

"Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri...you know them, right? Or at least, a little bit?"

Mio nodded slowly, already figuring where the fallen angel was going with this.

So, predictably, she asked the inevitable.

"...Can you take me to them? I need to speak with them, urgently." Raynare requested, trying to be polite as she slowly moved to get out of the couch she was laying on.

* * *

"...Yuki-san, those two...they're both carrying powerful weapons. I can feel it. So much so that my skin is practically tingling just by being next to them." Maria whispered to the hero, as she shot a quick glance at the two women that they were taking to Kuoh Academy.

The young human female raised an interested eyebrow, her wariness of the newcomers growing by the second. "What kind of weapons?"

The succubus spared one more look at the two teenaged girls, nervous. "...Holy weapons. Powerful ones at that."

Yuki's yellow eyes narrowed, her focus sliding towards the two human girls, unable to see the weapon that the woman known as Shidou Irina was carrying.

But she _could_ see that her friend; Quarta Xenovia, was carrying... _something_.

The girl with blue hair had a wrapped up item that almost looked like a cross on her back, completely hidden from view, but patently obvious.

She was almost embarrassed that she didn't focus on it before.

...But if Maria-san was right, that these people were holding _holy_ weapons, and they wanted to go to Kuoh Academy where the devils just so happened to go to...

Well, that was quite the coincidence, wasn't it?

* * *

Naruto suddenly locked up, feeling his body naturally react to what it perceived to be a threat, his instincts taking over before his head could truly grasp the situation.

The shinobi jumped into the air, backing up as _someone_ appeared in front of him, cutting him off from his trek back home.

At first, it just a ripple in the air in front of him, barely visible, but still there.

But then that ripple opened into some kind of portal, one that made his eyes widen to the size of saucers.

It looked just like-!

"...Found you."

A monotone voice echoed in the rocky area that he has stopped at, coming from the small figure that was -without a doubt- making his sense of danger go haywire.

To be specific, it originated from a small girl, with soulless eyes, which just so happened to be trained on him, and nothing else.

Naruto licked his dry lips, keeping his legs bent in order to accommodate for quick action lest this get ugly. "So...nice portal ya got there."

Damn, that was a stupid way to start a conversation, even for him.

And it seemed that the little girl agreed with him, since she completely ignored that forced greeting.

Instead, she just voiced out what her intent was.

"...Naruto..." the small girl started, her voice droning. "I've come to take you."

It wasn't a query.

It wasn't a suggestion.

Rather, it was framed as a matter of fact.

Needless to say, Naruto didn't like that one bit.

* * *

 **AN: And that's your preview for next chapter, if it's not a recap anyway. Sorry for the long dump, it was necessary since I didn't want to tell you all last minute.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter will be done soon! :3**

 **P.S. I didn't re-read this, so hopefully not too many grammar mistakes here.**

 **-RekkingPride**


	37. Chapter 37

**Alright, before you begin, I have an ost suggestion for those who wish to give it a shot. Ignore this if you're not interested, but I'd like for everyone to try at least once before you decide. :)**

 **Of course, since you can't copy and paste, just type "naruto shippuden ost fierce all instruments", and go to the first one by 94lolface. Don't start it yet, just keep it on standby until I give the signal.**

 **Hopefully, with this system, no one will be forced to type out the ost in the middle of reading, and disrupt the flow of the story.**

 **The signal to begin the ost will be this;**

 **-0-**

 **You guys got it? It's small enough to be ignored by those who don't care and will serve as the signal to start the ost.**

 **With that ready, let the story begin!**

* * *

 ** _A time that has long past..._**

...

...

"Wake up."

...

...

"Hey, come on. Wake up."

...

...

"Hey! I said wake up already!"

The small European child was jerked from his rest by the incessant prodding of an annoying little girl, making him groan in protest as he tried to roll away to dodge her next 'attack'.

This time however, instead of just a simple poke, his friend decided to just grab the blanket that was keeping him warm and _yank_ it.

The blond boy was sent tumbling from his bed by the action, crashing onto the floor with his head, much to his chagrin.

It took all of about three seconds for him to recover.

"Geez! I told you to wake up!" the small girl complained audibly, huffing as she crossed her arms. "You keep oversleeping you know? Keep this up and you'll get the priests upset again."

Meanwhile, the small boy on the floor slowly pushed himself back up, his bleary grey eyes trying to blink away the sleepiness that remained in them. "...You couldn't have done that like a civilized person?"

The young girl shook her head. "Not really. I do try to wake you up normally, but you never budge."

Grey eyes, now clearer as their owner properly forced himself awake, were dry as they regarded his friend, but he knew that it was useless trying to argue with her.

It would take him all day to convince her of any wrongdoing on her part.

So he just stretched his limbs a bit as he walked past her, moving towards the mess hall where the rest of their friends were. "Right, right. Sorry for troubling you, now let's get something to eat."

Despite the fact that he wasn't facing her, he knew that her face split in a grin as she jogged to catch up to him. Hearing it in her voice as she spoke up again.

"Now you're talking!" she cheered, all energy and enthusiasm. "Let's go get some grub, 'Clouds'!"

The boy designated as 'Clouds' smiled, fondly remembering the nicknames that all of the children gave one another to remember each other with.

Both of them; the boy and the girl, were orphans that didn't originally have names, nothing to label themselves as.

And they still didn't, but they _did_ have their nicknames, which was good enough until they _truly_ got their names.

The names that they would receive after they achieved their purpose for living.

Becoming the children that were _chosen_ by God.

They all promised one another that once they were chosen, once they were _something_ , they would celebrate their ascension into becoming holy warriors by giving themselves proper names.

'Clouds' couldn't wait, already feeling his excitement shoot through the roof at the thought of it.

"...Ah, look at you. Your head stuck in the clouds again. That's exactly why you've got that silly nickname in the first place, 'Clouds'." the young girl beside him teased, nudging him slightly.

The young boy turned to his companion, his excitement practically _blinding_ to anyone that had eyeballs. "Hey, do you think we're finally gonna accomplish it today? Do you think that we'll finally become God's chosen, 'Choco'?"

The girl, 'Choco', blushed a little at the not-so-subtle reminder of her nickname. "I-I don't know...and quit calling me that!"

'Clouds' just laughed heartily, his mirth echoing across the sizable room that the two children just entered, gaining the attention of those that were occupying it already.

"Hey! What's the with the ruckus 'Clouds'!? Are you daydreaming out loud again!?" a slightly older boy called out, getting up from his seat in order to get a better look at the duo that was entering the mess hall.

'Clouds' scratched his cheek bashfully at the charge, turning his head away slightly to refuse anyone eye contact with him. "...No, not this time at least, 'Blister'."

"Hah!? You lot are calling me that stupid name again-!?" the loud-mouth boy started, before wincing, grabbing his cheek. "Ah...my cheek..."

A series of groans echoed across the mess hall at this predictable occurrence.

At first, his name was supposed to be 'Bluster' for his constant loud-mouth tendencies, but he was renamed 'Blister' due to the fact that he'd always bite his cheek while yelling about something or another.

It was about as normal as anyone could possibly expect.

As the older boy began moaning about biting his cheek _again_ , 'Choco' shuffled closer to 'Clouds'. "...Do you think he'll ever stop doing that?"

The blond boy swiftly concluded that the older boy would not.

"...Man, predictable as always, isn't he?" a girlish voice drawled behind the 'Clouds' and 'Choco', catching both of them by surprise.

As his head twisted backwards, grey eyes locked onto the familiar visage of an extraordinarily pale girl with pure white hair, with her red eyes focused onto the the duo with a speculative glint in them.

"Crap...it's 'Ghost'..." 'Choco' muttered to herself, but was just loud enough for all three children to hear clearly. "What is it now? You found something interesting to share? Or is it more random gossip again?"

The albino girl known as 'Ghost', who was called as such for her pale complexion and her penchant for getting info that she really shouldn't, just grinned cryptically.

"Look, just because the _last_ info that I got for you ungrateful lot, about getting chocolate for dinner, happened to be a little...exaggerated, that doesn't mean that you gotta hold it against me." 'Ghost retorted smartly, that cryptic grin of hers widening slightly as she continued. "Besides, not everyone is as crazy for chocolate as you...' _Choco_ '."

'Clouds' watched 'Choco' twitch, her obsession for the delicious candy called out, much to her irritation.

But it wasn't like it was some sort of secret or anything...it was actually public knowledge by this point, despite her attempts to hide it.

The fact that her name was 'Choco' proved that, though she believed that she got the name because of her chocolate-colored hair and eyes, not because of the fact that she always began to drool whenever chocolate was involved.

"Alright, alright, look, I'm sorry about that incident last time, ok?" 'Ghost' eased her fellow female, her excitement about giving out this latest piece of information obvious. "But I _promise_ that this one is accurate! Pinky promise! And this is a _big_ one!"

'Choco', mollified by the apology, was more receptive than before. "Ok then...whatcha got?"

'Clouds', also interested, leaned forward a bit, his innocent grey eyes curious.

'Ghost' just smiled ever wider. "...I heard that the priests are gonna give us our final experiment! This is it you two! We're _actually_ gonna become God's chosen!"

Both children, while interested in what the albino had to say, was knocked completely speechless at the revelation that was given to them.

If anything, the white-haired girl looked pleased with herself after seeing their reactions. "I know right!? Isn't this exciting!? Now, I didn't want to announce this to everyone at the same time because of the noise they'd all make, so can you help me spread the word? If the priests find out that we know, they'll inevitably figure out that I spied on them again, so please-"

" _Hah!? We're gonna go through our final experiment!? We're gonna become God's chosen!?_ "

All three of the childrens' expressions went blank as a thunderous voice roared behind them, silencing everyone in the room by the sheer volume.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the trio turned to see 'Blister', who's eyes and smile were wide and true.

...

...

"...I knew we should've kept him as 'Bluster'..." 'Choco' groaned, shaking her head, sending a sympathetic look at 'Ghost'. "Well...it was nice knowing you I guess."

'Ghost' didn't respond, her eyebrows just kept twitching sporadically, wondering how much laps she'd be forced to do as punishment.

She also wondered when the inevitable outburst was gonna-

"Wait, so we're finally gonna be-!?"

"No way...!"

"Yes! _Yes! YES!"_

"Hey! I'm not sure what's going on, but whatever it is, we need to _party!_ "

These were the series of exclamations that immediately followed after their loud friend's outburst, loudly starting the joyous uproar that echoed across the mess hall after hearing the news.

...All except that last comment, 'Party Pooper' always wanted to start a party, so it was pretty typical of him.

'Ghost', for her part, turned to give 'Blister' the stink eye. "Great. Now I'm pretty much screwed today, thanks."

'Blister, who was definitely in a good mood, turned to her with his excited dark brown eyes. "What are you talking about!? This is a good thing! Now we can all celebrate all of our hard work properly!"

"...Yeah, I'd just appreciate it if I didn't have to suffer for it, is that so much to ask for?" the albino returned, her voice full of snark.

"Oh come on! Surely that's a small price to pay in order to-" 'Blister' started, before wincing and cupping his cheek. "Ah...did it again."

"Quit yelling all the time if you're just gonna keep biting your cheek!"

'Clouds' watched the loud and happy chatter unfold across the mess hall, as well as the round of insults that 'Ghost' was levying onto the loudest child among them, smiling.

"...Heh, they're all a bunch of idiots, aren't they?" 'Choco' noted softly, right by his side as she gazed upon the crowd of children. "But...this isn't bad, right?"

The blond boy with grey eyes turned to look at the girl beside him, seeing the massive smile that she was displaying to him.

"After all..." she began, her chocolate-colored eyes shining brightly. "They are _our_ idiots, right?"

'Clouds' could only smile in return, fully embracing that sentiment without regret.

All of the children there were picked up from orphanages, without family and support, brought to this church to become _something_.

Many of them, with nothing in the way of goals or aspirations, were _nothing_ prior to this.

But now, under God's grace, they would be more.

For they would all become the wielders of one of the most powerful weapons in recorded history, and with it, they would aid their Lord, and join something greater than any of them could even fathom.

That was why they went through the innumerable and back-breaking drills, the consistent exercises, the exhausting hours of training.

The hundreds of experiments, which battered them in body and spirit. Leaving countless scars on some of their bodies.

It was all for _this_ moment.

And despite the pain that they were pushed to endure, through it, they gained something that allowed them to weather through the storm.

A family of orphans, which stuck together through their shared experiences, and their unity in their _need_ to be a part of something greater.

The young blond boy couldn't have been prouder of this family of orphans.

...Still, they should probably stop yelling so much, as they were definitely gonna get the priests to come running-

 ***RIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG***

The bell that signified that the children had to report in were echoing across the mess hall, shutting down the excited chatter with it's impromptu calling.

"...Huh? We're gonna start the experiments this early?" 'Ghost' wondered aloud, staring at the nearest bell by her, her voice confused. "That's _never_ happened before... _"_

'Clouds' was also confused, as the priests that were taking care of them have always gave them quite a bit of time to wake up in the morning before they had to go to work.

So why the sudden change?

"Duh! Isn't it obvious!?" 'Blister' questioned rhetorically, crossing his arms confidently. "It's because the priests want us to start our new lives early! This is their show of trust!"

This explanation was heard by everyone in the room, as usual when it came to 'Blister', and definitely broke everyone out of their stupor from the change in their regimented lives.

So, following standard operating procedure, they began to get up from their seats, throw their leftovers away, and make their way to the main test room, their excited chatter obvious to anyone with ears.

'Clouds' watched them all go, seeing them all pile into the tiny hallway that led into the testing chamber, wondering if this was really _the_ day for them.

It kinda seemed surreal now that it just might be happening.

"...Damn, the priests probably know that we know, I'm totally gonna get punished..." 'Ghost' lamented, shooting 'Clouds' and 'Choco' a quick look, before winking. "Well, time to face the music I guess! Come on! I don't want to miss all of the fun!"

The albino girl turned around and quickly ran after the tightly-knit group, squeezing into the horde of excitable children.

As soon as she left, 'Blister' also began to move, giving the duo a thumbs up, flashing his teeth in a smile. "Keep up you two! It's time that we fulfill our destiny!"

And with that, he ran after the group, more than ready to join everyone in what would possibly be their big break.

'Clouds' felt a sweat-drop fall down his forehead, but took a step forward to follow anyway.

At least until he felt a small feminine hand grab his, feeling it intertwine with his fingers, holding tightly.

The blond boy's cheeks warmed a little as he turned to face 'Choco', who was the one responsible, registering the slightly shy smile that she had on her face. "Come on...let's do this, together."

'Clouds' couldn't have agreed more.

So he tightened his own hold on her hand as he took a step forward, prepared for his destiny-

 _'Kiba-kun...'_

'Clouds' jerked, glancing around, confused.

What was-?

' _Kiba-kun...!'_

W-What...?

* * *

 ** _Present..._**

"Kiba-kun!"

Kiba Yuuto jerked up, his eyes wild as they snapped to and fro in order to ascertain what was going on, before being steadied by a teenaged girl that he has grown to know.

"...Akeno-san?" he asked hesitantly, focusing on her worried features as his mind was dragging itself out of his dream, bringing him back to reality.

He felt a crushing depression hit him as that word was bandied around his head.

 _Dream_.

It was all just a dream, it wasn't real, and it would never be _real_ ever again.

The friends that he had made back then...they were all...

"Kiba-kun? Are you alright? You were tumbling and turning in your sleep, did you have a nightmare?" Akeno asked gently, being careful in her prodding, wary of upsetting him after they finally managed to get him back again.

A tired smile was her only response. "No...it really was just a dream."

The _knight_ then turned away from her, his smile turning wistful. "Yeah...a dream of a long time ago."

Violet eyes took in the young man's features, silent, with a sliver of understanding in her own orbs, before she drew herself to her full height. "Kiba-kun, I'm sorry for waking you, but I figured that you'd want to know that Buchou and Sona-kaichou has arrived."

Yuuto's eyes snapped to the _queen_ of the Gremory group, quickly remembering the series of events that led them here after her statement.

After the ragtag group had escaped the trap that the rogue werewolf had set up for them, they quickly retreated and left the two _kings_ of the Gremory and Sitri group, much to his confusion.

But Koneko-chan assured him that they would be alright, claiming that Rias had a trump card up her sleeve.

Apparently she was correct.

Anyway, afterwards the group aimed for the closest safe area to regroup, but accidentally stumbled upon a barrier that was erected by an unknown party before they reached their destination.

Thankfully, shortly after they found it, the barrier shattered without them having to do a thing on the outside.

And within that very barrier were three of their friends, and the criminal that was apparently the cause of _all_ of this.

As well as the man that had given him the sparse information about... _those_ swords.

Much to his shame, it became very likely that the former Astaroth heir was manipulating him in order to harm his fam- _former_ family.

The blond shook his head, forcing those thoughts away, lest he delve too deeply into them.

Anyway, as soon as the group collected the trio, who were strangely quiet, they managed to hole up in Mio-san's house, which apparently had the ability to muffle energy signals thanks to Naruto's strange powers.

So, as soon as Yuuto was able to sit down in a chair, he lost consciousness due to his mental exhaustion, wanting some rest about as much as he wanted to ignore the wounds that he had gained from his battle with that werewolf.

The handsome blond paused, glancing downwards at his body as he realized something.

He didn't feel anymore pain...! Despite the fact that it couldn't have been more than an hour since he fell asleep...

And, indeed, his sight did nothing but reinforce the growing suspicion that the _knight_ held.

There were _no_ traces of the wounds that he once held.

Seeing his confusion, Akeno spoke up again. "Asia-chan healed you up while you were asleep. She was quite insistent on it."

The _knight_ didn't respond, he kept prodding his finger onto the patch of skin that was formerly ripped apart by the werewolf, marveling at the fact that it was there.

"Where is she now?" he eventually asked, turning to the young woman beside him.

The _queen_ inadvertently turned her gaze to her right, looking across the room.

Yuuto followed her eyes, blinking as he saw the young nun resting on her seat, leaning on Issei with her eyes closed, while the _pawn_ was speaking to someone in hushed tones.

And that someone was...

"...I see, so _that's_ what happened, huh...?"

None other than the Gremory heiress, who has just finished listening to his story about, presumably, what had happened while inside the barrier.

He locked up a little bit at the sight of his _king_ , brain racing about how he should react to her presence.

Rias pat Issei on his shoulder, a proud smile on her face, which was compromised slightly when she winced right afterwards for some reason, quickly retracting her hand.

Nevertheless, she quickly drifted away from the slightly confused perverted boy, turning around towards _him_.

As she saw his eyes trained on her, she paused mid-walking, hesitating, then firmly moved towards him with purpose.

Yuuto felt his mouth dry up, unable to speak despite the fact that he could've sworn that he was trying to.

As she neared, she raised her arm, her hand outstretched, reaching for him.

Reflexively, he clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the hit that was undoubtedly about to come.

At least, that was what he thought was going to happen.

What he didn't expect was to feel Buchou's arms wrap around his body, pulling him into a tight hug.

Yuuto felt his arms tense up for a split-second, but only briefly, as his entire body just as quickly relaxed into the embrace, taking comfort in it.

But then, like a child deprived of it's favorite toy, the hug was suddenly retracted, much to his confusion.

That confusion only multiplied after the _knight's_ face was snapped to the side, the loud sound of skin clapping against skin echoing in the house.

The blond teen was nearly sent off of his seat, feeling the sting on his cheek as it grew red from the slap that the red-head had just inflicted on him.

A question was on the tip of his tongue, about to question Rias' strange behavior.

Yet he couldn't, as once more, much to his rising concern, she wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug, placing her head on top of his as she breathed out steadily.

By this point, Yuuto was practically afraid to ask.

Thankfully, he didn't have to.

"...Sorry about that." Rias apologized, a wry smile on her face as she kept her hug going. "I just needed to let out that last bit of anger that I still had over your actions."

The _knight_ raised a hand to scratch his cheek, a nervous chuckle emerging from him inadvertently, his attitude reverting back to what it was before this entire incident. Falling back onto it thanks to his uncertainty on how he should respond.

Partially recognizing this, the Gremory heiress leaned back a little, just enough so that she could look at her wayward Peerage member face-to-face. "Yuuto...I understand that you're...confused about how you should respond to us after everything that has happened. I really do, but you don't have to try and force yourself."

By this point, Rias let go of Yuuto, a tentative smile pulling at her lips, newly cautious. "Honestly though, if you just promise me that you're done with this...foolish plan to avenge-"

The red-head cut herself off as she saw her _knight's_ expression go blank, virtually seeing a 'wall' put into place between herself and the young man.

Naturally, she began to backpedal, fearing that she said too much too fast.

Much to her relief however, another voice spoke up at just that moment, saving her from the fight that she may have sparked.

"Rias!" Sona called out as she entered the room, a light blue magic circle right next to her ear as she focused her gaze on her fellow high-class devil. "Apologies if I'm interrupting anything, but I figured that you'd want to know that my Peerage has erased the memories of all of the humans in the abandoned church. Their knowledge of the supernatural has been completely erased."

The red-head shifted her attention to her old friend, silently thanking her for the interruption before responding. "I see, that's good to hear. Wouldn't want the day to consist entirely of bad news."

Sona took the chance to scan the many faces in the room that the devils were hiding out in, noting the tension that lined Rias' and Kiba Yuuto's faces.

Not unreasonably, the Sitri heiress quickly decided to continue. "It _is_ good news, however, we mustn't lose our focus on the big picture, Rias. Tsubaki has just informed me about who our mysterious attacker was..."

Blue-green eyes snapped to the solemn visage of the Sitri group's _queen_ , who was standing guard near Issei and Asia, and inclined her head towards her in acknowledgement.

Tsubaki nodded stiffly, before focusing on her _king_ again.

Regardless, Sona continued unabated. "...Rias, now that we're positive that the disgraced Astaroth heir; Diodora, was the one that instigated this entire mess, we should make sure to contact the Underworld government. They will want to know that their 'wanted' man is gone."

Violet eyes flickered to look at the Gremory group's wayward _knight_ , before refocusing on the red-head again. "...And we can't do it here, not with Uzumaki-san's strange powers covering his home. It would mess with any signal that we made to reach the Underworld."

Rias frowned, unsure of that logic, and was just about to voice it.

At least until she saw Sona's pointed look.

 _...Oh._

She was giving her a way out of this awkward situation with Yuuto.

Nice.

Not only would this distraction get her out of this fix, it would also give her time to think about how she should approach her shaken Peerage member _without_ setting him off.

Even better.

"...Right, we'll do that." the Gremory heiress responded with surety, drawing herself to her full height again. "But first..."

Rias trailed off, suddenly looking uncertain as she thinned her lips.

Sona knew why. "...Of course, we'll go when you're ready."

With a jerk of her head to her _queen_ , the young black-haired devil backed up in order to leave the house, opting to wait for her friend outside, giving her some privacy.

Once more, Rias was thankful.

"Everyone." the high-class devil started, catching -almost- everyone's attention in the room. "You heard what Sona said, we're going back to the ORC club room to contact the Underworld government. And if necessary, we'll rest afterwards, so get ready, ok?"

It took a few sparse seconds for everyone to actually register her words, but eventually everyone that her words applied to began to get ready to leave.

Akeno slowly stood up from her seated position near Yuuto, carefully smoothing over her clothes as she moved to stand next to her _king_.

Yuuto, with some reluctance, listened and moved to stand beside her as well, silently falling back into his old routine thanks to his lack of knowledge on what to do next.

No one questioned it, unwilling to rock the boat after all of the time and energy they expended on finding the blond in the first place.

Issei for his part, was slowly trying to unhook Asia off of him as she used him as a pillow to rest on, blushing a little as the other teens began to stare at the scene.

He was trying to be careful for one simple reason; she was asleep.

After Asia finished healing everyone, she quickly fell asleep on Issei after claiming that she wanted a little rest, revealing how tired she actually was in restoring so many people to their full physical strength.

Unfortunately for the teenaged boy, his movements still managed to prematurely wake the resting nun, getting her to blearily open her emerald eyes to see what was happening.

"Ah...damn. Sorry Asia..." the young man apologized with a frown, wanting to curse at his clumsiness. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Hm...? Oh! Oh, I'm sorry Issei-san!" the human female cried out suddenly, her cheeks burning as she scampered off of him after taking a second to wake up properly. "I-I must have fallen asleep by accident!"

Seeing the innocent blond fluster over falling asleep brought a wry smile to the _pawn's_ lips, before he nudged her a little to get her attention again. "Hey, no worries. It's all good. Anyway, seeing as you're awake, you should know that Buchou wants us to go back to the club room now. Do you want to come with?"

Asia blinked, staring at him for a moment or two, before smiling sadly. "...No, I don't think that's a good idea, Issei-san. There was a reason that I didn't want to fall asleep yet after all."

Slowly, steadily, the nun tilted her head to the side to look at the other side of the room, focusing on the people there.

Issei followed her gaze, understanding in his eyes as he looked at the two people that flat-out ignored Rias' words to leave earlier.

On the other side of the room, sitting close to the unconscious fallen angel from earlier that day, was Mio and Koneko.

Between the two, one of them was stone-silent and the other was trying to coax the other to talk.

Considering what Issei and Asia knew about what happened inside the barrier that Diodora made, it was obvious which one was retreating inwards.

"...So you want to stay with her then? Alright, that's fine." Issei said eventually, standing up from his seat. "Just make sure that you don't leave the house, alright? As long as Naruto's...uh...'magic' I guess, works properly, then you'll be safe. Basically, just make sure to stay with everyone, alright?"

The nun turned back to the brown-haired boy, nodding her head up and down fiercely. "Y-Yes! Of course!"

The _pawn_ smiled, and quickly shuffled away to stand next to Buchou, ready to go.

Meanwhile, Rias was staring at her two kohai with concern, knowing that Mio-chan went through... _something_ while inside the barrier that she fought in.

But she also knew that she was completely unwilling to talk about what happened. To anyone.

Which meant that they had to back off until she was willing to talk, pushing her too hard wouldn't help her or anyone else.

"Koneko-chan." the high-class devil called out, the tone in her voice evident enough of what she wanted.

Koneko flinched, her demeanor almost guilty as she faced her _king_ , wary of leaving the recalcitrant red-head like this.

Especially after she left her to face that rogue devil in the first place.

Not that she could do much now though, as she was staying stubbornly silent, so she had no choice but to answer Buchou's call.

With a heavy heart, the _rook_ stood up and moved to stand beside her _king_ as well, at attention.

Just like that, in what felt like a month, Rias' entire Peerage was present and accounted for.

She just hoped that it would stay that way.

"Alright, let's go everyone." Rias announced clearly, turning on the spot to leave the house.

Her Peerage followed suit, with Akeno moving right next to her, whispering to her in hushed tones. "Buchou...is it a smart idea to leave Mio-chan and Asia-chan alone here...?"

The red-head raised her arm to open the door, responding briskly. "The one who was responsible for our troubles is gone, there is no other reason for any of us to retain a battle-ready status. We have nothing more to worry about. Besides, if there's anymore stray devils around, then they wouldn't be able to find everyone in this house thanks to Naruto's powers."

But as she was opening the door, she paused in her response, slowly regarding her _queen_ carefully. "...But you're not talking about the stray devils, are you?"

Akeno twitched, but didn't respond.

The Gremory heiress continued to regard her, keeping the door wide open for them to leave through, searching for words. "...Akeno, that fallen angel isn't a threat as far as I can see. You don't have to treat her like one."

The _queen_ lowered her gaze, demure in behavior. "...Not _yet_."

Rias chose to ignore that, walking ahead to group up with Sona and her Peerage, trying to hope that this shaky unity wouldn't break apart at the drop of a hat.

But, it should be fine now, right?

The threat of Diodora was gone, there was nothing more to worry about.

Yet...she still felt a tension in the air, like there was...something else.

Once more, silently, she couldn't help but hope that a certain blond was getting home soon.

* * *

Mio heard someone speaking at the edge of her awareness, almost like it was a far off event that didn't really concern her.

A part of her felt like she should be paying attention, but she wasn't, and she wouldn't.

Mostly because she didn't care.

...Or at least, that's what she wanted to say.

She wanted to say 'I don't care', both to the noise, and to...that disgusting _son of a...!_

The red-head quickly felt the righteous anger that she was building up peter out, a bitter smile unknowingly spreading across her lips.

Because she knew.

She _did_ care.

Whether she admitted it or not was irrelevant, because deep down, she knew it was true.

She cared about the haunting words that the former Astaroth heir left her, despite knowing damn well that he meant her ill.

She cared about whether the entire incident regarding that evil man was her fault.

...And mostly, she cared about what Naruto would say about what has happened.

Or, specifically, whether Diodora's last words to her could possibly ring more true than she cared to admit.

...No, it wasn't true.

In her head, she _knew_ that it wasn't true. But still...in her heart...the knowledge still kept her in a state of inaction.

In short, the threat continued to hang over her head, like an axe that threatened to lodge itself in her skull if she wasn't careful.

And that ever-present threat just continued to worsen her mood the longer that she stewed over it, meaning that she was essentially brooding in the corner.

So Mio stayed like that, in the dark corner of the house, waiting for the noises to drift away from the edge of her awareness, seeking peace and quiet, at least for a little bit.

She waited, until any and all noise began to drift away, almost like a distant memory.

It took a little bit, but finally, after a few more heavy seconds of silence, she steadily opened her eyes to look at the ceiling. A sigh on the tip of her lips.

Instead of the ceiling however, all she saw were wide green irises.

Mio jolted backwards, not at all expecting to see that anyone was still in the house with her. "A-Asia-san?"

Asia offered the red-head a small smile. "Hello."

It took the daughter of Lucifer a bit to calm herself down at the surprising sight, a heavy scowl growing on her face as she regarded the nun that was 'intruding'. "...I thought that you left."

The human female tilted her head to the side, genuinely puzzled. "I'm sorry, did you want me to?"

A low grumble was her only response, as the half-devil forced herself off of the couch that she was leaning on to get a proper seat. Choosing the one that was right next to the one that was still occupied by a certain fallen angel.

"I just don't feel like talking to anyone, or hearing anything from anyone right now. That's all." she claimed as she plopped herself onto a chair, a tone of finality present as she spoke.

Asia shuffled after her, quietly taking a seat in a chair nearby, but making sure to keep some distance. "...Are you still troubled by what that...bad person said before?"

The red-head felt her arm spasm, trying _not_ to think about what that monster said.

"Mio-san?" the innocent girl questioned quietly, leaning closer to her. "Are you...?"

Mio bit her lip, eyes downcast as she tried to find her inner balance, idly noting that her foot was incessantly tapping onto the floor. Her restless energy obvious.

In frustration, she raised her foot and then slammed it into the ground, hoping that the excess energy was spent.

It wasn't.

A snarl made her bare her teeth as she was just about ready to-

" _Mio-san._ "

The red-head froze up, forgetting that there were others in the same room with her, as the soft voice of the nun reminded her.

Asia placed her hand onto the half-devil's arm, steadying her slightly, despite the fact that the she wanted nothing more than to snatch her arm away.

"...If you're feeling troubled, you can talk to me, if you want?" the human girl hesitantly offered, her emerald eyes shining in worry.

Mio didn't respond, all at once wishing to hug the girl and to get up and run away from her.

She chose the middle option.

"...Thanks, but I think that I'll just go and rest in my room for a little bit." the daughter of Lucifer responded stiffly, getting up to go and do just that, wanting that isolation for a bit to think.

She wasn't given the chance, as another hand latched onto her arm, stopping her short.

It wasn't Asia's.

"...You...? You're Naruse Mio, right...?"

Mio snapped her eyes backwards, recognizing the voice that was referring to her.

Her pink eyes met the bleary -but quickly sharpening- violet gaze of the once-unconscious fallen angel.

"...I'm not sure what has happened since I lost consciousness..." Raynare said, her gaze snapping around to take in her surroundings as best she could, frowning. "But there's something else that I've got to know first."

Her violet gaze focused back onto the red-head's pink, serious, despite still being a little sleepy.

"Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri...you know them, right? Or at least, a little bit?"

Mio nodded slowly, already figuring where the fallen angel was going with this.

So, predictably, she asked the inevitable.

"...Can you take me to them? I need to speak with them, urgently." Raynare requested, trying to be polite as she slowly moved to get out of the couch she was laying on.

The two teens that were facing the newly-conscious individual glanced at one another, a silent exchange passing between through the two.

Then Mio turned to the fallen angel again, swallowing her...thoughts so that they could be dealt with in an other time.

This had to be dealt with, since she was sure that the black-haired woman's request to meet with the two devils was important, if she remembered properly anyway.

So she'd deal with...whatever _this_ was, later.

...

No. She wouldn't deal with it 'later'.

She'd deal with it once this was over.

She wouldn't push this off, not this.

And there was only way one way for her to resolve this, truly.

"...I'll take you to them." Mio allowed, trying to sound firm, yet not quite managing it. "But don't do anything harmful to them or anything, alright? I'm trusting you."

Raynare steadily got onto her feet, wobbling for a moment, until she regained her balance again. "Yeah...no worries. This is all legit."

"Good." the half-devil approved, looking past her to look through a window, seeing the low light of the night. "...Because I don't want to deal with anymore drama right now, not until I get to talk to Naruto again."

The fallen angel perked up at the mention of the blond's name, and looked like she wanted to try and send a query.

Until she quickly took a second to rethink on it.

In the end, she stopped herself short and just nodded briskly, filing away the question for later. "...Please then, lead the way."

* * *

Yuki focused ahead, more than a little aware of the critical eyes that were focused on her profile, studying her.

The hero ignored it though, continuing on her path to Kuoh Academy, her lips thinning as her mind continued to run.

She, very simply, wasn't entirely sure what she should do about the two cloaked women beside her.

Now, it wasn't like they were threatening or anything like that, but the teenaged girl still couldn't help but feel wary about their presence.

Ignoring the fact that she was beings stared at, there were also other warning signs that gave her pause.

For one; the way that both of the relatively unknown teenagers carried themselves told her that they were, at the very least, familiar with combat to some extent.

Worse, that they were properly trained to fight.

Something like that would be extraordinarily rare in a small and sleepy town, and their presence here during a time when things were likely about to blow up...didn't seem like an accident.

More than that...

Yuki chanced a glance to her right, seeing her small companion sweat lightly as she chanced a few looks at their new 'friends'.

Maria was nervous, for a reason that the hero couldn't really figure out.

A reason that the hero was keenly interested in finding out, as while her wariness felt warranted, the loli's nervousness felt like a bit too much.

Unless she knew something that she didn't.

And, as if the succubus heard her, she turned to look Yuki, her eyes wide with tension.

"...Yuki-san, those two...they're both carrying powerful weapons. I can feel it. So much so that my skin is practically tingling just by being next to them." Maria whispered to the hero, as she shot a quick glance at the two women that they were taking to Kuoh Academy.

The young human female raised an interested eyebrow, her wariness of the newcomers growing by the second. "What kind of weapons?"

The succubus spared one more look at the two teenaged girls, nervous. "...Holy weapons. Powerful ones at that."

Yuki's yellow eyes narrowed, her focus sliding towards the two human girls, unable to see the weapon that the woman known as Shidou Irina was carrying.

But she _could_ see that her friend; Quarta Xenovia, was carrying... _something_.

The girl with blue hair had a wrapped up item that almost looked like a cross on her back, completely hidden from view, but patently obvious.

She was almost embarrassed that she didn't focus on it before.

...But if Maria-san was right, that these people were holding _holy_ weapons, and they wanted to go to Kuoh Academy where the devils just so happened to go to...

Well, that was quite the coincidence, wasn't it?

"What should we do, Yuki-san?" Maria hissed, snapping her focus from her ally to the mysteriously armed figures. "If we keep going, then we'll take them to the the devils in Kuoh Academy...! And I don't think those holy weapons are just for show!"

The hero was well aware of that possibility, and she was already working on a makeshift plan, silently cursing the fact that she had a broken arm holding her back.

Not to mention an unconscious childhood friend on the strong succubus' back...

Obviously, she was patently regretting the decision to rest a little at the yokai faction leader's home for a little while longer before departing.

If they had left immediately after Naruto had left, then they would have avoided this messy situation, _and_ not have to worry about taking care of an unconscious friend if a fight broke out.

As it was now, with their handicaps, they were in no shape to fight.

So that only really left one option.

The succubus beside her continued to stare at the human female as she fell silent, her eyelids shut as she thought about the issue a little more...

Until she finally made her move.

"...Hey."

The two cloaked figures that were walking parallel to them on the other side of the road perked their heads, then turned to listen to the one who addressed them.

Yuki looked at them, her eyes flat, and her voice having that tone which implied that she was stating a fun fact.

"...Do you two believe in devils?" she asked bluntly.

Maria tripped over herself and slammed into the floor, cursing under her breath as the duo close to them just did a double-take.

She completely forgot how terrible Yuki-san was in social settings...!

That was a _terrible_ way to gauge them for questions!

Meanwhile, the girl with blue hair with that strange green fringe on her hair; Xenovia, stood straighter with a frown...

"N-No! Of course not! We don't believe in devils at _all!_ I mean, who would!? It's not like we're here to meet up with devils or anything like that-!"

Her partner on the other hand, the one with the twin-tails and chestnut-colored hair; Irina, just began babbling rapidly, shaking her head wildly in shock.

Before she was cut off completely by her partner, who covered her mouth with the palm of her hand.

"...What my partner _meant_ to say was; there are no such things as devils." Xenovia rectified, glaring at her irresponsible comrade through the side of her eye. "But...just out of curiosity mind you, why did you bring that topic up so suddenly?"

Yuki pursed her lips in response, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable, staying silent.

The succubus felt her eyebrow twitch, watching the exchange, waiting for a response from the usually intelligent girl.

Yet she stayed silent, for long moments, so long that it made the quiet itself seem like a gaping chasm.

And then it hit Maria, nearly making her trip once more despite just getting herself up again.

...She didn't think about a good reason for _why_ she'd ask such a question out of the blue, did she?

And, after checking up on the silent hero, who was sweating slightly as she focused on the ground, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world for her, she could tell that she was right.

Then, as if struck by lightning, the young teenaged girl's eyes lit up, ostensibly because she found a well-reasoned and thought out excuse-

"I read about it in a book!" she declared, a triumphant shine in her eye.

Maria, currently, was now suffering the effects of second-hand embarrassment. Feeling the shame that Yuki _should_ have been feeling for such an unbelievably awkward conversation.

The jig was up now...there was no way that that serious warrior named Xenovia would fall for-

"Ah, I see." Xenovia replied, nodding her head with understanding.

The succubus felt her jaw just _drop_.

 _She fell for it!?_

Could it be that, despite her serious demeanor, that she was an idiot too!?

Yuki smiled, inclining her head at the the blue-haired warrior, before turning to her silver-haired comrade in order to report her findings.

But all she saw was a silverette that seemed listless, muttering about how she seemed to be 'surrounded by idiots' or that she just 'didn't get it'.

How strange.

Regardless, they at least knew that the two warriors didn't seem to come here for a fight, so they shouldn't be too worried about leading them to Kuoh Academy.

More than that, it turned out that, despite her less-than-stellar amount of friends that she has had throughout her life, that her social skills weren't as bad as she had thought.

She felt her chest puff out in a bit of pride, knowing that she could enter in a conversation with some skill if she truly wanted to.

So, in a good mood and with a listless succubus in tow, the group continued on their way to the only institution of learning in Kuoh Town.

* * *

The club room of the Occult Research Club definitely played with and used the popular imagination of a 'devil' in it's motif and atmosphere.

The low lighting thanks to the use of candles instead of the modern light bulbs.

The extravagant furniture.

The theme of red and the darker colors.

It was one that the devils that were in the Gremory group knew all too well.

For them, it wouldn't be a stretch to call it their 'home away from home'.

And that was a sentiment that Rias wholeheartedly agreed with.

The high-class devil smoothly stepped out of the transportation magic circle that the collection of devils used to quickly return back to her and her Peerage's area of operation. Taking ease in the fact that they were out of the public eye and in familiar territory again.

"You know, it feels like it's been ages since we've last been here." Rias voiced out, smiling as she looked at the area around her. "It's...nice."

Sona lightly tapped on her friend's shoulder, lightly telling her without words to focus, before moving to take a seat on a couch. "Alright, it's time."

The Gremory heiress inclined her head, raising the palm of her hand to create a magic circle to contact the Underworld.

Until she saw her fellow high-class devil raise her hand, stopping her.

"Let me do it." was all Sona said, eyeing the red-head's hand with a frown.

Blue-green eyes followed her gaze, seeing the bandages around her usually pristine hand, remembering _why_ her hand was in such a condition.

"...Very well." Rias allowed, stepping back. "But make sure to call Maou Leviathan please."

Sona twitched at the mention of the title. "...Wouldn't it be more prudent to contact Maou Lucifer? He _is_ acknowledged as the leader of the Yondai Maou after all."

Rias' eyes narrowed in response. "Well...perhaps the Maou Lucifer is quite busy, after all, he _is_ considered to be the leader of the Yondai Maou. So I think it would be smarter to contact _your_ onee-sama."

Both devils began to glare at one another, both silently hoping that they didn't have to be the one to contact their respective older siblings. Knowing full well that their overprotective siblings would just make a big fuss out of it.

So the two just stayed like that, locked in deadlock with one another, unwilling to back down.

Their respective Peerages just watched, silent, unwilling to jump into the disagreement, lest they face their respective _king's_ wrath.

This would continue until Sona blew out some air in frustration, raising her hand to push her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "Rias...can't you let this slide for once? I _really_ don't want to deal with my onee-sama right now. Besides, there's another reason that I want to contact the Underworld. And it's important."

Rias raised a brow, unimpressed. "Hoh? What exactly is this secondary reason?"

The Sitri heiress didn't answer, instead she tilted her head to look past the other pure-blood devil. "Tsubaki?"

As instructed, the Sitri group's _queen_ took a step forward, at attention. "Kaichou."

Everyone focused their attention onto the girl with heterochromic eyes, the curiosity in the air heavy.

Seeing as she had received everybody's attention, she began to speak. "...Prior to when our _king_ ordered us to assist you in your efforts to find your _knight_ , we have been becoming increasingly...concerned, about what's been happening in the Underworld, Rias-sama."

Soft murmurs began to emanate from the two mixed Peerages, with worried and confused looks passed around, uncertainty rising.

Rias didn't humor those concerns, far more focused on what Sona's _queen_ had to say. "...Concerns? About the Underworld?"

The bespectacled girl nodded, serious as always. "Yes, you see, the kaichou has always retained contact with the Underworld due to how close she was to the administration of this academy, and the fact that this institution is closely tied to the Gremory family. But recently, we've been..."

Tsubaki paused, sliding her gaze to her _king_ , uncertain of how much she should say.

Sona just nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"...We've been having difficulties in contacting the higher ups that help us run this school, and overall. At first it was small, a few unanswered calls, but the trend has been getting more noticeable as of late." the teenaged girl continued where she left off, locking eyes with the _king_ of the Gremory group.

Said leader looked quizzical rather than anything else. "Is that really grounds to be worried though? It sounds more like a possible failure in whoever is managing the magical communications between the human world and the Underworld."

"That's possible." Sona allowed, before she pinned Rias with a look. "But what about you? Have you heard anything from the Underworld in a while?"

The red-head nodded. "Yeah, it happened only when Akeno was here, but Grayfia contacted me about the fact that Diodora Astaroth was declared to be a criminal by the Underworld's government. It was quick and concise, but I didn't think anything of it back then."

Yes, it was a rather sudden call to the young seventeen-year old, but through that call, she received the information about the insane former Astaroth heir, which obviously warranted her full attention.

It wasn't a social call, it was a warning, so she didn't even think about how her sister-in-law was acting then.

She was always a serious woman anyway.

But now that she thought about it...

 _"Rias-sama, I have called to inform you about the recent decision regarding the now-former heir of the illustrious Astaroth Clan. Listen carefully, as I'll only say this once..."_

The woman's words echoed across the Gremory heiress' head, her clipped tone obvious, as well as the tension in her voice.

"...Perhaps we should contact my onii-sama." Rias concluded quietly, turning to face the other high-class devil.

Sona agreed. "Yes, just to make sure."

And with both devils in agreement, Sona raised her hands to create a magic circle that was as big as her ear, using it as a medium to contact the Underworld.

* * *

Naruto was gritting his teeth together as he raced across the rooftops of the random town that he has entered, trying to remain inconspicuous as he steadily made his way back to Kuoh Town.

It was really, _really,_ annoying to focus so much on how fast he was moving for an extended period, he could acknowledge that now.

The problem was that, if he ran as fast as he could, he could make quite a disturbance in the air by his speed alone.

And being so close to regular human settlements, he would obviously alert them to his presence.

Mind you, they wouldn't 'hear' him until after he's passed through, but they would definitely hear him afterwards.

They would hear the scream of someone viciously pushing against the air above their homes, and he really didn't want to give the common people so much trouble.

So, to be blunt, after destroying a rundown church, destroying several forests, and taking part in the freezing over of a piece of the Pacific Ocean, he kinda wanted to lay low for a little bit.

That didn't mean that he wasn't rushing home, just that he was trying to not make a fuss about getting back.

Besides, it wouldn't be much longer until he made it back.

It took him a bit to find a map though, because he actually forgot which direction was Kuoh Town again, but he managed to find one in the airport thankfully.

Now he was almost at the halfway point, watching the civilization of humanity give way to the wilderness as he made it to his designated 'halfway' point.

Blue eyes glanced ahead, a smirk stretching his lips as he saw the series of mountains ahead, glad to see nature's behemoths made of rock and gravel.

If he remembered the map that he got properly, they were called the _Akaishi Mountains_ , or something like that.

Quite the mountain range, really.

But he wasn't here to sight-see, he was here to take a shortcut.

And that shortcut was _through_ those mountains.

Honestly though, despite the fact that he would be back to Kuoh Town in a short little bit, he still felt the need to rush a little, for whatever reason.

It was instinctual, a feeling in the back of his mind that he should get back, on the double.

He wasn't too sure why he felt that way though, it wasn't like he was getting back to rush to some kind of battle or anything like that.

He knew the score; a rogue member of the fallen angel's 'government'; Grigori, was last suspected to be located in Kuoh Town. As well as the stolen fragments of some kind of legendary sword called...

...Uh, he forgot what they were called, but he was sure that they were important.

Regardless, he was sure that everyone was alright, as long as they stuck together and fought as a group.

He had _nothing_ to worry about.

Yet his legs continued to move as fast as he could reasonably move without drawing attention to himself, moving a little faster now that he was traveling in a sparsely populated area.

They were fine.

So he told himself at least.

* * *

In a dark place, where the laws of physics and reason were thrown out of the window, the golden slits of a powerful young senjutsu-user were glazed over.

The young woman in question was focusing heavily on the energy signal of a certain blond, using her enhanced sensing abilities to keep him in her radar, looking for an opportunity to _jump_.

"...Are you done yet?" a certain impossibly powerful being asked her, her impatience obvious despite her lackluster tone of voice.

Though it definitely was far more appropriate to call her an 'it' rather than a 'she'.

Kuroka didn't respond, spreading her awareness away from the fast-moving blond to the area around him.

...

Her gaze flashed back into focus, lighting up in glee.

"It's perfect." she purred, her lips twitching upwards. "He's moving to an area where there's barely any humans milling around."

With that statement uttered, she opened the palm of her hand, focusing her senjutsu energy onto the palm of her hand.

Without much effort, she created a small ring of energy, one that opened a portal that cut through the space of the 'gap' in order to get to the human world.

The second that this portal appeared, the second most powerful being in existence floated towards it, focused on her goal, and nothing else. Not even bothering to thank the pouting woman.

But still, the woman with two tails sticking out of her lower back looked excited, eager to see what the mysterious blond that caught the attention of the _Ouroboros Dragon_ could do.

* * *

Naruto was blitzing through the wilderness, instinctively knowing how to avoid all of the myriad annoyances that sometimes infuriated normal people when they passed through the wild.

It was a good thing too, since he didn't have to focus on how to keep moving.

Rather, because of this, he was able to think about other things while he steadily closed the gap between himself and Kuoh Town.

Specifically, he was able to focus on what he should do once he actually reunited with everyone else, seeing as he probably only had so much time to prepare for the one known as 'Kokabiel'.

Well, at least everyone didn't have to deal with the drama that a church agent could have brought to the table.

Still, they had to be prepared, at least mentally.

Blue eyes narrowed, not at all seeing the speeding wildlife that was passing him by as his focus remained on the distant future.

He figured that he could technically just tell everyone what was going on, and then deal with what was gonna happen himself afterwards. It wasn't like he _had_ to drag others into this or anything.

After all, a fallen angel with five pairs of wings wasn't something to sniff at, especially one that actually had experience with that kind of power.

...He probably had to prep some kind of strategy, since using senjutsu or the kyuubi's chakra against this ancient man was out of the question...

Looks like he'd just go with old-fashioned trickery and misdirection then!

Besides that, after this whole mess was over with, he wanted to immediately restart his training on his knowledge of fuinjutsu.

It's become important now, _very_ important.

Naruto suddenly stopped his movement forward without warning, hopping from a stray rock that was jutting out and landing on the flat ground.

He stopped so that he could slowly move his hand to his pouch, being as delicate as he could so that he wouldn't damage his work, frail as it was.

The hand slipped into his old ninja pouch which he had kept since that incident in the train that was supposed to take him to Kyoto, keeping all of his ninja tools on hand, despite their dwindling amount.

And from there, he pulled a slip of paper out in order to inspect it, feeling a slight twinge of nostalgia just by looking at it.

It was relatively small, and had the kanji for 'suppress' right at the center of it.

It was a seal that was meant to seal chakra.

More specifically, it was a copy of the seal that his master had made so that the kyuubi's chakra could be sealed away if he ever went berserk.

"...To think that I'd ever need this thing again..." Naruto couldn't help but murmur softly, a bitter smile making it's way to his face, as it felt like history was repeating itself for him.

Though it didn't change the fact that he felt some comfort in having the slip of paper.

...That being said, it was a prototype, and it could, at best, seal a portion of the kyuubi's chakra away. Absolutely nothing in comparison to ero-sennin's creation.

Roughly, he'd say that it could seal a single tail, and that was kinda optimistic.

That would normally be enough but...well, he wanted to make absolutely sure that this seal would be enough to stop him if he ever lost control.

Naruto's grip on the flimsy piece of paper tightened, his eyes narrowing into slits, feeling sick that he could actually hurt someone he cared about if he wasn't careful.

"...This is for you guys." the blond promised, raising the seal to the descending moon. "For all of you."

He wouldn't fail them.

And with that, the shinobi carefully slipped the piece of paper into his pouch again, lowering himself to restart his sprint.

Until something caught his attention

Naruto suddenly locked up, feeling his body naturally react to what it perceived to be a threat, his instincts taking over before his head could truly grasp the situation.

The shinobi jumped into the air, backing up as _someone_ appeared in front of him, cutting him off from his trek back home.

At first, it just a ripple in the air in front of him, barely visible, but still there.

But then that ripple opened into some kind of portal, one that made his eyes widen to the size of saucers.

It looked just like-!

"...Found you."

A monotone voice echoed in the rocky area that he has stopped at, coming from the small figure that was -without a doubt- making his sense of danger go haywire.

To be specific, it originated from a small girl, with soulless eyes, which just so happened to be trained on him, and nothing else.

Naruto licked his dry lips, keeping his legs bent in order to accommodate for quick action lest this get ugly. "So...nice portal ya got there."

Damn, that was a stupid way to start a conversation, even for him.

And it seemed that the little girl agreed with him, since she completely ignored that forced greeting.

Instead, she just voiced out what her intent was.

"...Naruto..." the small girl started, her voice droning. "I've come to take you."

It wasn't a query.

It wasn't a suggestion.

Rather, it was framed as a matter of fact.

Needless to say, Naruto didn't like that one bit.

But there was something more important to him at the moment, something that had almost _all_ of his attention.

"...Were you the one who made that portal?" the blond asked quietly, forcing himself to stare down the being that was making his trustworthy instincts go all over the place.

The little girl opened her mouth to respond.

But someone else beat her to it.

"No~ It wasn't her at all, nya~"

Naruto jerked his head towards the sky, his eyes widening fractionally as he saw a woman sitting down in the air.

Rather, she was sitting down on a magic circle that was being used as a floor, which in turn, just so happened to be suspended in the middle of the sky.

That woman's golden slits was focused on him, a sly smile on her face as she waved at him, fishing for his attention.

The shinobi's eyes narrowed, focusing on the woman's eyes, despite how high in the sky she was. "...I feel like I've seen you before."

The woman in the sky lazily laid herself down on her magical construct, looking down at him with an enigmatic smile. "We _have_. I'm hurt that you don't remember me, does the name 'Kuroka' not ring a bell to you? That's just cruel nya~"

Naruto stared at the woman in the sky, trying to think on it, before snapping his gaze back at the quiet little girl, making sure that she wasn't making any sudden movements.

She wasn't, if anything, she seemed content enough to wait a little bit longer.

So he used that chance to continue to question the girl in the sky.

"I don't remember if we met or not. Sorry." Naruto began honestly, his voice a little loud so that she could hear him properly, looking up again. "But if we have, do you mind answering a question for me?"

Kuroka tilted her head, pouting. "Hm? You want me to answer questions after you don't even remember meeting me? My, my, you're gonna break my heart at this rate."

"I'm sorry." the shinobi retorted, almost single-mindedly gunning for an answer despite his apology. "But please, this is important."

The woman in the sky continued to look down at him, humming quietly in consideration. "Well...since you were _so_ insistent..."

Naruto didn't even wait for her to finish her sentence. "Can you travel between dimensions?"

The words that emerged from his mouth, despite how mundane they sounded, carried significant weight and emotion within them.

They carried that weight for a specific reason.

Because that ripple that carried the two unknown people to his location, the one that the woman with golden slits created...

It looked _eerily_ like the one that dragged him into this world to begin with.

It wasn't the same now that he had a chance to calm himself down, rather, the one that pulled him in was far more unstable than the one that this woman seemed to be able to create.

But despite the differences, it didn't change the fact that it was _something_ , as well as a new lead to getting back home.

So it was obvious that he wanted to know whether her powers allowed her to travel between dimensions.

And at first, Kuroka, despite being surprised at the intensity that his words carried, seemed to be willing to answer.

But that ended as soon as it began.

"...I've waited long enough."

Naruto's eyes snapped back to the little girl, his instincts _screaming_ for him to-

Several blurs quickly shot past him, spinning around him to wrap him up without warning, seeking to lock his movements into place.

The blond didn't even try and fight it, instead choosing to jump over whatever was trying to capture him, not at all bothering with holding back.

As soon as he escaped from that however, more blurs shot after him, racing to catch him in the air.

Seeing this, the shinobi acted fast, digging his hand into his pouch of tools in order to grab a kunai and a slip of paper.

With practiced ease, he wrapped the slip of paper around the metallic weapon and then swiftly threw it at the attacks that were aimed at him, prepping himself for the inevitable explosion.

And as soon as the kunai reached those blurs...

 ***BOOM***

It did.

The explosion quickly pushed him back and ostensibly destroyed the attacks that were aimed at him, giving him time to touch the ground again, safe and sound.

Safe and sound, but still wary.

As well as a little frustrated, as he was cut off from hearing what Kuroka had to say about her abilities.

More than that, he was running out of ninja tools by this point, it wasn't a good idea to blow up kunai anymore.

And lastly, he did _not_ have the time to be fighting here.

As the blond continued to stew over his predicament, a certain little girl came floating towards him from the area that he had just left, her dress rustling softly in the light breeze.

More importantly than that though, were the long and thin appendages that were poking from out of her sleeves, dark in color and making a constant hissing sound that reminded Naruto of...

The shinobi straightened his back. "Snakes."

"Ohhh~ It looks like Ophis-sama has lost her patience~" a voice from above him noted with excitement.

The whiskered teen didn't even have to look up to know that Kuroka had followed him, watching from above with the excitement of a child watching their first wrestling match.

He was far too focused on the being that was slowly drifting towards him.

"...Naruto..." the one known as Ophis said out loud, as if testing the name, just to be sure. "...You're coming with me."

Sapphire irises were burning bright as their owner thinned his lips, considering. "Now...why would you want me to do that?"

Ophis ceased her seemingly inevitable movement forward, her face retaining it's blank features. "...I want you to help me...to destroy Great Red."

At first, Naruto was stunned into silence at the girl's request, remembering just what 'Great Red' was. "...And what makes you think that you're strong enough to try?"

As soon as he posited the question to the strange and somewhat threatening little girl, he immediately regretted it.

Because she answered with a smile.

Except, it wasn't, not really.

It was a facsimile of one, nearly identical for all intents and purposes.

Yet...it was also hollow.

Meaningless.

"Because _I_ am the strongest...next to Great Red." she claimed with conviction, her blank eyes keeping him as the focal point of her regard.

The shinobi breathed, a vivid memory flashing before his eyes.

Of when he first officially met Rias, when she told him all about the supernatural world after declining her offer to become a devil.

One of the things that she mentioned to him, was the rankings of the most powerful beings in known existence.

Great Red was number one.

And number two was...

"The _Ouroboros Dragon_..." the shinobi muttered hesitantly, his tone indicating that it was a question as much as it was a statement.

"You got it nya~"

So said a helpful, yet annoying, woman in the sky.

Naruto clenched his fist, glaring at the little girl that made such a bold assertion, unsure whether she was what she was what she claimed to be.

But he did know one thing at least.

He didn't have the time to mess around.

So, with that belief firmly entrenched in his mind, he _moved_.

Without even hinting at what he was about to do, the shinobi suddenly jumped high into the air, away from Ophis and towards Kuroka.

His blue eyes registered Kuroka's surprise at this movement, getting up from her lackadaisical position just in case he was about to attack.

But, unbeknownst to her, he was building up wind chakra onto the soles of his feet.

Which was why she was caught off-guard when he suddenly stopped in the middle of the air and jumped sideways, rocketing away from both of his unwelcome 'friends'.

Getting away from the two of them, continuing on his original trajectory.

Kuroka narrowed her eyes when she realized this, quickly getting up to try and cut him off before he left the mountainous area.

But she didn't need to, as her 'leader' was way ahead of her.

Through Naruto's eyes, he was well on his way past his obstacles, fuming at the missed opportunity to get more info about dimensional travel.

That assumption turned out to be untrue however.

One second, to him, the area around him was normal.

The next, the sky turned into a dark shade of purple, with his body feeling like someone had just replaced him with a log in a _kawarimi no jutsu_.

That is to say, that he was moved, suddenly and inexplicably.

A _barrier...!_

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as he was forced to stop himself in the air, and jump down to the ground, knowing that he was caught.

There was no choice left to him, except to fight.

"...You're not getting away." Ophis' voice echoed to him, speaking to him despite the distance he had created between the two. "...Not until you stand by my side..."

Her statement didn't just seem to echo, it also felt like the very words themselves were alive with intent, moving to envelop him, trying to wrap around him and capture him with the dark promise that they held in their very depths.

Without even thinking about it, a defiant glint entered the shinobi's eye. "...So what will happen if I say; no thank you?"

The words that were uttered were more clear than before, since the being that was considered to be the second strongest had emerged from the darkness and faced him once more.

And there was no mistaking what was filled in those words this time.

"...I'm not asking." was all she said, as snakes made of dark energy emerged from her sleeves, prepping to attack.

Naruto sighed as got into a fighting stance, idly wondering why this shit only happened to him.

* * *

"So, what exactly are you going tell Rias-sempai anyway? Like, how are you going to broach the subject?"

Raynare turned her head just enough to look at Mio through the side of her eye. "Nothing complicated, I'm just going to tell her that Azazel-sama isn't involved in Kokabiel's...delusions."

The red-head that was helping her limp along frowned. "Kokabiel? I feel like I've heard that name before..."

"I think I have too." Asia piped up, her green eyes lighting up at the familiar name. "During my religious studies!"

"Well, you would." the fallen angel retorted, firmly keeping her gaze ahead. "He was an important angel...prior to his fall anyway, though not many people are aware of how or when he 'fell'. Let alone any of his past."

Raynare paused in her explanation, slowly turning to look at Asia, who was walking beside her.

It took a few seconds for her to register who exactly she was walking besides.

"...It's _you_." she breathed, her violet eyes widening.

A sad smile stretched across Asia's lips. "Yes...it's me. It's been a while."

Mio shifted her attention between the two, confused by this strange and sudden reaction. "Hm? Do you two know each other?"

The tired woman turned away from the human female, a grim expression replacing her shock. "...You can say that. I suppose that you could say that...I tried to kill her."

Now _that_ made the red-head do a double-take. "Uhhhhhh...?"

"Long story."

Mio accepted that without comment.

Asia shifted uncomfortably at the memory that this talk was eliciting, trying not to flinch. "Ah...well, to be honest, it feels weird that I'm walking alongside you right now. And...well, I'm also a little scared too. But, I heard that you had a change of heart since then, right?"

Raynare didn't turn to look at her. "And where did you hear that exactly?"

Although she couldn't see the nun's expression, she could still practically _hear_ the cheerful smile through her tone of voice.

"From Naruto-san!" she chirped. "He mentioned it in passing I think, but he said that you were gonna be involved in something important to you...I think."

Mio was watching the exchange between the two females closely, trying to work out more of what has happened between them.

So she was clearly able to see the fallen angel's expression, which was firm and defensive, immediately soften up as soon as she heard what the teenaged blond had to say.

"...Naruto...huh?" she heard her mumble under her breathe, as if the name itself held power and influence beyond it's conventional use as an identifier.

Mio didn't particularly feel like letting this conversation continue though, so she neatly decided to cut in from there. "Hey, you never finished explaining who Kokabiel was, _remember?_ "

Raynare jerked, knocked from her thoughts. "R-Right."

The young woman cleared her throat loudly, getting back onto the original topic. "Well, I don't know much, and hopefully, you won't have to learn more about him either. But from what I _do_ know, is that he's a man that truly embodies the word; 'arrogance'."

The red-head's eyes crinkled up at the vague answer. "Is that all you know?"

Raynare didn't answer immediately, remaining silent for a bit to actually think about the topic at hand.

She wasn't lying when she claimed that that was all she really knew about Kokabiel, as the man was already far removed from the public's eye by the time she was taken under Azazel-sama's wing.

...However, she _did_ have a few...suspicions about the powerful man.

Regardless, her hunch was something that she definitely wasn't going to share with the teenagers beside her, due to the fact that it utilized sensitive information.

"...Yeah, that's pretty much all I know." Raynare finally answered, solemn. "Sorry. But, then again, maybe that's for the best."

Mio regarded her for a little bit, her pink irises trying to figure out whether the other woman was telling the truth. "...I see, well, I also hope that we don't have to learn more about the guy."

The red-head turned away from the fallen angel in order to look ahead, her lips set in a firm line. "Then again, we're almost at Kuoh Academy anyway. So we wouldn't have had much time to hear about much else."

The fallen angel followed the teen's gaze, seeing the sprawling buildings that made up the prestigious academy of Kuoh Town as she slowly separated from her, able to walk on her own now.

"Come on, we just gotta enter the gate, then we should be almost there." Mio urged, swiftly moving her legs a little faster now that they were in the home stretch.

Both of her companions followed, essentially jogging now, quickly getting past the gates in order to reach their destination.

The ORC club room.

Though, as they approached the seemingly abandoned building, a quiet tension began to take hold of the small group as they approached, all three of them aware that the conversation that was about to happen could get...messy.

Everyone was still recovering from the fights that they were forced to endure mere hours ago, so the prospect of a fallen angel going into the devil's base of operations, by itself, could spark outrage.

But whatever the black-haired woman had to say was definitely important, at least that's what Mio believed.

So she went ahead and stood in front of the door to Rias-sempai's base, firm in her resolve.

"Ready?" she made sure to ask the fallen woman beside her, giving her one last chance to back up from this idea.

"...As I'll ever be, I suppose." Raynare retorted with an air of acceptance, taking a step forward to open the door.

"Wait."

Raynare's hand froze mere inches away from the doorknob, stopped mid-action by her surprise rather than her respect of the request that was levied at her.

Asia quickly walked up to the fallen angel after speaking up, lightly tapping on her arm as soon as she got close. "...Can I ask you for a favor?"

Violet eyes flickered to her, a quizzical quality in their depths.

Seeing this, the human female continued. "...Look, I'm not really sure if you mean us well or not, but many things have happened since you were unconscious. So...if you really have to do this...can you please try and be as courteous as possible? I don't want anyone to deal with anymore drama today."

A small frown marred the fallen angel's features, her focus snapping from the nun to the red-head next to her, realizing something.

Both of the teens close to her seemed _tired_.

Whether it be mental or physical, they only just seemed to be recovering from...something.

More than that, it was obvious that Naruto's imouto had taken her in after she fell unconscious, as that was the only explanation for why she woke up in her home to begin with.

Add to that that the one making this request; Asia, was nearly killed by her around roughly a month ago, and her choice became crystal clear.

"...Got it." Raynare agreed readily, turning to the door and prepping herself for the inevitable devil blow-back. "Now let's get this over with."

* * *

All of the devils in the room stared at Sona, who's scowl managed to give everyone the impression that she was _not_ happy.

She was holding a small magic circle near her ear in order to communicate to the Underworld, but she obviously failed if her expression was anything to go by.

"...So we can't reach the Underworld then?" Akeno asked the obvious, just to be sure.

"It seems so." Rias affirmed lowly, sober. "But what does it mean exactly?"

"Nothing good, I can assure you." Sona responded, shutting down the demonic-made communication medium. "But...Rias was correct in believing that we shouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly."

Although the Sitri heiress indirectly cautioned everyone to not reach the worst possible assumptions about what was going on, their thoughts still swirled in their heads regardless.

"...After we get some rest, enough to fully recuperate, we should go to the Underworld to check on what's going on. Just to be sure." Rias concluded firmly, her blue-green eyes narrowed.

"I believe that that's the best course of action as well." Sona concurred sliding her gaze across the room to glance at everyone in the room. "And I think that everyone else here is in agreement."

Even as she was speaking, the many devils that comprised of the Sitri and Gremory groups were conversing quietly amongst themselves, worried about what was going on in the home of the devils as well.

Though, there was one that was staying extraordinarily quiet, despite the commotion.

Kiba Yuuto was doing nothing more than following the crowd, mindlessly allowing himself to be carried along with everyone and everything else, including his _king's_ desire to go to the Underworld.

He didn't have any objections to it, not really, but he didn't necessarily want to go either.

Truth be told, the young man simply felt _numb_.

A part of him was worried for what was happening in the Underworld, yes, but that emotion was entirely trumped by his complete loss of direction.

The blond man was stuck in limbo to put it simply, torn between returning to what he was before he chose to listen to the treacherous words of Diodora, and his need to pursue justice.

So the young man stayed silent, absent-mindedly seeing Issei next to him alternate between sighing at the concept of _more_ to deal with, and impatience.

Yuuto suspected that a certain nun had something to do with the perverted boy's restlessness.

Meanwhile, Akeno was dutifully staying near Rias, paying close attention to the proceedings, even if she looked kind of distracted occasionally.

And Koneko, for her part, seemingly decided to permanently keep her lips twisting downwards to express her displeasure at the current state of affairs.

Not like he could blame her though.

As soon as he noticed that, through the side of his eye, he managed to see his _king_ turn towards him, determination lining her features.

The _knight_ felt himself straighten in response, having a hunch of what was about to happen.

She was going to try and talk to him again, broaching the subject that was left since their talk in Naruto's home.

Though that was what he thought was going to happen, his suspicions were never confirmed, as right at that moment-

"Buchou, someone is here." Akeno stated seriously, speaking up so that everyone in the room could hear her, alerting them.

Rias was forced to cut her planned talk with Yuuto short as she registered what her _queen_ had just said, clicking her tongue, not missing the relieved expression that overtook the blond's face.

He obviously wasn't looking forward to such a talk.

Newly annoyed, the Gremory heiress snapped her eyes to the entrance of the club room in order to meet this rude intruder.

Literally a second before the intruder appeared, she noticed that there was definitely more than one 'guest' that was coming in.

More than that, at least one of them was familiar to her.

And, indeed, the one that emerged from the doorway to enter the room that they were all occupied in was none other than the kohai that she left to rest.

"M-Mio-chan?" Rias questioned dumbly, so surprised that she had to say it out loud just to fully grasp that she was here.

In her defense, the last time that she saw her, she was completely withdrawn from...well... _everything_.

So it was a little jarring to see her up and about so quickly after that.

"...Rias-sempai." Mio spoke up in greeting, her tone indecipherable.

The Gremory heiress frowned, unsure of how to take the younger girl's appearance, but that concern was very soon forgotten.

Because right after fifteen-year old girl, another woman made herself known, coming into view.

That woman's violet eyes shifted across the room, wary, despite the fact that her body continued to move past the half-devil without missing a beat. "...I believe introductions are in order."

"...No, introductions won't be necessary." Sona disagreed slowly, newly cautious herself. "I believe that Mio-san has told us a little bit about you already...Raynare-san."

Raynare's lips thinned, freshly aware that she had the full attention of every devil in the room, already seeing many of them prepare themselves for a fight.

But there were two among them that stood out to her.

The first was the black-haired woman next to the Gremory heiress, the one with the orange ribbon, who was all but flaying her with her eyes.

Truly, if she wasn't so positive that she had never met her before, Raynare might have thought that she killed someone close to the devil.

Besides that woman though, there was another that caught her eye.

But this devil was definitely one that she had no desire to see.

"...You..." the fallen angel growled, the look that she was sending the handsome blond teen so venomous that it probably could have killed a lesser man.

Although, Yuuto was still affected by it, if his body going rigid and his stammering was any indication. "A-Ah..."

Raynare only felt her brows crease slightly at the weak response, wondering where the aggressive man that attacked her the last time they met went.

His overall attitude seemed far more conciliatory in comparison to when she first met the possibly deranged teen, and she wasn't entirely sure how to take it.

Did something happen since they last met...?

"Raynare-san." a soft voice suddenly piped up, chiding in tone. "You promised, remember?"

The fallen angel twitched, blowing out some air in frustration, but quickly turned away from the _knight_ in order to properly center herself.

And the one that lightly chastised her was-

"Asia!" Issei called out, getting out of the Peerage's formation so that he could rush in to meet her after she moved past both Raynare and Mio, giving the fallen angel a wary glare in the process. "Why are you with-!?"

Asia was practically scooped off of her feet, making an 'eep' as she left the ground. "I-I-Issei-san! It's ok! I'm fine! And Raynare-san is..."

"Raynare-san isn't our enemy." Mio intervened without prompting, guessing that the brown-haired boy was mostly worried about the fact that the woman who had nearly gotten the nun killed was standing right next to her. "She's not here to fight."

Issei chanced a look at her, uncertain, but quietly acquiesced to her assertion.

For now at least.

As for the fallen angel, she was currently taking a few moments to properly parse through her thoughts and keep her head cool, for what would obviously be an...'interesting' discussion.

Once she felt she was ready, her violet eyes were revealed as she opened her eyelids, focusing her attention on the two heiresses of two of the most prestigious devil clans.

"Greetings, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, I am a representative of the illustrious leader of Grigori; Azazel-sama." Raynare began, keeping to what she knew as 'respectable behavior', despite the fact that it was almost completely foreign to her. "I'm here to inform you about a certain incident that Azazel-sama has recently become aware of, and to ensure that no...misunderstandings arise from it."

Rias, falling back on her education about just such situations, inclined her head and got serious. "It's a pleasure, representative of Azazel."

That was as far as she went however, as Sona lightly tapped her friend on the shoulder, almost like she was 'tapping her out' in order to take her place. "It truly is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Raynare-san. However, I was not aware of any such...'incident', as you put it, that could give us cause to misunderstand anything. Could you please enlighten us about the situation?"

The Gremory heiress next to her scowled at being sidelined, but understood why she took charge.

Between the two, Sona was undoubtedly the better diplomat.

That, and she supposed that the wounds on her hands could make her more irritable in the long run in these kinds of talks. These things _were_ delicate.

...It didn't stop her from scowling though.

Raynare wasn't paying attention to that though, keeping herself focused on her limited objective. "Yes, of course. You see, Azazel-sama has discovered that one of his old comrades; Kokabiel, has been involved in some unsavory things in the past month or so. And one of those things just so happen to involve a recent...theft in the Church."

Sona narrowed her eyes, straightening her back. "Explain, please."

The fallen angel acceded to the devil's request, even if she was a little annoyed by the way she presented her demand. "...Right. Now, what I'm about to tell you will likely shock some of you, but I swear that this information is factual. But first; is everyone here aware of what _Excalibur_ is?"

As soon as the young woman made mention of the legendary sword, she received quite the variety of different reactions by her listeners.

The _kings_ and _queens_ in the room obviously knew what the Excalibur was, since their eyes widened to the size of saucers.

But almost everyone else, with a few exceptions, was bewildered. Both; by the change in topic and the topic matter itself.

Specifically, Yuuto made an audible gasp at the mention of the powerful weapon, but quickly shut himself up before anyone really took notice. Not wanting to draw attention to himself.

Regardless, Raynare continued after concluding that some people there were lost. "Those of you who don't know anything about Excalibur; don't worry. You just need to know that the blade that was said to have been used by the legendary hero; King Arthur, is now possessed by the modern day Church. More than that, know that the original Excalibur has been recreated into seven different swords after it was shattered in battle long ago. And now...know that Azazel-sama suspects that Kokabiel is responsible for stealing several of those swords for an unknown reason."

The entire room fell into deathly stillness, the gravity of the situation just hitting home after several of the devils pieced together what this actually entailed.

"...So basically, the Excalibur blades, which are powerful tools that the Church had kept for, presumably, a few hundred years, were stolen by one of the leading members of Grigori." Sona practically drawled, voicing out the obvious conclusions that most would make about the situation. "It _does_ sound like a misunderstanding waiting to happen, I suppose."

It was by that point that the fallen woman was beginning to lose her patience. "Look, I get it, you don't trust my people, it's understandable if you consider how long our two groups have been at war with one another. But I'm being straight with you lot here! Kokabiel is acting out on his own volition, seeking to spark a new clash between the three Christian factions. Azazel-sama has not authorized his actions or encouraged them in any shape or form. Besides, Azazel-sama has no interest in war..."

From there, the representative of Azazel paused, a flash of frustration lining the crinkles around her eyes as she squinted, looking at the Sitri heiress dead in the eye.

"And...neither do I." the fallen angel admitted after a few more tense moments.

Sona didn't reply, remaining mute as she listened to the words that the 'ambassador' gave her.

Everyone else was quiet too, surprised to hear what amounted to an admission of her stance on the situation. Something that definitely wasn't what a real diplomat would do.

It was _genuine_.

Although Sona was remaining silent, likely to consider whether Raynare was being honest or not, Rias took a step forward, sure now that-

"Why should we believe you?"

The fallen angel snapped her gaze to the black-haired girl with the orange ribbon, the one that stayed right next to the red-head, and the one that was giving her that glare before.

By the look that she was receiving, she could only reach one conclusion to explain why the devil was acting the way she was.

"You..." Raynare began, a bitter smile making it's way onto her lips. "...Really don't like me, do you?"

Akeno, raised her chin, completely in opposition to the other woman. "You're right. I _don't_."

Both black-haired women began to openly glare at one another, with the reincarnated devil remaining hostile, yet cold, and the fallen angel growing more and more angry the longer that their clash dragged on.

"What's your problem exactly?" the fallen angel hissed, her demeanor losing any semblance of cool serenity. "You act as if I've personally done something to you, but I'm positive that I've never met you before-"

Violet eyes blinked, the young woman that was about to proceed with a verbal beat down went inexplicably silent as she studied the other woman's eyes.

Instead of the righteous anger, now there was uncertain recognition in her own violet-colored irises.

"...Have we met, actually?" Raynare asked hesitantly, careful. "At first I thought I didn't, but...I feel like I've seen your _eyes_ somewhere before..."

If anything, Akeno's expression just darkened further.

At first, everyone around them was rooted to the floor, surprised to see the usually amicable _queen_ of the Gremory group act so aggressively to someone she had just initially met.

Almost everyone.

Rias and Sona weren't exactly surprised, but they _did_ severely underestimate her response.

And by that point, Rias saw fit to intervene, walking forward in order to place her hand on her old friend's shoulder. " _Akeno._ "

If the reincarnated devil was going to continue to antagonize the ambassador of Grigori's leader, then she was unable to do so anymore.

Akeno couldn't, not after seeing the bandaged hand that her _king_ used to place on her shoulder, reminding her that everyone there had _just_ come out from a hard won fight.

"...Apologies, Buchou." she muttered quietly, only for her ears.

Roughly at the same time, Mio walked up and patted Raynare on the back, her voice low as she spoke. "Raynare-san...your mission."

The fallen angel grounded her teeth together, barely holding her fiery temper at bay.

But she managed it eventually, taking a deep breathe before she returned to her original goal in this discussion. "...Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri."

Both high-class devils perked up at hearing their names called.

Raynare continued unabated. "I've informed you both about the circumstances behind my visit, now it's up to you two; do you accept that Azazel-sama wishes to disavow Kokabiel and the actions that he has taken?"

Rias and Sona shared a look with one another, discussing with one another without words whether they should accept the fallen's words as fact.

They stayed like that for a little bit longer, before Rias turned to back to Raynare and addressed her.

"...Very well!" the red-head declared, the authority in her voice brooking no discussion. "In consideration of the fact that you've spent time alone with Mio-chan and Asia-chan without harming them, as well as my kohai's faith in your trustworthiness...we'll believe you."

Immediately, the tension in Raynare's shoulders dissipated after hearing that, her eyes softening. "I-I see...thank you for the trust that you've given me."

Behind her, Mio allowed herself to heave a sigh of relief, in a slightly better mood now that the fallen angel didn't unintentionally start a fight.

...That being said, while almost everyone there was, at the very least, somewhat glad that they didn't have to fight again, there were some that were...less than enthused.

Akeno for one, seemed to be doing her utmost best to avoid looking at the fallen angel for any stretch of time, whether out of anger or a wish to not cause anymore problems, the half-devil wasn't sure.

But, to be honest, while the teenager's actions was...off-putting, it paled in comparison to how Kiba Yuuto was reacting.

The blond teenager was staring at the ground, his grey eyes going through so many emotions so quickly that it was impossible to dissect them individually.

Throughout the entire discussion, the young man has stayed completely silent, so much so that he had pretty much become indistinguishable from the rest of the group.

But, after taking a quick scan around, Mio knew damn well that he was probably reacting the most negatively out of everyone there.

How'd she figure that?

Well, that was because his borderline apathetic front was one that the red-head herself used while she recovered back at home. Before Raynare-san woke up.

To be blunt, Yuuto has been acting strangely ever since Naruto left, and if Rias-sempai was hoping that her _knight_ was going to calm down after he rejoined them, then she seemed to be sorely mistaken.

As if to illustrate her point, the young man that she was focusing on took a step forward amid the relieved atmosphere. Grabbing everyone's attention by breaking 'formation' so to speak. "...Buchou, may I request a temporary leave of absence?"

Rias' eyes widened at the sudden request, shocked, yet not, if that made sense.

Issei, who was focused more on making sure that the fallen angel didn't try anything funny, felt his jaw unhinge as he whirled around on the _knight_. " _What!?"_

Yuuto couldn't look at anyone in the eye as he continued, knowing that everyone in the room was giving him different variations of their own disbelief. "...I'm sorry, but I think that I need some fresh air. As I am now, I'll only continue to be a bother to everyone here...so maybe getting a chance to relax will help a little bit."

He looked up, managing to catch his _king's_ eye, surprisingly vulnerable. " _Please_..."

The Gremory heiress faced her wayward Peerage member, her countenance void of any emotion, her thoughts hidden behind that veneer of calm.

But if anyone actually looked at her pools of blue-green, they would have seen the disturbed ripples that were just underneath the surface.

It took a little bit, but eventually, Rias gave her answer.

"Very well, but please be careful, ok?"

Yuuto bowed, genuinely grateful, before swiftly moving past Mio to leave the room without another word.

It took all of a few sparse moments for someone to ask the inevitable.

"...Buchou..." Issei started, his voice tight, as if he was barely struggling to hold his emotions from exploding. "Why did you just let him go? Without saying anything? _Especially_ after...well...everything?"

The red-head pursed her lips together, looking about as conflicted as the young man felt deep inside. "...I didn't see any other way to get him to open up. And now, considering the subject matter that we have just gone through, I fear that nothing less than some time alone will give him time to heal."

Before everyone riled themselves up, as she knew that they would just out of principle, she continued hastily. "I'm sure that everyone here is more than a little...frustrated by what's going on, but please, there are extenuating circumstances behind Yuuto's actions."

Her blue-green eyes swiftly made the fallen angel their focal point, a looking more than a little displeased. "...And unfortunately, it seems that you've brought his trauma out with your discussion. Whether you meant it or not."

If anyone thought that Raynare was going to look crestfallen at her accidental faux pas, then they were sorely mistaken. "Wait, are you _blaming_ me for this!?"

"No." Rias remarked coolly. "It's simply an unfortunate fact. The fault partially lies with me, for not taking this conversation away from the Excalibur swords as soon as it was brought up."

The admission helped cool the fallen woman's temper, but it also flared up her curiosity at the same time as she caught onto what the high-class devil was saying. "...The Excalibur swords? Is that what made that man so insane?"

"Raynare-san!" Mio reprimanded quickly, seeing her sempai scowl darkly at the young woman's blunt admission. "That was uncalled for!"

Raynare turned to her, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "Am I wrong?"

" _Enough_." Sona called out, ending the conversation before it sparked the fight that it was inevitably going to start. "There is no point in arguing whether Rias' _knight_ is stable or not, what's more important than that is understanding what's going on."

The Sitri heiress then twisted her head around to gaze at Rias, her eyes set in a firm stare. "...And only you can give us that information."

Blue-green eyes met with her friend's violet, a conversation going on between the two of them without words.

It took a little bit, but Rias eventually closed her eyes and let loose a sigh, caving in to her pressure. "You're right...you've all been more than patient with me, and Yuuto. I suppose that clarifying what's going on is only right by this point."

With that, the young woman tilted her head up, staring at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. "As Raynare-san explained, instead of a single Excalibur, there are now at least seven blades that embody the power of the original legendary weapon, and they are, no, _were_ , under the Church's possession. But what she didn't mention was that not _anyone_ could just wield them."

Mio leaned closer without even meaning to do so, her curiosity about the weapons increasing, knowing that everyone that didn't know much about them were doing the same as her.

Regardless, the Gremory heiress continued. "I don't have an extensive knowledge of what are the requirements for someone to be able to wield one of the Excalibur blades, but I _do_ know that they seem to be naturally born, as well as exceedingly rare. So it should come as no surprise that the Church would eventually want to artificially create more wielders of the great swords...and Yuuto just so happens to have been involved in that attempt."

Blue-green eyes grew hazy, looking beyond the ceiling, peering into the memories of her youth. "...Years ago, the Church gave the green light to a project known as the 'Holy Sword Project', which was meant to create Excalibur users in case another war broke out between the Christian factions again. In order to experiment properly however, they needed test subjects, so they took in several orphans to help them...and Yuuto was one of them."

Issei crossed his arm, feeling a pit in the middle of his stomach, having a feeling where this was going.

Next to him, Koneko didn't say anything, remaining quiet throughout everything that has happened, internalizing all the information that was being passed out, already aware of pieces of it.

"The project was unsuccessful." Rias stated bluntly, her gaze refocusing on the here and now. "So, for whatever reason, the project leader ordered for all of the orphans under their care to be executed...with poison gas. Not leaving any evidence of the project's existence."

The red-head paused there as she began to work her jaw, obviously agitated, but soldiered on. "From what I've heard, all of the children were shepherded into a small room, where they were told that they were going to go through their 'final' test...and apparently, they were all excited that they were going to achieve a higher goal in their young lives. Not at all expecting that nearly all of them were going to get their lives snuffed out by those they trusted..."

A solemn silence followed after her words, many of the occupiers of the room unable to form words after hearing about such a tragedy.

"...I've heard about this 'project' before." Raynare remarked in the silence, her own tone of voice surprisingly respectful as well. "I've studied a bit about it during my studies with Azazel-sama, though it wasn't much. From what I remember, the Church excommunicated everyone that was involved with the project, as they were unaware of the...'experiments' that were done in their name. It might be of cold comfort, but I just thought that you all should know that almost none of the priests who were involved managed to escape from the Church afterwards."

The fallen angel then turned to Rias, locking eyes with her, frowning uncomfortably. "...And, for what it's worth, I apologize for bringing up such a traumatic past to that Peerage member of yours."

To the side of the Gremory heiress' eye, Akeno snapped to look at the ambassador of Azazel, shocked to actually hear her apologize.

But Rias ignored that. "Thank you; for the apology and for the information. Though, I couldn't help but notice that you said _almost_ everyone involved with the project was captured by the Church?"

Raynare nodded grimly. "Yeah, from what I know, the lead organizer of the project managed to evade capture, though, I don't suggest that you mention this to that servant of yours."

The red-head set her lips in a thin line, passively accepting the other supernatural woman's advice, knowing that in his guilt for being the only one to survive that fateful day, he'd hunt for the leader purely on principle.

"...So, it's survivor's guilt then?" Sona muttered, just loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Right when everyone began to turn to her, she went on, aware of their eyes trained on her. "Survivor's guilt; a mental disorder where a survivor from a traumatic event perceives that they are 'guilty' for abandoning everyone that didn't survive said event, evoking self-loathing and the overall feeling of inner turmoil. Does that sound familiar?"

Rias narrowed her eyes, grimacing. "While that sounds rather close, it doesn't fit, Yuuto doesn't have a sense of self-loathing from what I've seen, he simply has a hate for Excalibur."

Mio blinked, watching the back-and-forth, barely following along until she heard her red-head sempai's recent response, evoking a reaction out of her.

The teen quickly remembered how Kiba Yuuto looked after he heard about Excalibur again, thanks to the discussion between Raynare-san and the two high-class devils.

Then she compared that to what she had just heard; that the _knight_ didn't have a sense of self-loathing.

She quickly concluded that, at the very least, there was a _faint_ bit of self-loathing somewhere deep inside that blond. A feeling of inadequacy for 'not doing enough'.

"...Maybe you're looking at this incorrectly." Raynare intervened in the discussion, her tone introspective. "From what I've gathered, Rias Gremory's servant hates the Excalibur swords, correct? Yet, the blades are inanimate objects, they don't contain a will or anything along those lines. So hating upon such a thing would be borderline insanity in of itself...but what if there's a different explanation?"

Her violet irises slid across the room, drinking in the many faces around the room, many of which were lined in tension, until they focused on the two _kings_ again.

"What if, hypothetically, Gremory's _knight_ is actually affected by such a syndrome." the fallen angel wondered aloud. "But, in an effort to remove that self-loathing, he's moved that hatred onto the swords that the orphans were supposed to utilize? That could be an interpretation, wouldn't it? Moving his hatred onto an unachievable goal, so that he no longer has to bear with the guilt?"

Rias bit her bottom lip, mind seriously considering the idea. "...I-I'm not sure-"

"It's possible. Very much so."

The red-head was cut off by one of the last people that she thought that she'd here from agreeing with a fallen angel.

Akeno spoke up, her face stony, but her eyes sympathetic. "What the...fallen woman has claimed, it isn't unreasonable to believe that that's what's wrong with Kiba-kun. At least, I don't think so."

The Gremory heiress carefully refocused back on her _queen_ , a sad smile stretching on her lips. "Yeah...I suppose it _is_ possible...eh, Akeno?"

Akeno inclined her head, acknowledging what the red-head wasn't saying out loud, and thankful for it.

Meanwhile, Sona has crossed her arms by this point, tapping her foot onto the ground. "Well, this was quite the discussion, and it has revealed yet another issue that has to be dealt with, in due time. However, as far as I'm aware, nothing can be done today."

" _Exactly!_ " Rias cut off without warning, much to Sona's irritation. "And that's why I let Yuuto go, because it's imperative that he becomes comfortable with all of us again, and for that to happen, he needs some time to himself. Basically, now that Diodora is dead, there is no one that could invoke his hatred of Excalibur, and he should eventually return to normal."

"Unless you consider that the rogue fallen angel; Kokabiel, has apparently _stolen_ those very weapons, and was apparently last sighted around Kuoh Town..." Sona remarked dryly.

The Gremory heiress nodded, aware of that. "I know, but we are the imoutos of _two_ Maou, unless the man is insane, I don't see him attempting to attack us or anything. More than likely, he's just here to lay low, and we'll never even see him. To add to that, that was the _last_ sighting of him, it's entirely possible that the man has moved on to a different location. Which is why I don't think that Yuuto will even try and search for the swords, it would be a waste of time."

Sona didn't exactly look overjoyed by this logic, but even she had to admit that the idea had merit. "Alright then...what do you exactly have planned then?"

Rias smiled, glad that she asked. "We need to head to the Underworld, if only to make sure everything's alright. If possible, we'll rest there for a little bit and give Yuuto time to wind down, along with everyone else. Though, before we go, we should leave some kind of notification for Naruto, Yuki, and Maria of where we have gone. Just to be sure. In our time away, hopefully my _knight_ will get over this, like last time."

"...Hoh? So you're planning on intentionally keeping that guy out of the loop so that he'll forget about Excalibur?" Raynare couldn't help but drawl in question, a lazy smile touching at her lips.

Frowning, the red-head stared down the fallen angel. "You don't approve?"

In response, she just shrugged. "Nah, manipulation is pretty much what I expected from you devils. That's all."

Knowing on some level that it was bait, Rias refused to answer that jibe. "...As I was saying, until then, we should get some rest. Yuuto should be in a better mood by tomorrow, and hopefully so will everyone else."

Acknowledging this as the signal to leave, the devils of both Peerages began to converse among themselves about all that has happened, many of them making their way to the exit.

Mio, for her part, felt her shoulders sag, mentally tired from the back-to-back problems that seemed to have come barreling in as soon as her Na- _brother_ , left.

She felt like she could practically sleep on the floor at this rate.

But thankfully, now, she would finally be able to get some rest.

As she turned to follow along with everyone else that was leaving, she idly saw that the fallen angel was, surprisingly, staying behind to speak with the two high-class devils. For what reason, she wasn't exactly sure.

And while she was curious, her exhaustion easily won out over it.

She was officially _done_ with serious discussions for a while.

So, when the young red-head managed to leave the club room, and then Kuoh Academy grounds, all without a hitch, she was fairly content.

That feeling was shattered when she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder while she was heading home.

Mio slowly turned around, seeing the determined look of a certain pervert gazing at her.

As well as the nervous, yet courageous emerald orbs of a certain nun.

And finally, the stoic, yet _very_ emotional set of hazel irises of a certain _rook_.

Mio had only one thing to say to all of them.

"...Don't you people get tired?" she couldn't help but wonder, her left eyebrow twitching, knowing what they were going to suggest just by looking at the pleading expression on Hyoudou Issei's face.

Issei just smirked in response. "Not tonight, besides, I'm used to doing all-nighters."

"...Really? Doing what?" the half-devil almost dreaded to ask.

"Finding new ways to peep, of course." the perverted boy responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Frankly, Mio wasn't surprised, since the more serious side of his personality only came out during life-and-death struggles.

"...Mio-san." Koneko piped up, dragging Issei away from her by pulling at his shirt, literally dragging him backwards as she took a step forward. "...Despite what Buchou said, I don't think...that letting a friend stew by himself is the smart thing to do."

"So you want to find him...again." Mio remarked, disbelief in her tone obvious. "And how exactly would you know that talking to him right now is the smart thing to do?"

Koneko just closed her eyes, a soft smile forcing her lips to twitch upwards. "Because...if I was in his position...I wouldn't want to be left alone."

The first-year of Kuoh Academy stared at her fellow first-year blankly, trying not to think sigh too explosively.

Mio quietly wondered whether she was too soft as she uttered her next words.

"...Fine. Then we'll go look for him." she allowed, despite her reluctance. "But I still-"

"Awesome!" Issei declared, all energy despite the fact that it was well past midnight by now. "Let's move then! We'll definitely talk sense into that bastard this time!"

Without warning, Mio felt someone grab her arm, and bodily _drag_ her through the streets in search of a certain _knight_...again.

Not for the first time, Mio wanted to bemoan the fact that Naruto wasn't here yet.

Thankfully though, she stopped herself from doing so.

Instead of hoping for the whiskered teen to be here and solve...well... _everything_ , she instead opted to silently hope that he was faring better than she was.

* * *

Naruto was _not_ doing well right now.

That was what the shinobi figured out as soon as he realized that he was trapped inside Ophis' barrier, with no way out...except through her.

And, if that lady in the sky was telling the truth, then he would be forced to face an opponent that is considered to be way stronger than any opponent that he has fought so far in this world.

Truth be told, he was curious whether this being was as strong as Pain was back in his world.

...Actually, scratch that, he didn't want to know.

"Hey~ When are you gonna make a move down there~? You know that thinking of a way out of this won't work, right?" a certain black-haired woman claimed from the sky, laying on her suspended magic circle high above.

Naruto ignored her, focusing far more on the literal threat that was right in front of him.

That literal threat, in the form of a little girl, apparently lost whatever restraint that was holding her back while he was brainstorming, because the ethereal snakes that she has formed had decided to make their move.

Lunging forward, the energy-based reptilians opened their mouths wide and made to tear at the blond's skin as soon as they got close enough.

Instincts in full effect, the shinobi leapt backwards as his eyes took in all of the attacks that were advancing towards him, bringing his hands together to make a cross.

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_ " Naruto declared, flaring his chakra a little and activating his technique, calling forth a plume of smoke as the snakes charged inside.

As soon as the snakes cut into the smoke however, several blurs shot out of it, either dashing out of view or heading straight for the powerful entity in front of them.

Soulless grey eyes stared ahead blankly as the blurs closed the gap between them, recognizing those blurs as copies of her target.

She didn't move a muscle as they raised their fists to attack, thrusting them forward with the intent to smash her into the ground.

It turned out, that she didn't have to.

The clones soon crashed into the stoic 'child', slamming their fists into her with all of their might, feeling their fists connect...

Then feeling their fists _crumble_.

Pairs of blue eyes widened in horror as the fists that impacted against Ophis' cheeks spewed out blood, the bones inside their hands collapsing after hitting something that simply wouldn't give way to their strength.

Immediately after, the clones popped out of existence, without the powerful being having to do anything.

Right afterwards, another blur emerged from the plume of smoke that the original Naruto created, charging forward with a small ball of energy swirling in his hand.

 _"Rasengan!_ " Naruto exclaimed as he charged forward, throwing his left arm forward so that his attack would connect with his enemy's stomach, keeping his body low so that he'd be a more difficult target.

Fortunately, Ophis didn't even bother to try and move, only bothering to take a glimpse of him as she made eye contact with him.

When she did, the grinding attack was shoved into her stomach, the vicious whirling sound that accompanied it actually managing to drown out all other noises to their ears.

So the blond pushed, cerulean eyes fierce as his powerful attack ground in deeper, somewhat confident that he was doing decent damage.

At least, until he felt something wrap around his neck.

The shinobi's head was snapped upwards by a forceful pull, his neck caught in the grasp of the snakes that he dodged before, forcing him to look directly at the small girl from his lowered position.

"...You're...the real one?" she pondered, not at all concerned with the small orb that was still pressing into her stomach.

Naruto, or rather, his clone tried to put on a teasing smirk, which didn't quite succeed. "M-Maybe, why don't you let go for a sec and find out?"

She stayed silent, regarding the young man, before tilting her head. "You're not real."

The clone couldn't even get a word in edgewise before the snakes applied pressure to his neck, eliciting a sick ***snap*** from it.

Ophis has already moved her attention past the deceased clone, which disappeared from her grasp in a puff of smoke anyway, and stared at the plume of smoke that the original Naruto created with his technique.

She was focused onto that because of the loud sound of wind cutting through the air completely dominated her ears, as well as the fact that the smoke was being violently pushed away by something from within it.

The cause of this strange phenomenon was none other than the real Naruto, who was standing beside a clone with a shuriken-like attack raised over his head, buffeting everyone with gale-force winds.

"I don't care whether you're considered the world's strongest or not!" the shinobi declared, eyes flaring as his spiky hair shifted in the vicious winds that his _rasenshuriken_ was making. "If you're made out of cells like every other living being...then you will be _disintegrated_ by this next attack!"

If Ophis was concerned, she didn't express it as she retained her stoic demeanor.

Not that Naruto was looking for that anyway, he knew damn well that nothing less than this would take such a being down.

He simply couldn't afford to hold anything back, not here, not now.

So the shinobi blitzed forward, the spinning shuriken on his left hand tearing at the ground whenever one of it's blades made contact with it, making something of a cloud of dust form behind the young man.

The little girl really didn't do anything in response to his latest attempt to assault her.

But she _did_ react to it, not with action, but through a simple expression.

Ophis smiled.

And why did that simple fact alone send a chill down his spine?

Maybe it was because that smile was one that spoke volumes, one that told the blond exactly one thing.

That he had passed a test.

Regardless, Naruto shoved his apprehensiveness away and focused on the here and now, making sure that he moved his left hand to his front so that he could ram the attack into the powerful being.

Like last time, that attack connected, without her even trying to get out of the way.

The _rasenshuriken_ buffeted both combatants with it's power, as the wind blades dug into the ground once it expanded after connecting into Ophis. Very quickly pushing the child off of her feet.

From there, the jutsu sped forward like a missile, carrying her as the screeching shuriken began to destabilize.

The attack literally ripped apart everything that was in it's way across the rocky terrain, literally smashing her into a rock formation as the powerful ability finally _detonated_.

 ***BOOOOM***

Naruto could only raise his arm to protect his eyes as a massive wind dome enveloped several rocky formations near the one that he sent Ophis crashing into, trying to ignore the prickling pain on his left hand as he watched the devastation.

The wind dome continued to expand in width and depth, everything held within it's diameter getting ripped apart by the microscopic wind blades that were released, obliterating it all into _nothing_.

Of this, Naruto had no doubts.

So the shinobi was already getting ready to turn around and face that woman in the sky, figuring that she was either gonna make a break for it, or attack him while his back is turned.

When he completed his turn, to his slight surprise, he met the amused golden slits of a completely unconcerned Kuroka on her perch. "What...? Do you think that you've won, nya?"

Naruto frowned as her words echoed across the mountainous valley, registering the words but not really believing it.

The young man then spun on the spot eyes widening as his danger senses screamed, leading to one overarching word to dominate his mind in that very moment.

 _Move._

The shinobi did just that, backing up from the ferocious vortex that his _rasenshuriken_ created just as a shadow began to emerge from it's confines, slowly making it's way out of the dome.

Soon enough, a pale hand emerged from the wind, and soon after, the rest of Ophis' intact body pushed through, with only superficial scratches across her form.

Naruto just stared at the 'child' with a gaping mouth, unable to believe that she just walked out of his jutsu with only minimal damage at best.

"Nyahaha~! I bet you're super surprised, right? That your powerful attack barely did anything? Well, don't worry, if it was almost anyone else, that attack would have destroyed them." Kuroka exclaimed with a toothy grin, her eyes drinking in the young man's form from above.

Blue eyes remained on the _Ouroboros Dragon_ , now willing to admit that she could, in fact, not be bluffing about how status in this world, and he kept his focus even as the woman in the sky continued.

"Really though, if it wasn't for the fact that I had senjutsu, I wouldn't have realized how powerful that attack was. It was faint, but I _felt_ the tiny wind blades inside that attack, so tiny that they could probably enter someone's skin without having to break through it...right?" the black-haired woman purred. "I bet you thought that those wind blades would destroy Ophis-sama from the inside, right? Well, you'd be right...if it wasn't for one thing."

Naruto's attention never wavered, but now he was making sure to listen carefully to his -optional- opponent above.

Kuroka shuffled her body closer to the edge, just enough that she was able to dangle her head over the edge as she flipped onto her back, her golden slits intensely focused on the blond. "Ophis-sama is a _Dragon God_ , literally the highest tier of dragon in existence, which in turn, have among the hardest natural armor in existence. Despite Ophis-sama's appearance, her skin is _very_ much protected by her powerful scales, her power to shapeshift simply doesn't affect her natural defense. So, I bet that those teeny-tiny wind blades that you were hoping for were mostly destroyed when they crashed into Ophis-sama's scales before they reached her skin. Too bad, so sad nya~"

The shinobi felt his teeth gnash together in annoyance, her words managing to get under his skin more than he'd like.

It was the simple concept that the _rasenshuriken_ could be stopped that got under his skin.

Still, Naruto was grimly determined not to lose heart, and shifted his immediate goal to accommodate the situation.

With a plan in the works, Naruto opted to try and use a different jutsu, one that was more familiar yet new at the same time.

...Kind of.

From above, Kuroka hummed, curious about what the blond below had in mind, looking forward to his 'next trick'.

It wasn't like he could actually _do_ anything to harm someone so powerful, so she was expressing something akin to a childlike curiosity of what a magician could pull out of his hat.

So when she saw the young man hold his left hand out far from his body, while his right hand began to make grabbing motions on it, she was very much eager to see what her -possible- future mate would do next.

At first, what appeared on the palm of his hand actually disappointed her, as she remembered that she saw that attack used against Ophis prior, with little-to-no damage done.

Was he running out of ideas?

But soon after that, her interest was piqued again thanks to the fact that the teen simply didn't stop pouring more power into the orb, making the attack grow _larger_.

At first, the sphere neatly fit into the palm of his hand, but as time passed, it continued to grow to the point that it became as large as a basketball.

It didn't stop there either, as a matter of fact, it grew more and more to the point that it was practically almost as big as the teen himself, forcing him to raise the sphere over his head.

For a split-second, the blond looked like he was about to lose control of the technique, as he scrunched his eyebrows together in deep concentration...

But he apparently got it under control, as his intense concentration left his face, allowing him to glance at the being that refused to let him go.

Kuroka just stared at the attack, acknowledging it as essentially a massive variant of the same attack he utilized against the _Ouroboros Dragon_ mere moments ago.

So surely, despite it's size, it shouldn't do that much, right?

At least, that's what she felt, but that opinion would change a bit shortly.

Nothing changed when Naruto first jumped into the air, raising the attack over his head, preparing to crash it into Ophis with it's largess.

Her lack of concern basically stemmed from the 'little girl's' reaction, which, as always, was a blank.

So when Ophis was smashed into the ground by the massive sphere, literally digging her into the earth, the black-haired woman wasn't particularly concerned.

However, after a few moments of the two combatants going in deeper into one of the mountain's foundations, a certain whiskered teen hastily jumped out of the hole, making a break for it.

Kuroka just watched with a twinge of concern, literally seeing the young man run away from his own attack actually gave her pause.

What _really_ made her reconsider her lackluster response to his ability, was when the very earth itself began to shake, violently.

So violently that she was able to see it, as she was high in the air, too far away to feel the rumble.

Before she could even think to question how it was possible for an earthquake to hit the area when they were in a _barrier_ -

Kuroka was literally knocked off of her feet, sent sprawling away from her position near the edge of her foothold in the sky, nearly sent flying off of it as a matter off fact, such was the force that slammed into her.

At first, with her mind in a jumble, the black-haired woman could do nothing but mindlessly wonder what the hell had just happened to her, especially as she felt several small objects pelt her on top of her head.

It was only after she crawled back to her previous position that she managed to figure out what exactly had happened.

At first, she couldn't quite believe her eyes, but the simple fact that there was a veritable hail of pebbles that was consistently hitting her head persuaded her that she wasn't imagining things.

Before, Naruto smashed his enlarged attack onto the base of a mountain, taking her 'leader' deep underground.

That very mountain, the natural wonder that jut out high into the sky like a skyscraper, was _gone_.

Rather, it was completely obliterated, as there was only a crater left to indicate that it ever existed in the first place.

Golden slits could only stare at it, trying to grasp the knowledge that the blond actually did _that_.

She knew he was strong, but she didn't expect _this!_

...But instead of being frightened of this display of power, this display of power only served to spark a fire within her...and turn her on a little.

Not that she'd ever admit to that last part.

So when she saw the teenager warily peer into the crater he had just made, she couldn't help but smile in anticipation, eager to see what else he's got.

She even chuckled when she noticed Naruto look at his own handiwork with bewilderment, almost like he himself couldn't believe that he did so much damage.

How cute.

For his part, Naruto indeed couldn't believe that he did so much damage, as although ero-sennin told him that the _Chō Ōdama Rasengan_ (Ultra Big Ball Rasengan) could destroy mountains...he never actually saw it for himself.

Well...he'd be damned.

From his position on the floor, the shinobi pushed himself onto his feet and slowly made his way to the crater, his caution obvious to anyone that saw him.

He was inching forward, senses on high alert...

Then he _jumped_.

Up and away from the crater, as if he was avoiding something.

Turned out that he was.

Almost immediately after the teen ascended to the air, several dark rope-like objects pierced through the ground and shot towards him from an unknown source.

The identity of those 'ropes' became obvious when they threateningly began to hiss at him as they closed the gap between them.

Normally, as Naruto saw the snakes get closer to him within each millisecond, he would grab a kunai from his tools pouch and defend himself swiftly.

But for some odd reason, he didn't bother trying to defend himself in any capacity, seemingly content with watching the snakes capture him.

Fortunately, several blurs emerged from several rock formations which were unharmed from the nearby detonation thanks to their distance away from the mountain, racing to cut off the snakes.

Those blurs would do just that, slicing off the heads of the energy-based reptiles before they reached Naruto, giving the blond shit-eating grins as they made their pass.

Naruto could only smile, his clones timed that perfectly.

When he first made the clones, there were a few that sped off immediately from the get-go, remaining on standby for emergency reinforcements.

...As well as to guard the clone that was gathering _that_.

Anyway, the shinobi quickly landed back on his feet after evading the enemy's snakes, coolly regarding the ground where the energy attacks came from, knowing intrinsically that their owner should be showing herself soon.

It took a few moments for her to finally reveal herself, but he noticed some movement through the side of his eye, pinpointing where his enemy was.

To his eyes, a small girl slowly floated up from the edge of the crater, staring at him without emotion, minor scratches all across her form following his attack.

More importantly, the slithering reptiles that she always utilized were coming out of her sleeves, pulsating and twitching erratically as they pulled themselves from the ground.

As he expected.

"I figured that that wouldn't kill you!" Naruto shouted out, not at all surprised to see the apparent 'Dragon God' relatively unharmed. "Too bad for you that I have a trump card, just for moments like these! You better be prepared for it, cause I don't think that even someone like _you_ can get out of this without some serious damage!"

Behind him, his clones raised his arms in a cheer, fully confident in their leader, like cheerleaders almost.

Ophis regarded him silently, her dull grey eyes about as flat as one can possibly imagine. "...You can't win."

Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch, annoyed in spite of himself. "Oi, brat, I don't care whether you're some super powerful god that's never lost to anyone before. Don't be so cocky."

"...No, you _can't_ win. It's impossible." she insisted.

The shinobi frowned this time, stopping himself from reacting in a knee-jerk manner when he realized something.

She wasn't trying to insult him, she genuinely didn't understand him.

"Look, Ophis, right? Strength and power means a lot, don't get me wrong." the blond started, his frown becoming more emphasized. "But strength and power doesn't mean everything. The powerful _can_ be defeated by those who are weaker."

"It's impossible." Ophis repeated, her voice betraying no uncertainties of this notion.

"It isn't." Naruto retorted. "I've done it myself throughout my entire life, it's possible, I'm living proof of it."

This time, the 'child' went silent for a moment, looking up at him, searching his eyes with her own.

Then she closed her eyes.

"...Not this time." replied quietly, no doubt in her voice whatsoever.

Naruto studied the being which was considered to be among the strongest in existence, considering.

Instead of replying to her words, he just smiled, knowing that his last, and _best_ chance was about to arrive.

Right at that moment, hidden behind a rock formation which just so happened to be guarded by clones, a single clone _popped_.

And the energy that that clone had gathered immediately returned to it's creator.

From above, Kuroka snapped her gaze away from the stare down between Khaos Brigade's 'leader' and Naruto, smiling as she felt senjutsu chakra move from one of the copies towards the _real_ blond.

It was inefficient and wasteful in her eyes, to spend so much time gathered natural energy, but perhaps they utilized different senjutsu powers altogether? Or maybe even chakra?

She wasn't entirely sure, but she was eager to find out when they finally became more... _personal_.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, Kuroka refocused back onto clash, sensing the shift in the original Naruto.

And so did the whiskered teen himself, as new power strengthened his body to an extreme extent, with only his eyes being an indication of the transformation he has undergone.

His blue eyes turned yellow as a horizontal bar appeared in the middle of his pupils, giving him a toad-like appearance, especially as orange pigmentation materialized around his eyelids.

With this new power, Naruto felt ready to _really_ push against his enemy.

"Hey, you lot." the shinobi murmured, speaking up to his clones. "You guys know what's gonna happen now, right?"

His clones, which previously had his back, nodded all around him as they dispelled themselves.

Yellow eyes drifted to Ophis, amusement slightly them up. "Well...this is it. My best and last chance to beat you. If if fail here, I'm pretty much screwed."

Maybe it was just him as he studied her features, but for a moment, he thought he saw a faint bit of emotion flit past her grey irises in response to his words.

Naruto could only smirk.

Then, without anything giving away his intentions, he _jumped._

The blond teen skyrocketed into the air intensely focused on what he was planning to do as he reached the ceiling of Ophis' barrier.

As soon as he reached the top, the young man brought his hands together, forming a familiar seal with them. " _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_ "

As expected, several plumes of smoke appeared around him, along with his newly created copies, splitting his chakra among them.

Which meant that his senjutsu chakra was also distributed among them, leaving his overall reserves to be somewhat diminished.

It was worth it though, to create roughly thirty clones.

"Hey, boss!" a clone beside him called out, a shit-eating grin splitting across his face. "We're gonna be doing this the old fashioned way, huh? No need for fancy techniques and all that stuff!?"

The real Naruto huffed. "You make it sound like I don't want to use my newer abilities and jutsus..."

His clone laughed airily, knowing exactly how frustrated the real blond was with how he was forced to skip on using his more recent skills.

But the fact was that he had no other choice.

So, becoming serious, the shinobi moved his left hand in front of him so that his right hand could form the beginning of the _rasengan_.

Chakra formed into a ball as it was spun around like a mini tornado, which at first neatly fit into the palm of his hand, but very quickly grew to larger proportions.

All around him, his copies followed his lead, raising their left hands as their _rasengans_ grew in size, pouring more and more power into it.

None of them would stop until they formed _rasengans_ larger than their own bodies, which, when achieved, they kept above their heads so that they could smash into the ground when ready.

Kuroka, who had a clear view of what was going on due to her elevated position in the air, could only let a shaky smile appear on her features. "T-That's a bit much nya~"

However, even as she felt her caution rise exponentially at the prospect of several of those mountain-destroying attacks being used in a relatively enclosed barrier, she hadn't reached the peak of it yet.

That changed almost immediately.

She felt more than saw her -very possible- future mate enhance the sphere in his hand with senjutsu, bringing extra power into the mix, as well as raising it's size to _gargantuan_ proportions.

The young woman literally took a step back in rising fear as she saw his clones follow his lead, making the entire ceiling of the barrier become crowded in spheres that have become comparable in size to small skyscrapers.

 _Especially_ as they began to fall towards the earth.

By this point, only one realization kept replaying her mind, her survival instincts taking over as she raised a hand behind her to open a portal.

 _Get out!_

And she would do just that, letting the magic circle under her feet fade away as she jumped into the portal, escaping the space inside the barrier so that she could get to the real world.

On the ground, the 'child' that stared at the sky didn't really care that the yokai escaped, as she was simply far too enamored by the spectacle that was quickly descending towards her position.

Seeing the bright blue orbs completely block her view of the sky did nothing except make a small smile reach her face, as it's power could not be denied as they neared.

"...It's beautiful." was all she claimed.

Those would be the last words that she would employ before the overwhelming assault touched earth and the world became covered in light.

But she _did_ hear one more thing before the light overtook her.

" _Senpō: Chō Ōdama Rasen Tarengan!_ " (Sage Art: Chō Ōdama Rasengan Barrage)

* * *

Kuroka blew out some air in an uneasy breath, relieved that she managed to get out of that situation with all of her limbs attached.

Golden slits took in the desolate area that was the _Akaishi Mountains_ , seeing no trace of human life in the area.

Then again, it was _really_ early in the morning by this point, maybe only about an hour until the sun will begin to peek out from the horizon.

Regardless, she was thankful that she didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her cut through space like it was nobody's business.

As for what happened in there...

Well...how could she even explain it? It was simply mind-boggling how much power that boy had.

She was pretty sure that, at least in a contest of pure power, she'd lose against a guy like _that_.

...Then again, it wasn't like Ophis-sama did much to actually _stop_ him from attacking or anything, she seemed to be letting him throw everything he had at her.

Was it to gauge his strength, she wasn't really sure. She had no idea what went on in that head of hers.

Kuroka continued to think on what exactly went on inside the barrier, until... _something_ flashed before her eyes.

At first, the young woman thought she was hallucinating, but for a split-second, the very earth under her _disappeared_.

Literally, the rolling rocky area around her, the mountain range, all life surrounding her, simply _vanished_.

And below her, was absolutely nothing.

Nothing except a hole which encompassed the entire mountain range, which in turn, seemed to dig so deep that there was nothing except pitch darkness staring back at her.

There seemed to be no end to the hole...

No...not a hole...a _void!?_

As soon as the yokai attempted to grasp the situation, in a flash, the hole was suddenly covered up by the rocky area of the _Akaishi Mountains_ , almost like the ditch never existed in the first place.

Like the vision she saw was either an illusion or a reality in some alternate dimension.

Then, like a freight train, it hit her.

That _was_ a reality.

She came to this conclusion thanks to the simple fact that her senjutsu-enhanced senses felt something crumble just a moment ago.

That something was the barrier that once veiled the entire area in a space that mimicked this reality. Though, it was obvious that that reality was all but destroyed.

But then...if that was true, then it was quite possible that Ophis-sama was...

 ***CRASH***

Kuroka jumped as something crashed practically right behind her, smashing into the ground with such force that it blew her forward.

Whirling around, she was very much ready to fight if necessary against whoever thought it was a good idea to try and-

She paused, gazing at the battered form of a young man with blond spiky hair, who was wheezing for air as if his life depended on it, with his bleary toad-like eyes staring at the sky.

"...You..." she murmured in realization, taking note of the numerous gashes that were all over his body, and the blood that was pooling from his open wounds all over the ground.

Naruto barely registered the woman's words, too busy trying not to let his many wounds get to him.

The detonation...was too close to him.

"...Hey, after all of this, are you really gonna die?" Kuroka asked bluntly, genuine in her slight concern, not really wanting someone with such fine genes to actually _die_.

The shinobi tried to answer, but it only really came out as a groan instead.

"...He'll live." another voice answered for him, making his blood run cold through his veins.

Kuroka blinked, registering the words, as well as the power, then smiled in satisfaction when she looked up.

Descending from the sky like a god from classic mythology, was Ophis, who coolly regarded the downed teen without malice. "...It seems that his attack was unstable...because he didn't give himself enough time to get away..."

Naruto couldn't help but allow for a pained smirk to appear on his lips. "Yeah...I didn't actually practice that one before...does too much damage, ya see..."

Ophis nodded, seemingly agreeing with him. "You destroyed my barrier...even though it was strong enough to hold in an attack that could destroy this country...as well as some of the surrounding lands..."

Kuroka' golden slits snapped to the weary toad-like ones, surprised, and more than a little impressed.

"...Nice to know." was all that the shinobi could really manage.

And it really was a nice thing to know.

"Though...I think I'm more satisfied with the damage I've done to _you_." he admitted readily enough, his pained smirk growing larger as he looked at her side.

The _Ouroboros Dragon_ followed his gaze, slight surprise lighting up her eyes as she noticed something.

Her sleeve was just flapping in the breeze, mostly because she didn't have an arm to occupy it.

She had lost an arm in that explosion, and she didn't even register it.

Ophis stared at the armless sleeve for a little while longer, before turning to the blond. "...You still lost. So now..."

The little girl took a step forward raising her hand, slowly moving it closer to grab the young man's face now that he was downed. "...You're _mine_."

Naruto's eyes widened in alarm as the hand inched closer, a primal fear shooting through his body, giving him the energy to ignore his wounds for a moment so that he could crawl backwards.

But Ophis just kept inching closer, her hand becoming overbearing as it began to block out his sight, leaving it in more and more darkness the closer she got.

It was that primal fear that slowly morphed his iris.

At first, his pupils slowly shifted in color, moving from yellow to a bleeding _red_.

As soon as that shift occurred, the horizontal bar that occupied the center of his pupils, was suddenly intersected right down the middle by an animalistic slit, making the design reminiscent of a cross.

If Ophis noticed this change, she didn't indicate that she cared, so focused she was on her prize.

Her soulless grey eyes were locked into those crosses, looking deeply into them as they dilated, drinking in their visage.

And in those eyes, she saw a reflection of herself, moving closer as she did.

Then, all at once, in a blink...

Everything _changed_.

Instead of the cross pupils that she was focusing on, she was instead focusing purely on a pair of massive red slits, which just so happened to be held back by, what looked like, a massive jail cell.

The sudden change made her blink, as she registered that she was no longer near her prize anymore.

Her grey eyes made eye contact with the monster behind the jail, faintly seeing nine orange tails swaying behind the large beast. "...Who are you...?"

The massive being with red slits began to narrow them faintly, then spoke without preamble. **"...You can say that I am someone who's interested Naruto's welfare."**

If Ophis cared, she didn't indicate it, instead choosing to check her surroundings. "...Where am I?"

 **"In Naruto's mindscape."** the kyuubi explained, earning her attention again. **"I brought you here, like I did Orochimaru before you, when _he_ unintentionally brought forth a piece of my power..."**

Once more, the 'child' didn't care who this 'Orochimaru' was, focusing more on the fact that the monster in front of her could possibly get her out of this...'mindscape'. "Let me out...before I destroy you."

The beast bared it's teeth as it pushed itself from the ground to reach it's full height. **"You wouldn't be saying that if I was at full power... But never mind that, I'm not here to fight...even if that does sounds like an appealing option right now. To be perfectly honest, I'm here to let you in on a little secret about the one that you want to capture so badly."**

Ophis tilted her head, interest slightly piqued.

Seeing this, the kyuubi continued. **"I have inhabited Uzumaki Naruto for a long time, and if there was one thing that I have learned about that brat...it's that he's someone that grows more stronger the more adversity that he is forced to face. In time, he will grow even more powerful than he is now...but that will change if he doesn't believe in who or what he's fighting for."**

Those massive set of red slits focused on her again, intense. **"Let him go. Let him get stronger as he faces stronger opponents, and eventually he may become strong enough to face this 'Great Red' that you spoke about."**

Grey eyes scanned the great fox-like monster's features, searching for lies.

Then, suddenly as it began, she wasn't in front of the massive beast with nine swinging tails.

No, she was once more in front of the boy that she wanted to fight by her side against Great Red, her fingers so close that she could feel his body heat.

As she locked into those cross shaped pupils, which emanated fear, yet also shone with grim determination, she quickly made her choice.

Her small hand retracted steadily, the little girl taking a step back as she turned away from him, feeling his confused eyes boring into her back.

"...Kuroka...we're leaving." was all she said, as she slowly floated into the air, meaning every word of it.

The black-haired woman in question gaped at the order, her head snapping between the two in her complete befuddlement. "W-What!? Why!? You _have_ him! Isn't this what you wanted!?"

Ophis didn't answer, she just continued to drift off away from the two senjutsu users, leaving them both as confused as the other.

Kuroka had _no_ idea what went on in that powerful entity's head, and she wasn't sure that she ever wanted to find out.

All she knew was that she was skimped out of a chance to the young man's genes before she even got a shot at them.

If one were so inclined, one could even say she was 'cock blocked'.

Crude, but that was how she felt then and there.

So, with a pained grunt, the young woman whirled around to glare at the teenaged boy, who was just staring at Ophis' back in shock. "...Looks like you lucked out, somehow."

Naruto turned to her, his breath normalizing again. "Y-Yeah...I guess so."

A _very_ unhappy frown made it's way to her face, unable to believe her lost chance.

"...Tch! Well fine! I'll just spend my time looking for Shirone then!" Kuroka claimed in her disgruntlement, turning away from the young man so that she could rip through space and make a portal.

A few spare seconds later, and both of his enemies have disappeared, leaving to parts unknown without a trace.

Naruto could only gape at the location where the two beings vanished, in shock.

Yet his senses wouldn't lie to him, especially since they were still enhanced by senjutsu by this point, and he didn't sense either of those troublemakers _anywhere_.

He had truly lucked out.

Realizing this, the shinobi got onto his feet, feeling the aching of his muscles as he did so, yet noting that it wasn't as bad it was before.

He never realized that he drew on a little bit of the kyuubi's chakra, which was helping him to restore his body a little bit.

Mostly, he never noticed because, unlike last time, his personality didn't change thanks to it's influence.

If one was observant enough, someone would be able to tell the difference between last time and this time.

Yet Naruto wouldn't figure it out, because the kyuubi's chakra would disappear from his eyes, as well as the evidence that he ever used it to begin with.

Besides, the teen was focused on other things.

Now that he had senjutsu on, his abilities were well beyond his normal capabilities.

But, at the same time, he might get weakened after his senjutsu chakra is spent, like last time.

So the blond decided on the spot to forget the 'advisable' approach and just book it back to Kuoh Town, before his senjutsu ran out.

Plan in place, Naruto jumped high into the air, moving to get back home as quickly as possible, not liking all of the 'incidents' that have befell him so far.

* * *

Issei sighed, already feeling a pair of annoyed pink eyes bore into the back of his skull.

It's been quite a while since the small group recruited Mio into having a little private talk with a certain _knight_ , and the length of time that they were spending looking for him was very much grinding on her.

At least, that's what he supposed.

Not that he could really blame her though, she _was_ the one who took the brunt of Diodora's wrath, initially without anyone to back her up.

Still though, this was something that he felt was important.

Not just him either, Koneko has felt the same way; that the more people that showed up to meet with Kiba, the more he'll be convinced that there _are_ people that give a shit.

At least, that was the general idea.

"We're not getting anywhere like this." Mio voiced out, not doubt in her voice. "We can't just keep going everywhere to look for him! This is practically a repeat of last time by this point!"

Koneko, who was trailing next to the red-head, turned to eye her. "...What would _you_ suggest then, Mio?"

The half-devil faltered, frowning quite visibly as she thought about it, unsure.

They only found Kiba Yuuto last time because of the news, and it wasn't like they'd get a clue like that so easily again. Especially since this has far more to do with his internal conflicts than any external ones.

In short, it wasn't like he was gonna destroy a building or anything that could grab anyone's attention.

If they could just get a clue of some sort...or maybe even a hint of where he was last, then they could get somewhere.

"Maybe there's someone we can ask?" Asia piped up, placing her hand on her chin in thought. "It's possible someone saw him before, right?"

"At this hour?" Mio muttered doubtfully, not exactly open to the idea. "Who would be awake right now except us? Let alone if someone actually _saw_ him-"

"Hey, there's someone awake." the perverted boy cut off the red-head abruptly, pointing ahead as he saw someone ahead of them.

The half-devil just clamped her mouth shut after that.

Indeed, ahead of them was a figure who had their back turned away from them, staring at the sky in the empty streets.

If Issei's perverted senses were correct, he'd guess that the figure in front of them was a female, which was roughly confirmed thanks to the person's long hair and...uh...rather generous figure.

Seeing no reason not to go ahead and ask if she's seen the blond that they were looking for, he jogged up to her.

The rest of the group followed, though among them, Koneko was beginning to frown imperceptibly.

She didn't know why, but there was something...about this person...

"Hey! You over there!" the _pawn_ cried out, waving his hand to grab the woman's attention. "Boy, I can't begin to tell you how glad I am to see someone else awake at this hour! Do you mind if I ask you a question about-"

Issei cut himself off as soon as the woman turned around to look at him, eliciting a shiver from him at the... _glint_ in her eye.

Her ruby eyes took stock of him, a hint of recognition flitting through them as she continued to study him, before shifting her gaze to take in everyone around him.

Swallowing the lump in his throat that chose that moment to appear, the brown-haired boy tried again. "H-Hey, look, I don't want to take anymore of your time, but I was wondering whether you could-"

 _"Why are you still talking to me?"_ the woman quietly wondered, a threat inherent in her voice as she glared at him, her disgust obvious.

Issei was almost a loss for words. "E-Excuse me?"

The woman tilted her head, her long purple hair slightly hiding her ruby gaze, which seemed to be regarding him as lowly as an insect. "I'm wondering why you think it's proper for someone as lowly as yourself to speak to me... _Sekiryuutei_."

Brown eyes blinked, frowning at the unfamiliar term. "Sekiryuutei...?"

Sekiryuutei was... _Red Dragon Emperor?_

Why the hell did she just call him-?

"Issei-sempai!" Koneko shouted at him from behind, grabbing his elbow in order to pull him back. "This woman...! She knows about your Sacred Gear...!"

The perverted boy's eyes widened at her claim, suddenly remembering that his red gauntlet was supposed to house some kind of dragon, which it drew it's power from...

Even as he was getting pulled back, his eyes were taking in the ruby-eyed woman's darkened features, as time felt like it slowed down to a crawl.

"...More than that...you _dare_ retain your title as Sekiryuutei...an _Emperor_ , in my presence..." the mysterious female whispered, so quiet that he barely heard it. "Unfortunately, I can't tolerate it when those who are of lower statures try and usurp my authority as a _king_..."

He had no idea what the hell this crazy lady was talking about, but he _did_ feel the hair on the back of his neck rise up as time slowly crawled by.

That feeling was only compounded as her words echoed across the empty streets. "...There is only one way to rectify this insult, and that's to establish who's dominant..."

Through the side of Issei's eye, he saw Koneko finally drag him far enough for her to charge forward, as well as Mio raise her hands to create an elemental attack through the palm of her hands.

At precisely that moment, a whisper, no, an _order_ became known to all who was present.

" _Grovel before me."_

The young man gasped as he felt his forehead smash against the pavement, his hair slightly sticking to it as a little bit of blood leaked out of the sudden wound.

But...why...?

Why was he face down on the floor, in a seiza position, inclining his head forward so far that it touched the ground, _and_ keeping his hands cupped together in front of his head...?

...Why was he _bowing_ to her in a reverent fashion!?

Issei tried to twist his head to the side to see if his companions were alright, barely managing to move his own head enough to get a glimpse to his side.

As he feared, he saw Koneko to his right in a similar position as him, bowing deeply in a seated position, her hazel eyes wide in confusion.

"...Ah...that's much better." the woman that was probably responsible for their strange behavior claimed, the threat in her voice gone. "It's good to know that others know about their place in the world, after all, there can only be one _true_ king...or dictator, if you so prefer. I don't particularly mind."

As she spoke nonchalantly, the people who she was oppressing were trying, with great difficulty, to get back on their feet, but were unable to force their bodies to function properly.

It simply felt like their bodies were no longer their own.

Still, the 'king' continued to speak anyway. "...Though, even I must admit that I'm somewhat...disappointed. I was hoping that Naruto would have arrived by now..."

Ruby eyes snapped to the group as a certain red-head among them took in a loud and shallow breath at the mention of her brother, the dull look in those ruby pupils making everyone there feel disconcerted at best.

It only got worse when she narrowed those eyes. "But...I suppose I can deal with some appetizers until the main course arrives...and I hope he _does_ arrive soon...for all of your sakes..."

The tyrant coldly shifted her attention across the people that she has subdued, individually inspecting them, sizing them up in order to ascertain who could entertain her the most.

Among them, she was only aware of the identity of one of them; the Sekiryuutei, and only then because she was extraordinarily knowledgeable about Sacred Gears.

As for everyone else...she supposed that they were simply beings that weren't as special as her.

So she almost didn't notice when the one in the back, the red-head, was slowly forcing her body to obey her commands without the king's input.

Almost.

"Y-You..." Mio coughed out, gritting her teeth. "H-How do you know about Naruto...? And what do you want with him?"

The tyrant barely acknowledged the teenaged girl's presence, sparing her, at best, a cursory glance.

But the half-devil refused to stop until she got an answer. "H-How do you know _Naruto?_ "

This time, finally did get an answer.

"...What's it matter to you?" the woman questioned blandly, practically dismissing her with her voice alone.

The red-head barely managed to lift her head enough to glower at the purple-haired 'king', her bangs only slightly in the way. "...He's...my _sibling_ , that's why!"

It was only after that little tidbit, that Mio's enemy actually turned to face her fully, walking forward to get closer. "Hoh...? As far as I was aware, Naruto didn't have any siblings...perhaps you mean to say that you two have a quasi-sibling relationship?"

Pink eyes quivered faintly as they locked onto ruby, visibly seeing the dull quality in them up close and personal. "...Yeah, that's exactly it."

Her answer elicited a strange response from the tyrant, one that served to make her tremble.

The first true instance of emotion flitted through those ruby irises; condescension and pity.

Mio didn't tremble in fear, she trembled in _anger_.

"...Tell me something, do you feel close to the one that you call your 'brother'? Do you, perhaps, believe that you two share a special bond?" the tyrant asked for some reason that the red-head couldn't fathom.

A snarl unintentionally emerged from the half-devil's throat, but she was cut off before she could really answer, as her enemy continued unimpeded.

"Because, I can assure you, that the bond you two share, whether it be familial or otherwise, is _nothing_ in comparison to the one that connects me with him." she proclaimed without shame, raising her chin as she looked down on the teenager, literally and figuratively.

Mio growled lowly in response, finding some hidden reserves within her to force herself up a little further, trying desperately get to her feet. "W-What the hell are you talking about? Naruto's never mentioned you before...so quit talking nonsense!"

"You don't have to believe me." the oppressive woman assured easily. "I don't require your validation to know the truth. Besides, I'm willing to bet that you don't even know your 'onii-chan' that well anyway."

As the red-head slowly was getting onto her hands and knees, she was able to notice through the side of her eye that Koneko and Issei were also steadily making progress to get to their feet.

One thought immediately shot through her head from that point.

 _Stall!_

"What are you on about now...?" the half-devil ground out, intrigued, yet still making sure that she didn't lose focus. "What do _you_ know that I don't?"

"Plenty actually." came the inevitably cool reply. "But, if you really _must_ know, then let me give you an example."

The tyrant's hand shot out towards Mio, the action so sudden that she didn't have any time to react to it.

A hand clasped around the young red-head's chin, grasping it as she tilted her head upwards so that they could connect with each other face-to-face. "...Did you know, that the Uzumaki Naruto that you've come to known for all of this time...didn't exist once upon a time? That, despite existing for roughly sixteen years, _this_ Naruto has only existed for about ten of those years?"

Pink eyes widened, trying to take in the information that she has just heard, even as two of her comrades get onto their knees, half way to their feet.

" _Sixty percent."_ their enemy suddenly stated, an order as much as a statement.

Suddenly, Mio's head _smashed_ into the pavement, her body involuntarily going back to a reverent bow without her input, shock interlacing her features.

And, if the gasps around her were of any indication, she'd say that this happened to her comrades as well.

"What? Did you think that I didn't notice?" the tyrant asked rhetorically, crossing her arms despite the fact that no one could possibly see it. "Don't take me for a fool, a ruler must always be aware of the possible ways that their subjects could become insubordinate."

"Damn you...!" Issei growled darkly, his gauntlet appearing on his left hand, preparing to strengthen himself.

She ignored the curse that was thrown at her as she perked up slightly, completely forgetting about the presence of the people on the ground as she turned away from them to look up at one of the nearby apartment buildings.

Specifically, at the roof of it.

What she saw apparently pleased her, as a small dark smirk graced her features once she locked eyes with a pair of azure irises.

"Well..." she started slowly, drinking in the features of the battered, yet strong form of a young man with spiky blond hair. "It took you long enough to arrive... _Naruto_."

* * *

"...I'll admit, that does actually sound pretty bad, though, sorry to say, I have no idea what may have caused this lack of communication." Raynare insisted, shrugging her shoulders in a casual fashion.

"I was afraid of that..." Rias said with a complicated expression, still considering what could have possibly happened.

In the ORC club room, the two high-class devils in Kuoh Town and their _queens_ were speaking with the ambassador of the fallen angels; Azazel, and asking her a few questions.

The discussion took quite a bit of time, since Rias had to inform her of their issue before they could possibly get an answer, but it seemed to be for naught anyway.

Both heiresses were questioning the fallen angel about whether there was a loss of communication with herself and the fallen angel's section of the Underworld, and had received...less than stellar information.

Basically; Raynare didn't even _have_ any possible way to communicate with the Underworld to begin with, so she had no clue.

Next, they asked her whether she had any idea why the devils couldn't communicate with their Underworld government, wondering if she's heard anything.

Once more, they received a less than informative answer.

So they could all be forgiven if they were a little frustrated.

"...Figures." Akeno couldn't help but mutter dryly, voicing out that frustration.

Unfortunately, she didn't make that comment quietly enough for the other black-haired woman not to hear her, seeing as Raynare had shot her a dark look for it.

"Is there really _nothing_ that you could tell us? At all?" Sona inquired, grim-faced, getting back on topic.

The ambassador turned to the Sitri heiress, exasperated by this point. "I _told_ you, I don't know anything! This is as much new to me as it is with you lot! And I can't contact Azazel-sama now, even if I wanted to, since I don't have the means to."

An uneasy sigh was all the response that anyone needed, courtesy of Sona. "...It seems we're back to square one, Rias."

The young Gremory would have to agree, even if she didn't voice it.

By this point, the room fell silent in order to accommodate the heavy thinking that this situation brought.

Which was why, seeing as there were no more questions, Raynare decided then and there to make her leave. "Look, I'm sorry that I wasn't much help to all of you, but I as I stated, I don't know anything. So I hope none of you mind if I take my leave for now?"

She didn't even wait for anyone's input before she turned around to leave the room, prepared to leave the building altogether.

What she neglected to mention however, was the fact that she was going to be staying behind Kuoh Town for a little bit before she returned to Grigori, for one reason and one reason only.

Not that any of them needed to know that.

Neither Rias or Sona bothered to stop the fallen angel, both of them accepting the fact that the woman had nothing for them, so they saw no reason to bother her further.

So, it stood to reason that there would be no more problems in regards to the fallen angel today.

Which would have been a solid bet, until Raynare opened the door to leave the building.

Because beyond that door, was a group of four people, with a teenaged girl with short blue hair that had a fringe of green leading them, carrying a large cross-like object on her back.

Seeing the unfamiliar faces, Raynare locked up, staring at the group with a questioning look.

But before anyone else could actually say anything, someone spoke up.

"Ah..." Yuki piped up, her yellow eyes lighting up in recognition. "Aren't you that fallen angel that Naruto helped back at the abandoned church?"

Almost as soon as the words left the hero's mouth, she regretted them, as both strange cloaked women suddenly tensed and sharpened their eyes in regards to the fallen angel.

As a commotion began to roar up following this faux pas, Yuki could only mutter one thing to herself.

"...Oops."

* * *

Naruto was breathing harshly as he reached the outskirts of Kuoh Town, his blue eyes staring firmly ahead, a massive lump in his throat that refused to go down.

He had to hurry.

 _He had to hurry!_

His senjutsu chakra had finally run out as he neared Kuoh Town, and fatigue had really set in afterwards, just like that time that he faced the 'heroes' of Cao Cao, weakening him for some reason.

By this point, he may as well call it a sickness.

Hmm...senjutsu sickness...?

The shinobi viciously shook his head, forcing himself to focus, noting that he was seriously feeling on edge at the moment-

 _Focus!_

Naruto finally took a deep breath, calming himself slightly so that he could think clearly.

...Before, back when he still had senjutsu, he sensed something as he neared Kuoh Town with incredible speed, becoming more apparent to him the closer he became.

What he sensed back there, was what was making him nearly panic.

This was _no_ joke, what he felt back there was something that he _had_ to make sure that his friends didn't meet.

The shinobi continued to soar through the air, hopping from building to building, almost reaching his home in the small town, mere _seconds_ away...

Then he stopped, landing on top of a building, his facial features going cold.

Slowly, the young man turned his entire body to it's side to face the streets, clenching his fists as the sensation that he felt just then crawled up his spine.

Whatever...no, _whoever_ he felt earlier, they were here.

And, just like that, he locked with a pair of ruby eyes, which decided to focus on the ceiling of the building that he was on right at that moment.

Naruto couldn't help but flinch slightly, a piece of him deep inside recognizing the dull gaze that was focused on him.

As he was shying away from the person's stare, a rather dark smirk made her lips twitch upwards, looking far too pleased to see him than he was comfortable.

"Well..." a very feminine, yet authoritative voice emerged from the the source of his uneasiness. "It took you long enough to arrive... _Naruto_."

She knew his name.

She _knew_ his name.

The uneasiness that he was feeling earlier was quickly wiped away, his fear of the situation escalating to the point that his fears quickly turned to _anger_.

This girl, whoever the hell she was, could _not_ be allowed near his friends-!

"...Naruto...?"

Naruto gasped, snapping his eyes to a spot near the authoritative woman, recognizing both; the face and voice.

Pink irises trembled as they latched onto the blond, unable to truly believe that he was actually here, practically right in front of her.

A part of her was fully expecting to see the shinobi break into a wide smile and to make a clever quip, but all she received by her sibling was a look of _horror_.

"M-Mio!" Naruto exclaimed, flabbergasted by her appearance, made even worse when she noticed that she wasn't alone. "Issei! Asia-san! Koneko-san! What the hell are all of you doing!? Get away from her! She's dangerous!"

Issei was just about ready to retort back that they weren't exactly down on the floor by _choice_ or anything like that, but he didn't get the chance to when their enemy spoke up. "It would be wise for all of you to do what he says, while I'm still feeling merciful."

As soon as the woman with ruby eyes advised them on their next course of action, the intense weight on all of the group's body suddenly lifted, freeing them.

Seeing this as an opportunity, the half-devil among them turned to the building's roof, about to suggest that they take on this woman together; as a group.

Yet she was forced to pause once she actually got a good look of Naruto's face.

It wasn't the clenched fists, the gritted teeth, or the fact that the young man's form was shaking faintly that truly made her stop speaking.

No, it was the real and genuine _fear_ in his eyes that stopped her, all focused on the woman that claimed that she was a 'king'.

...Just who was she...?

"Everyone!" Naruto roared out, making everyone jump involuntarily. "What the hell are you all still doing here!? Leave! This fight is mine, and mine alone!"

"B-But..." Mio tried to interject, her words not much more than whispers.

Blue eyes shifted to his imouto, the edge still there, but was now softening a little bit as he spoke to her again. "...Mio, look, I'm sorry that this reunion of ours is pretty shitty, but this is important. Please, for my sake as much as your own; leave. Our enemy is _not_ ordinary."

The red-head opened her mouth, an argument right at the tip of her tongue, which was cut off as soon as she felt a certain pervert place their hand onto her shoulder.

"...We're going." Issei remarked, nodding to the whiskered teen with full confidence. "I doubt that this bastard can take Naruto down that easily, he'll be fine. I think it's more important that we tell Buchou what's going on actually."

The daughter of the Original Lucifer switched her focus between the two teenaged males, biting her bottom lip in frustration, before nodding slowly in acquiescence. "Just...be careful, Naruto."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up, which the red-head was unable to see once she was getting rushed away from the potential battlefield.

"...How cute." the tyrant observed, quirking an eyebrow as she kept her attention on the young man, ignoring all else. "As well as unbearably sentimental, all things considered. The fact is, you've made a tactical blunder; you could have utilized those four as bait for you to kill me while my back was turned, so why didn't you do so?"

Disgust flitted through the whiskered teen's features, appalled at the concept in of itself. "Comrades-in-arms aren't meant to be bait! They're there to fight alongside you, but this time, I didn't want or need that help to deal with _you_."

That pair of ruby eyes remained on the blond's face, returning to her original stoic demeanor, reining herself in a bit. "...But you didn't always believe that, am I correct?"

The shinobi narrowed his eyes into slits, feeling like he was getting cornered, getting him to bite out in response. "What the hell are you talking about? You don't know me, so what the hell are you-?"

"Uzumaki Naruto; born and raised in Konohagakure without parents, mistreated and abused by his fellow villagers due to their misdirected anger, someone who lived with the fact that he is a hated being in his own home..." the woman started without preamble, quiet.

Naruto felt his chest contract a little bit, air leaving his lungs as he took a step back, struck by the words that hit too close to home.

And his adversary was well aware of this. "...Uzumaki Naruto; the one that was betrayed by someone he considered a 'sibling', who had to live with the fact that his master was killed by an organization that was after _him_ , that lived with the fact that the _leader_ of that very organization would then destroy his home and kill his sensei...while looking for _him_..."

"Shut up."

The king stopped mid-speak, slowly closing her mouth as she cocked her head to the side, ruby eyes hooded. "...Did I hit too close to home?"

The shinobi didn't respond at first, keeping his head bowed instead as his blond hair shadowed his eyes.

More than that, his body was now trembling visibly, in what seemed to be a herculean attempt at keeping himself in check.

It took more than a few spare moments for the young man to finally speak again.

"...As I thought..." Naruto started quietly, his eyes still shadowed by his long locks. "What I sensed from you...means that you that you really _do_ have a connection..."

His enemy stayed quiet as he continued to speak, his anger building the longer he continued, as his tightly clenched fist exemplified.

"...But I don't understand how you could _possibly_ have that...or know what you know...so how...?"

The tyrant's eyes narrowed this time. "...You've noticed then."

 _"Shut up!"_ Naruto screamed, raising his head so that he could glower at her, red slits replacing his usual blue irises as his features grew more animalistic. "Don't you dare try and play games with me! What I want to know, right here, right now...!"

The feral ninja pointed his clawed finger at the young woman as his eyes dilated, a snarl emerging from his throat. "Is why I sensed the chakra of _my world_ in your body!?"

An airy chuckle was his only response, as the mysterious woman gazed at the roof of the building, meeting ruby with ruby. "Ah...why indeed? That is a question that I can only answer if you do something for...my group, first."

The woman then spread her arms out in a gesture of welcome, a hint of excitement in her orbs as she regarded her opponent. "Uzumaki Naruto; a decrepit failure of a 'hero' wanted me to extend an invitation to a certain plan of his, so that you may advance the concept of a 'hero' with the abilities of the people of your world."

If anything, Naruto snarled became even more virulent at what he heard. "What the fuck kind of nonsense are you spouting!?"

Though, instead of looking disappointed, his opponent only looked _more_ pleased at this obvious rejection. "...Good...I'd have been disappointed if you took the invitation, now we can get to the reason for what _I'm_ here for."

Naruto faltered, unsure why she seemed satisfied with his answer, but she continued still.

"Naruto...I have watched you for almost as long as I've lived, seen what you were capable of, and have seen your explosive growth outpace almost everyone else in your generation." the king admitted readily, locked onto the blond unerringly. "But, I know that you could be capable of so much _more_."

She stretched a hand forward with her palm held open, offering it to him, as if beckoning him to her. "You are different from the useless sheep of our worlds, _you_ are special, you have _seen_ the truth, yet you fruitlessly try and deny what you once held as fact for a dream that could never come into fruition...and that's what's holding you back now. So I ask you, here and now, to return to what you once were, so that you may achieve greatness...as you should."

 **-0-**

Her words were spoken like someone who truly believed in them, like a radical preacher that was pushing for someone to accept their 'truth'.

The young man peered through his blond locks, fierce and deadly eyes meeting dulled and nihilistic ones.

"...Fuck off and _die_." was all he said, meaning every word of it, not aware of how much he was being affected by the chakra that was swirling around him.

If the tyrant was displeased, then she didn't express it physically at all. "Well...I expected that you'd do that too. I see that the naivety that you've adopted from your master, as well as your home village has poisoned you from facing the truth. That's fine though...all I have to do is show you how...misplaced your faith in your 'comrades' are. That again; like your best friend, like your sensei, like your master, like your very home itself...you'll be abandoned. All. Over. Again."

As expected, the king felt herself get yanked into the air as the blond grabbed her collar, his eyes expressing nothing but unbridled _fury_ as he brought his claws out, a genuine roar coming through rows of razor-sharp canines.

And the mysterious woman couldn't be more pleased, as the eyes that were boring into her's were becoming more and more jaded than when she last saw them in his world.

More and more fearful, that the beliefs and ideas that sustained this 'Naruto' up to this point...really were just ideals.

That he was truly correct back then, and that she was truly correct right _now_.

Little by little, bit by bit, the 'Naruto' of the past was returning, and she would see to that man's return.

"...How must have it felt..." she wondered quietly, as she stared at the slitted eyes of the man that she privately admired. "To know that all the work that you've placed in getting recognized, in receiving the love and care of a family, in being respected...was all for naught? To know that you're right back to where you started..."

The grip on her collar tightened, threatening her explicitly.

But instead of allowing the shinobi to continue, the tyrant smoothly brought her own hand onto his wrist, her other hand stretched forward to cup his cheek.

"It's ok though..." she whispered, her words like poisonous honey. "I'll relieve you of your suffering soon enough..."

Applying strength to the hand on Naruto's wrists, the tyrant heard a sick ***snap*** as her opponent let go of her, snarling.

Naruto took a step back, grabbing his broken wrist, already feeling his chakra mending the bones as his enemy continued to speak; her words filled with venom despite her wish to 'help him'.

"It'll be ok, Naruto...once you're like me, you won't need to hope anymore...and without hope, you'll _never_ be crushed like that again..."

And that venom was slowly reaching his battered heart, whether he liked to admit it or not.

* * *

An elderly man was steepling his fingers together on his desk, considering what his greatest achievement was going to do to the boy that they needed to achieve their goals.

He knew that she had her own reasons for seeking him out, but he wasn't exactly sure what, but surely her aim didn't run counter to his own?

She owed him, whether she appreciated it or not.

Regardless, Uzumaki Naruto was necessary for the former hero to achieve his aims, as the boy had the one thing that would complete his help him complete all of his experiments...

Chakra.

As he claimed before, the elderly former hero had the ability to peer into the past, present, and future...though that last bit was more limited than he cared to admit.

Still, he have been able to see into another world, one filled with humans with incredible abilities; some of which couldn't be fought against unless you knew how to.

And that was the biggest difference with that world and the one that he resided in; many shinobi had control over abilities that were thoroughly _broken_ in terms of what they could do.

Sacred Gears were powerful, and so were the many abilities in this world, but almost all of them could be countered with pure strength and power alone, which was precisely why this world was so focused on power in the first place.

Those that held the most power, would be victorious, barring a few miraculous circumstances.

But the most powerful of shinobi had abilities that could _not_ be countered against so easily, and certainly not through power and strength.

So if he could harness those abilities into a new generation of powerful humans...

A grim smile made it's way to his face, satisfied with his plans, pleased with the work that he has accomplished so far.

He has already made copies of...certain jutsu that he has seen through his visions, and he knew that the world was _not_ prepared for such abilities.

His heroes would be unstoppable, once they truly harnessed the power of chakra.

And once he was done with his experiments, this power would be given to as many people as possible, remaking the shinobi in this world.

All done, in the name of his plan.

The _Flask Plan_.

His dark smile didn't leave his face as he picked up a phone near his desk, putting in the numbers to make contact with his little strike team.

The strike team made up of an initial group of six, now eight, that he has sent to the Hero Tribe in Japan.

He only said one thing to the person on the other line once the call was picked up.

"Proceed with the attack."

* * *

 **AN: Wow, ok, plenty have happened again. But this is, without a doubt, gonna be the last very long chapter in a while. I don't have time to write something this big within my present time frame, and I'm determined to write it out before I leave.**

 **Anyway, I hope those that tried the OST was satisfied with it, I mostly wanted to use it for moments I wanted to emphasize, not necessarily just for battles, so please give me some feedback if it was alright. :P**

 **Also, in canon, Kurama really did meet Orochimaru just by making eye contact with Naruto in Shippuden, back when Naruto went three-tails, so I figured that I could use that for this instance, I hope it wasn't too jarring.**

 **Lastly, the fourth crossover is indeed underway now, the 'tyrant' is a pivotal character in that crossover, as is the old man. I gave a major hint in this chapter for those that were still confused, but it seems that many have already come to believe what that crossover is. No worries, next chapter will expand more into what's going on in the 'tyrant's' head.**

 **Welp, that's it, cya for one last chapter in a while. :D**

 **-RekkingPride**


	38. Chapter 38

**AN: Alright, another OST suggestion since the feedback I got was positive. Look up;**

 **naruto ultimate ninja heroes 2 light and retrospect theme**

 **Of course, wait for the sign below to use it. Until then, enjoy! :3**

 **-0-**

* * *

Maria stared curiously ahead when she heard Yuki-san say something to the person that opened the door to the ORC building, not really paying attention until then.

After all of this time, she was still carrying Yuki-san's childhood friend around, leaving her arms both; occupied and a little tired. So she could be forgiven for not really noticing the atmosphere.

That changed as soon as she heard her socially awkward friend speak again.

"Oops."

'Oops'? ' _Oops_ ' _?_ What the hell did she mean by that?

Her questions would have to wait however, as the cloaked women in front of her were tensing up in response to something that the succubus didn't catch, leaving her befuddled.

The succubus shuffled closer, about to ask what was up, until it was answered in a roundabout manner before she even got a chance.

"...Fallen angel? Did you just say...that this woman was a fallen angel?" Xenovia demanded, her hand slowly inching towards the cross-like object that was wrapped on her back.

The black-haired woman that opened the door for them took a step back from the entrance, newly wary of the visitors. "...Yeah, she did say that. What's it to you?"

Both cloaked women glanced at one another, neither looking particularly pleased by these turn of events.

When the two cloaked individuals went silent, another voice popped into the conversation, very much confused if their tone of voice was to be believed. "Raynare-san? I heard voices while inside, is there someone outside...?"

Shortly afterwards, Rias and Sona joined the fallen angel at the doorway, both quickly wising up to the fact that their seemed to be something of a standoff going on.

Though the red-head among them quickly forgot about that as she looked past the newcomers to see two familiar faces.

"...Yuki-san! Maria-san! You guys are back!" Rias exclaimed, her blue-green eyes wide, before she gasped in realization. "Wait! If you two are here...then that means that...!"

Yuki watched as the high-class devil began to scan the area around them with her eyes, obviously searching for someone.

It took her a moment to realize who, and it made her frown.

"Excuse me, Rias-san...are you looking for Naruto?" the hero questioned, making sure to keep an eye on their...'guests', uncomfortable with their strange behavior.

"Yeah, where is he, did he head home already?" the Gremory heiress asked earnestly, genuinely feeling comforted by the fact that the young man has made it back to her- _them_.

The female human looked at her apologetically, shaking her head slowly. "Sorry, Rias-san, but Naruto split off from us to...meet with someone, it was personal business, so we didn't travel back home together."

Just like that, the red-head's earnest expression slipped off of her face, deflating. "Ah...I see, well, at least you guy returned alright..."

Rias suddenly cut herself off, looking at the returned females closely, recognizing something.

Yuki, while standing tall, had a cast covering one of her arms.

While Maria had some bandages that were wrapped around her body, her stomach specifically.

"...Looks like you guys had it rough yourselves, huh?" she couldn't help but note, her wry smile obvious.

"You could say that." Yuki replied evenly, not really wanting to get into the details. "That being said, is Asia-san here? We could really use her abilities right now, as you can see."

"Yes, of course, but she isn't here right now unfortunately." Rias responded, eyeing their injuries, before she noticed that Maria was carrying something...no... _someone_ on her back. "Hey, who's that-?"

"Rias Gremory."

All eyes turned to look at the female with short blue hair, with that weird green fringe on it, as she openly glared at the Gremory heiress. "Yuki-san here...she called you 'Rias', did she not? And your appearance matches well with the general description that we have, so you must be one of the owner of this territory...correct?"

Everyone there refocused back on the new faces among them, the red-head in particular focusing on the one with the wrapped...cross-like object on her back, getting a tingling feeling as she chanced a glance at it. "...Yes, I am Rias Gremory."

Xenovia nodded once she received her answer, right as her partner decided to take the chance to pipe up. "Umm...if you're Rias Gremory, then that must mean that _you're_ Sona Sitri, right?"

Sona blinked as the girl with chestnut-colored hair pointed at her, inclining her head just a bit to give an affirmation.

That very female; Irina, turned to her comrade and shot her a quizzical look.

Xenovia dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement, turning to the devils and the fallen angel with a grim expression. "Rias Gremory, Sona Sitri, the both of us have initially come here in order to inform you about a certain incident in the Church...but it seems that that is no longer necessary."

The Sitri heiress narrowed her eyes, remaining on guard as she regarded the two. "So...you two were sent by the Church then? That means that you are Church agents...probably exorcists at that. Well then, I think that I speak for all of us when I say that I'm _very_ interested in hearing about what you have to say."

Irina flashed a shaky smile, scratching her cheek in a nervous gesture. "Ah, well...about that..."

The -possible- exorcist of the Church hesitated before she finished her sentence, grasping for words most likely.

Her partner did not have such reservations. "Why would we converse with devils that have already begun to collude with fallen angels? _Especially_ now of all times..."

"...Collude?" Rias echoed doubtfully, not really understanding. "We aren't conniving together or anything of the sort, you _do_ realize that, don't you?"

"Oh really? That sounds awfully convenient when one considers how beneficial it would be for devils and fallen angels to get rid of the Excalibur swords...they _are_ holy blades after all." Xenovia countered, her countenance heating up. "Especially when they have been last seen in this area."

Even before the exorcist finished speaking, Rias' expression darkened at the charge laid against her. "...Are you implying that you suspect that _we're_ a part of a rogue fallen angel's foolish plot?"

At this point, the human female raised her chin a fraction, challenging. "Depends, does the shoe fit?"

The Gremory heiress' eyes slowly shifted in color soon afterwards, dark miasma coloring her blue-green orbs crimson as she glowered at the young woman.

It was one thing for her to be suspicious, it was another thing entirely to declare that she was, without a shadow of a doubt, a part of this lunacy.

For the other woman to so thoroughly disregard her and simply place her in the 'enemy' category, _especially_ so soon after her Peerage was just sent through the grinder, truly put her at the boiling point.

Though, to the young Church agent, her reaction was nothing more than further proof that she was guilty. "...If it really is the case that you devils are standing with the fallen angels on this matter...then I suppose..."

Xenovia swiftly brought her hand to the wrapped cross-like object on her back, gripping it with experienced hands and tugging it from it's place, bringing it to bare.

All of the devils in the area flinched, _hard_ , as the 'cross' was pointed at the high-class devils, the wrappings slowly slipping from it as she held it with both hands on it's long handle.

"...We may as well get rid of all of you." Xenovia finished, meaning every word of it as the last wrappings on her 'cross' slipped away from it.

Everyone's eyes focused on the 'cross', which revealed itself to be nothing less than a massive blade which was, at least, about as big as the woman herself.

It was a bronze-colored broadsword which had three tips at it's edge, almost like a 'w', with axe-like hand guards near it's grip, giving it the air of power and prestige that only an ancient sword could achieve.

But, more than that, was the very _real_ danger that the large sword was emanating from it's very presence, making every individual that had an ounce of devil blood within them feel like they were looking at their natural predator, so to speak.

"That sword..." Sona managed to force through the lump in her throat, aiming for a brave front. "That's...one of them, isn't it?"

Xenovia's dark yellow eyes slid to the teenaged devil, a modicum of grudging respect. "Very good, devil. You've figured it out. Yes, this is one of the Excalibur fragments that you and the fallen angels have _not_ been able to steal. I'm sure you know what it is, but this is the _Excalibur Destruction_ , the most powerful of all of the pieces of the legendary blade...and we'll be taking them all back with it. And you won't be able to-"

The exorcist suddenly cut herself off, as she felt the very faint, yet very much noticeable, sharp edge of a blade right up against her neck.

"...Xenovia-san, we haven't known each other for very long, for an extremely short amount of time to be specific." Yuki stated, keeping her katana right at her acquaintance's neck, keeping her still. "But, despite that, I'm not just stopping you here because I want to help out Rias-san and Sona-san...but I also want to make sure that you don't get yourself killed as well."

Alarmed by this sudden shift in events, Irina prepared to attack the hero, ready to utilize her weapon as well.

"I wouldn't move if I were you." a certain succubus dryly suggested behind her, her balled fist lightly tapping her lower back in warning. "It isn't a smart idea right now."

The normally happy-go-lucky teen choked on air when she realized that she was flanked. "O-Oh...well, this isn't looking too good..."

Her partner couldn't help but agree as she felt the cold and hard steel of the katana on her neck, giving her the chills. "...I didn't expect that you were a combatant yourself, Yuki-san. More than that, I thought that you were just a normal human...?"

"I'm human." Yuki replied bluntly. "But I'm definitely not a 'normal' one, as I'm fully aware of the supernatural world...and more than that, I'm ostensibly allied with the devils that you've just threatened. I apologize for deceiving you."

Xenovia tilted her head a bit to the side, just enough to look at the other human through the side of her eye, a bitter smile on her face. "...So you were lying when you claimed that you were just 'reading' about devils? I must admit, I was completely fooled..."

Maria wanted to retort that moment that the blue-haired human literally had no reason to believe in Yuki-san's obvious lie, but decided to stay quiet instead.

"...Before, you claimed that you not only wanted to help the devils, but you also wanted to help me by not getting myself killed..." the blue-haired Church agent began, tightening her grip on her piece of the legendary Excalibur. "But how do you know that I'll die trying to defeat them? _I'm_ the one with the powerful weapon, one that can destroy high-class devils with one clean swipe. So how can I be in danger?"

The hero with light blue hair didn't really respond verbally, choosing instead to raise her head to the sky above them.

Frowning, Xenovia followed her line of sight, feeling her stomach fall at what she saw.

A large yellow magic circle was hanging right above their heads, it's formation obviously charged to a powerful extent by someone.

And right next to it, were two women hanging in the air with their devil wings out, firm in expression as they glared at the two who threatened their _kings_.

"Akeno...Tsubaki-san..." Rias breathed, impressed that they prepared such an attack overhead without their notice, so engrossed they were in what was happening on the ground.

Xenovia gulped slightly, recognizing that she and Irina were outplayed.

"...Like I said, I was saving you from yourself." Yuki stated with nary a doubt in her voice. "Now...please calm down, would you?"

Dark yellow eyes shifted back to the other human female, a little bit of her obstinate attitude remaining in her.

But that bit of her slowly died down, and with it, so came the _Excalibur Destruction_ , which was lowered to the ground in a non-threatening manner.

Seeing this, Irina followed her lead by lowering her arms, not exactly as eager for a fight as her anyway.

"...Thank you." Yuki eventually remarked, actually a little grateful that the two agents did as she asked, before turning to the high-class devils. "Well...what do you two want to do with them?"

Rias and Sona shared a look with one another, saying nothing, yet exchanging volumes by sight alone, such was how well they knew each other.

After a few tense seconds, Sona broke away from their silent conversation in order to confront the two Church-aligned humans, serious. "...You two were sent by the Church in order to retrieve the stolen fragments of Excalibur, am I correct?"

"Hm? You're _still_ pretending that you devils aren't in cahoots with the fallen angels?" Xenovia murmured in disbelief, shaking her head. "I mean, do you really expect us to believe your words after clearly seeing you devils meet with a fallen angel?"

The Sitri heiress completely ignored the exorcist's biting response, staying on topic. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. So tell me; if you were so intent on speaking with us to inform us about the Church's situation, why didn't you contact us beforehand to set up a meeting? Surely that's standard operating procedure, even in the Church."

This time, it was Irina who answered before her partner could, trying not to anger the ones that literally had their lives in their hands. "Well...that's the thing. We _tried_ to contact you two yesterday when we arrived in Japan, but you never answered our calls..."

Sona straightened her back, remembering what both of the high-class devils were doing yesterday.

Searching for a certain _knight_ throughout Kuoh Town with their Peerages in tow.

So their story actually checked out, as she was too busy to even think about checking for recent unknown calls from Church agents.

"One more question." the high-class devil pushed resolutely, violet eyes narrowed. "If we actually managed to speak to one another cordially instead of throwing fists at one another off of the bat, what would you have wanted us to do in terms of your mission objective?"

"To stay out of our way." Xenovia answered without rancor, not giving the other agent a chance to sugarcoat it. "We don't trust devils, and we figured that you wouldn't trust us either, so working independently without clashing was the best we could hope and aim for. That's all."

Then she snorted, turning away from her. "Not that it matters anymore..."

Sona set her lips in a fine line, eyes introspective, and then twisted her body so that she could face her fellow high-class devil. "Well, you heard them, so what do you want to do, Rias?"

Rias jerked slightly, not expecting that at all. "Wait, you want _me_ to make the final call?"

"In the end, _you're_ the owner of this territory." her glasses-wearing friend reasoned easily enough, shrugging almost casually. "So I supposed that you should be the one to finish this, it's only fair."

The Gremory heiress wasn't sure how she felt about that line of reasoning, but acquiesced easily enough.

Waking up to the two exorcists slowly, she considered her options.

No matter what she, or anyone else said for that matter, she had no doubt that the exorcists would not believe their claims that they were _not_ a part of Kokabiel's little conspiracy.

They would remain hostile, and having hostile individuals running around unmolested was, very simply put, a disaster just waiting to happen.

But it wasn't like she wanted them dead or anything, so perhaps she should just kick them out of the area?

...Yes, that was probably the best thing to do, before violence broke out, it was best to get them out of the area before a life-and-death battle took place between the two groups.

And she didn't have to be a genius to realize that the optics of the imouto of a Maou harming or killing agents sent by the Church, while they held a Excalibur fragment, would send the exact _wrong_ message to their faction.

So, with her mind made up, Rias opened her mouth to give her answer...

But those very words died in her throat, as a memory flitted through her mind's eye roughly at that moment, reminding her of something important.

Words said a while ago, accompanied by a confident grin, and blue eyes that spoke of wry altruism as they locked with her own.

The young man that wanted to promote something that seemed impossible.

"...Rias? Are you alright?" Sona questioned, quickly noticing how distracted her friend seemed to be acting.

Blue-green eyes returned back to earth, a sardonic glint in her orbs as she refocused on the other high-class devil. "Nothing really, just remembering something that a certain unpredictable teenager told me once...and that I promised that I would back his goal. That's all."

The Sitri heiress raised a single brow in interest as she watched the red-head move past her to speak to the exorcist on the floor.

When she reached the two Church agents, she began to seriously wonder to herself whether her choice was wise...or completely stupid.

Probably the latter.

"You two..." Rias began slowly, picking her words carefully. "Your objective, in the end, is just to focus on getting back the fragments of Excalibur, correct? Then...is it possible for both of our groups to simply forget about this little episode and split off from here? Without clashing?"

Xenovia scrunched her own eyebrows together, analyzing the devil's features for the truth. "...You'd just let us go if we leave each other alone? So easily? And you expect us to believe that...?"

"Believe what you want, but I don't really wish to start a war over such a stupid misunderstanding." Rias retorted sharply, firm. "More than that, I vowed that I was going to help a friend of mine with a goal of his...and starting a battle with exorcists would impede that...a _lot_."

Irina's eyes widened as she heard the devil's reasoning. "So, basically, you'd let us go for a friend's sake? Wow, that's actually very...nice of you. Not very devil-like at all!"

The Gremory heiress wasn't sure how she should respond to that, so she just let the comment pass. "So? Will you go in peace?"

Xenovia searched through her enemy's blue-green eyes, still trying to find any semblance of deceit or treachery, as she would expect from a devil.

She found none.

"...If what you're saying is the truth, and you will truly leave us unmolested...then fine." the exorcist slowly allowed, cautious, yet hopeful. "We'll stay out your way, and you'll stay out of ours. That being said, don't expect us to hide what has happened here from our superiors. We will not lie for you, Gremory-san."

"Of course." the high-class devil accepted, already aware of that.

But she was, at the very least, hopeful that this act of clemency would reflect well on them, allowing for the Church leadership to see that this was simply a misunderstanding.

Barring that, then they could at least make a case for it.

If not even that...well, then at least she tried.

"Do you have anything to input to this, Raynare-san?" Sona called out as she stood by Rias' side, turning around to face the fallen angel that has stayed quiet throughout this conversation.

Raynare, for her part, was not exactly spoiling for a fight either, so she simply shrugged her shoulders at the devil. "Not really, you two seem to have this under control. That being said, I would be lying if I claimed that I was 'ok' after they acted so rudely to me earlier. If it wasn't for the fact that I _really_ don't want to spark a war, then I'd add that they should apologize to me while bowing for causing me so much trouble...but that's probably not gonna happen."

Both exorcists sent dull looks at the fallen angel, and thankfully, both high-class devils just flat-out decided to ignore her, much to the fallen's slight annoyance.

Rias shifted her gaze between both Yuki and Maria, nodding at the both of them so that they'd let go of both of the Church agents.

Yuki swiftly pulled her katana away from Xenovia's neck, trusting that she'd follow through with the agreement.

Maria on the other hand, hesitated for a bit, and then slowly backed up from Irina, far more cautious then her comrade.

Xenovia and Irina slowly stood up straight again, both letting out some air as they finally got out of their troublesome situation.

 _Especially_ after the two devils in the sky dispersed their demonic-powered attack, which was above their heads. Apparently managing to figure out that the standoff was over.

As soon as Akeno and Tsubaki began to descend to the ground, the exorcists were forced to regard the two _kings_ in front of them; one with grudging respect, and one with a nervous smile.

"...I suppose that's it then." Xenovia concluded stiffly, dragging her _Excalibur Destruction_ close to her so that she may wrap it up again. "We'll be getting out of your hair, as per the agreement."

Irina nodded excessively, her nervous smile slowly morphing into a more genuine one. "Y-Yeah! And God willing, since we'll doing our best to focus on our objective, we may never cross paths and bother each other again while we're here! After all, there's no reason for us to fight heathens anyway!"

Rias wasn't sure how she should respond to that as well, so she just accepted it as Akeno landed by her side. "Very well, though, just to be clear, it's not like we're enemies or anything...we're just taking precautions, that's all."

Both exorcists shared a glance with one another, unreadable to those that just met them, before Xenovia turned to the devil and inclined her head. "We'll keep that in mind, let's go, Irina."

Just like that, with a flick of her shoulder-length hair, the young exorcist whirled around and began walking away from the group, her powerful blade back in it's place on her back.

Her partner, after hesitantly giving the group a wave, quickly trailed after her, her long chestnut-colored twintails fluttering behind her as the duo pulled their hoods back onto their heads.

The devils watched them go without a word as Yuki and Maria joined their ranks, the only sound interrupting the silence being the hero sheathing her katana.

"...Looks like we accidentally dragged you all into an unfortunate situation, Rias-san, Sona-san." Yuki stated, a slightly apologetic tone in her voice. "We didn't think that they meant to do you all harm."

"It's alright." Sona responded absentmindedly, crossing her arms. "According to them, they didn't either, at least initially. Though, it seems that Raynare-san's presence had some unforeseen consequences..."

Said fallen angel huffed as she leaned against the door frame, annoyed that she was getting partially blamed, though she was aware on some level that the black-haired devil wasn't actually blaming her.

Yuki dipped her head in understanding, before taking a quick glance at Maria. "By the way...is there a place where we can drop off my friend? I'd rather not leave him out here in the hard ground...like Maria-san so leisurely did."

Rias blinked, taking a moment to glance about, then noticed something that she didn't catch in all of the commotion.

Earlier, when the two first arrived, the silver-haired girl was carrying an unconscious young man on her back.

That young man wasn't on her back anymore.

But after taking a second to check, she found that young man to be laying back on the wall of the ORC building, probably laid there by Maria.

"Buchou." Akeno spoke up helpfully. "We can take Yuki-san's friend inside the club room so that he could rest on one of the couches, it's not like anyone sleeps there anyway."

"Yeah, good idea, Akeno." Rias thanked with a smile, turning to glance at Maria. "Hey, you can take that unconscious friend of yours inside if you want, though, I'd like to know who exactly he is later, if you don't mind. It isn't a good idea to just let anyone in our base of operations after all."

The succubus chuckled sheepishly as she moved to do just that, wondering whether anyone even saw her put Basara down so that she could help subdue those exorcists before.

"As for everyone else!" the red-head exclaimed loudly, enough for everyone to hear her. "I think, after everything that has happened, it's about time that we-!"

" _Wait!"_

Rias stopped speaking, recognizing the voice that echoed across the area as a familiar form approached the group, surprising her. "...Mio-chan?"

Yes, it was her kohai, racing towards her with panic and worry being among the foremost emotions visible on her face.

All eyes were trained on her as she rushed towards them, even the succubus stopped what she was doing to stare, though she gained a small smile when she saw her charge again.

But before greetings could even be given out...

"E-Everyone! It's bad! It's really bad!" Mio shouted out, panicking. "Naruto's back! But there's someone strong fighting him! A-And we tried to fight her, really we did! But we couldn't do anything, and Naruto told us to get away, but I didn't want to, but still-!"

"Ok, ok, ok! Calm down!" Rias tried to calm down her kohai, alarmed by her rambling. "...Wait, did you just say...'Naruto'...?"

Around her; Yuki, Maria, and Raynare all perked up at the name being used, paying closer attention.

"Yes!" Mio practically wailed, breathing heavily as she reached her sempai, desperate. "And...we left him there. You should have seen him, Rias-sempai...! I've never seen him so...so...!"

By that point, the half-devil had to pause, so flustered that she was at a loss for words.

But everyone got the gist of it.

"Mio-san! Where's Asia-san? Do you know?" Yuki demanded, tension lining her voice as she took an aggressive step forward.

It was only then that the daughter of Lucifer finally realized who was there. "...Eh? Yuki-san? _Maria!?_ "

"Focus!" the hero ordered crisply, intense. "Where's Asia-san!?"

Mio was jerked back into focus, answering reflexively. "S-She's with Issei and Koneko, they stopped roughly halfway from here to where Naruto is, so that they could keep track of where he goes from there."

Rias narrowed her eyes, grim. "...Then we've got to go. Maria-san, hurry and get your friend inside, then we'll depart as a group in order to help out Naruto. Hurry!"

The succubus didn't even bother trying to refute that he was her friend, using all of her energy to speed into the building so that they could reach their blond friend as quickly as possible.

In a surprise move to almost everyone there, Raynare slowly got off from her position in the doorway to saunter towards the group, her violet irises intense. "Need some help? I wouldn't mind helping you devils out in this instance."

Yuki frowned, chancing a look at the fallen angel, just really meeting her for the first time since that incident at the abandoned church so long ago.

"...Is she trustworthy?" she asked no one in particular, looking for an answer regardless.

"I'm not sure." Sona dryly retorted before Rias could. "...But Mio-san claims she is, so we'll take our chances. If Uzumaki-san is in trouble, I'd like as much help as possible."

Rias nodded, agreeing. "That's right, now...as soon as Maria-san comes back, we'll follow Mio-chan to where Naruto is, everyone got it?"

Murmurs of agreement were among the general responses that she received, but they were, at the very least, all affirmative.

Mio clenched her fist, turning back to where she ran off from, knowing that her blond family member was over there, somewhere.

Naruto didn't have to worry; they were coming... _all_ of them.

* * *

The moon was falling, unwavering as it neared the horizon, slowly giving way to the early morning.

Kiba Yuuto was staring at it, conflicted, yet taking some comfort in the natural beauty of the celestial body.

It truly helped him ease his frayed nerves, especially as large masses of water vapor sometimes covered it up from sight, making it more prominent in his eyes.

The _knight_ always was somewhat introverted, and the sight of the clouds overhead was something of a soft reminder of that.

He really _was_ someone who had their head in the clouds on a constant basis, thinking about his options with vigor, perhaps to the point of overthinking.

And he was doing it again.

The swords that his family of orphans died to try and gain the rights to utilize...they were here, possibly.

Though, knowing his luck, the one that stole those swords has probably moved on from Kuoh Town, so there seemed to be no point in chasing after the robbers.

But...still, didn't he owe it to his dead comrades to try anyway?

They _died_ to save his life, they died choking and sobbing on poisonous gas as tears streamed down their youthful faces.

Yet he was alive. Because of them.

Didn't they _deserve_ to receive justice by destroying the things that they dedicated their lives to, to no avail?

Those fragments of the legendary sword was what gave them hope for a meaningful life, their linchpin to the future, yet all they received for their faith and dedication was betrayal.

More than the ones responsible for the massacre, Exaclibur symbolized the source of all of the orphans' suffering, so it's overall destruction was what would truly validate all of the suffering that they have gone through.

...But, that single-minded focus is what allowed their enemy; Diodora, to split them all up and do serious damage to them as a group, wasn't it?

It was what gave him the opportunity to nearly kill or capture Mio-san...

His actions nearly got his comrades in the here-and-now killed as well...could he really risk their safety a second time?

No, wait, that was a special situation, just because he messed up once, it didn't mean that he was gonna mess up a second time.

Compared to last time, the _knight_ already had a reliable lead from a reliable source this time, different from when he received information from a...less than trustworthy person.

So, surely, if he just searched a little bit to double check, it wouldn't hurt anyone this time?

...But then, that begged the question, what would he do if the man that was once a part of Grigori; Kokabiel, was _still_ in the area? How would he react?

Yuuto groaned, stuck in indecision as he gazed at the sky above, wondering if his goal was truly worth pursuing, even now.

...Goal...

Goal...?

There it was, that word again.

Once upon a time, he asked another blond teen about what he considered to be a 'good goal'.

His answer, in retrospect, didn't seem so out of character for the usually permissive young man, but at the time, it seemed surprisingly...unyielding.

Was his answer based on something that happened to him personally? Because that was definitely the impression that he received...

The belief that if his goal was one that could do harm to himself or those close to him...that it was selfish...right?

But, wasn't that a bit much? Wasn't it up to the individual to choose what they wanted to do, regardless of outside influence? How could an individual choice be _selfish?_

It wasn't like Yuuto wanted his comrades to come and search for him, to try and help him...no, he didn't want that at all.

Yet they did it anyway.

...Was that what Naruto cherished? That bond between individuals that could push them to help someone that didn't even want the help?

It wasn't like he needed an intervention or anything though, he wasn't under duress, he wasn't sick, so would it be so bad for them to simply support his choice?

Yuuto sighed, peering at the masses of water vapor slowly drifting in the wind, envying their simple existences.

However, his silent musings would have to wait, as something quickly forced the young man to sit upright, as stiff as a pole.

"W-What...?" the _knight_ wondered aloud, his body shaking uncontrollably as a feeling entered his body.

It was instinctual, primal even.

 _Get away._

That's what every pore of his body was telling him to do, as what felt like a growing feeling of sheer _rage_ began to emanate from somewhere close by.

He's...never felt anything like it before.

What was it? Where was it coming from?

He had no idea, but another thought entered his mind, one that took precedence over the one of self-preservation.

 _Everyone...!_

If there was that kind of feeling from somewhere, then that meant that there was probably a fight going on, which meant that...

One of his friends was in trouble!

Yuuto was already up and about as he twisted his body to find the source of his feelings, going on instincts alone.

Before his brain finally caught up, stopping him cold as he realized what he was doing.

The thought didn't occur to him until then...but wasn't he doing the same exact thing as his comrades before him?

Going to an ally's aid, despite not knowing anything, or knowing whether they needed that help to begin with.

No, regardless of his friend's feelings on the matter, he was fully prepared to move and help.

...Which is exactly what his friends did for him.

It took a few spare seconds for the young man to fully appreciate the irony in the situation, but when he did...

He laughed.

Very simply, he bent over backwards a little, and let loose a healthy belly laugh, something that he's practically never done before in his life.

It was something that was done out of acceptance and acknowledgement.

Acceptance and acknowledgement that he was, without a doubt, no different from everyone else.

Without thinking about it, he was getting ready to help a comrade, like they all did for him, so he literally had no right to complain when they all moved to help him when he acted out.

They were just doing what they thought he'd do for them.

And they were right.

So, then and there, Yuuto made a quiet decision.

He had no idea whether he would still seek out the fragments of the legendary sword; Excalibur, but he _did_ know one thing...

Whenever someone he cared about was in trouble, or whenever he even had an inkling of it...he would come running.

Of that, he had no doubt.

So, just like that, Kiba Yuuto spread his wings and jumped into the air, seeking the source of the disturbance, fully prepared for a fight.

Though, just a few moments after he left, a sole individual would just so happen to pass by where the _knight_ was laying, looking like he was searching for a fight.

It was an insane-looking man, wearing what looked like priestly clothing as his red eyes shot about himself for a victim.

His long grey hair, which reached shoulder-length, was rustling faintly as he kept snapping his head around, very much paranoid despite being alone.

More important than his features, was the very...'intricate' sword that he was carrying on his hand, which pulsated with holy power.

If either Yuuto or any exorcist worth their salt saw the blade, they would have recognized the power that the sword was giving out immediately.

It was one of the fragments of _Excalibur_ , which just so happened to have been stolen.

Yet, for better or for worse, Yuuto just missed him, and the insane priest in turn missed his chance for a fight with his new toy.

So the _knight_ raced to help a comrade, and the 'priest' left the area in a huff, annoyed that he didn't get to spill any blood that day.

* * *

Naruto was angry.

No, angry was an understatement.

The tyrant was well aware that she had pressed several sensitive buttons in regards to his life, and knew damn well that she was getting to him if his _furious_ red slits were anything to go by.

But...there was something strange going on here.

There was something...underlying beneath the surface of his anger, something that gave her pause.

Whatever it was, it gave her a slight chill.

But it wasn't a bad chill, to the contrary, if anything, she _liked_ it.

That underlying vibe that she was feeling spoke to her, unlike anything she has experienced since...

Since...

Her ruby eyes peered at the feral features of the young man that she has got to know for most of her life, dulled eyes fluttering as, for a split second, she didn't see a battered young man.

No, instead, she saw a child, one that had eyes like much like her's, even back then...

Back when she first reached her conclusions.

* * *

The young woman that was challenging Uzumaki Naruto wasn't always a tyrant, as a matter of fact, in the beginning, she was practically the opposite.

When she was born, she was a natural prodigy in almost every way imaginable, so unbelievably talented that many around her began to believe that she would grow up to be a woman that would change the world, beyond anything that they could have possibly imagine.

In a sense, they would be correct, though her delivery came at a high price for her birth family.

During childbirth, her mother, a woman that she would never meet, died, apparently due to a heart attack.

Back then, it was simply a sad incident, nothing more or less.

But, as she got older, a part of her began to believe that the woman that gave her life only existed so that she could give birth to her.

That, once the tyrant was born, her mother's duty to the world was complete, and she passed away, having no other reason to exist if not for her.

Though, that belief wouldn't become entrenched until later in her life.

As she got older, her talents quickly gathered the attention of the many adults around her, thoroughly impressing them by her level of understanding during her first year of life.

She was, put simply; an _abnormal_ child. One that grew at an exceptional rate, learning things that no normal baby should.

And it was precisely because of that exceptional streak that her troubles began.

As a child, the tyrant was, very simply, so unbelievably special that the many adults around her began to feel inadequate in her presence. Jealous of her level of knowledge at such an early age.

That inadequacy would grow to colossal proportions once she began to learn about their many professions, and then, to their shame, would eventually grasp all of the knowledge that have taken their whole lives to learn about.

Literally, the information that they have absorbed from childhood to adulthood, was absorbed by the future king in a matter of months, at most.

Truly, she was a child that was born once every thousand years, a one-of-a-kind genius.

So much so that, in their despair, many of those adults would give themselves over to alcohol or simply give up altogether in their shame. Knowing that their entire lives, which was dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge...was surpassed by a mere toddler.

Their diligence in life was made futile. All thanks to her.

It was only then, that the child would begin to wonder about the futility of life.

This dynamic would not change, as many people would suffer by her hands, losing faith in their own abilities and in their self-worth as her talents broke those that made a serious effort to work on their dreams.

A sort of heavy guilt would begin to pile onto her back then, making her wonder if she was a curse, a blight on this world, as all she knew was the suffering of almost everyone around her, barring a few exceptions.

And with her advanced mind, she began wondering about things that no toddler should think about.

Why did she exist?

What was her purpose?

Why did she keep hurting people?

She would find no answers to these questions, not until... _that_ fateful day.

After many more incidents such as those, her birth father would eventually take her to a hospital which studied...'atypical' children.

Specifically, at the time, children with...atypical mindsets.

It was there, while waiting for her turn to speak to one of the examiners, that she just so happened to meet a boy, just two years older than her.

A boy that would speak to her, and give her that last push to find her 'truth'.

 _"...Don't you think that it's interesting? That all these adults, with all of their knowledge and intelligence...could be missing the point so magnificently?"_

She could remember his words, even now.

Was it because of the influence that they held over her? Or was it because, even now, she could remember how hollow his bright eyes and smile was back then?

Regardless, his words set her down the path she walked today, though she definitely couldn't blame him for it.

As, even back then, she knew that she was heading towards this path anyway, reaching for this truth.

Which was why, years later, she would not be beholden to that boy at all, as he didn't help her see the truth...he only helped her reach it a mere few weeks before she would conclude it herself.

Still, the words that he spoke that day were worthy enough to live by, and enveloped her whole philosophy in the modern day.

 _"Everyone is born without a purpose, everyone lives for no reason, and everyone dies for nothing."_

Those were the words that that boy imparted to her.

And she would accept it in a heartbeat, finding it satisfactory to what she has experienced up to that point.

Though, she would find one flaw in that idea.

Yes...everyone was born without a purpose, everyone lived for no reason, and everyone died for nothing.

Except for _one_.

 _Herself._

Soon after she met that boy, she was admitted to the hospital room, her new beliefs reinforced as the researchers asked her asinine questions about things that didn't seem to matter to her.

Life?

Happiness?

Effort?

Relationships?

Meaningless. Weak. Wasteful. Pathetic.

It didn't take long for her to escape the questioning while the doctors and nurses weren't looking, seeking solitude as she contemplated her new-found knowledge.

In another life, unbeknownst to her, she would have accidentally found herself in the nursery room of the hospital, where she could have met another child who could have challenged her beliefs before they became too entrenched.

But something else happened that day.

After leaving the room, the little girl moved into the hallway swiftly, her small feet taking her to the corner of said hallway so that she may hide for a little bit from the many doctors and nurses.

Though, because of her negligence, she very nearly crashed against an elderly man that was standing right in the corner, as if he was waiting for her.

Considering what she would learn about the man's abilities in the future, she wouldn't put it past him.

The words that he gave her that day were still fresh on her mind.

 _"Your eyes...your eyes remind me of a child that I've had my eye on for a while..."_

At the time, she was, at best, slightly interested in this 'other child' that the old man was referring to.

Which was why the old man continued speaking, his words carefully selected so that he could coax an interest out of the nihilistic girl.

 _"...Your talents are remarkable, I can see it just by looking at you, child. Perhaps...you feel the same as I do? That this world of humans is rather...limiting, am I correct?"_

He was.

 _"But, what if I were to tell you that there is another world? Filled with nothing but the **abnormal...?** "_

Back then, while she was skeptical, she could at the very least claim that she was interested in his claims.

Later in life, she would attribute this choice to be among the best she has ever made in her short life.

As soon after her initial meeting, she would be introduced to the elderly man's power...no...his _vision_.

She wouldn't learn about all of the intricacies of his Sacred Gear, or even what Sacred Gears even were until later, but that wasn't the focus of her attention.

Her focus would be on the very first vision that he would show her, meant to drag her into the supernatural world.

She supposed that the awesome power of the humans of that world, of a place known as the 'Elemental Nations', was what the old man intended to draw her in.

But that was a supplementary in comparison to the focus of the old man's vision.

Why it focused on a child was still a bit of a mystery to all of them, but perhaps...the Sacred Gear was responding to an individual's potential, and focused on them.

Regardless of the reason, that vision was the first time that she met the boy known as Uzumaki Naruto.

Back then, in her observations of the child, the one thing that truly stood out to her was...how thoroughly _established_ his own hopelessness was.

His dull eyes, which were reflected onto the mirror that he was staring at, was weary as it was tired, as was the small body that it accompanied.

As if weighed down by a heavy burden, the boy was trudging forward through life, bereft of any chance of redemption.

Most people would pity the child, for whatever issues that he may have been dealing with was obviously taking it's toll on him.

But the future tyrant didn't feel pity, no, she felt the first slivers of _admiration_.

To her, who had just reached her own conclusions about the futility of life in general, she has now met someone that has not only had those views so firmly entrenched that it was weighing down his young body, but he's reached it on his _own_.

Back then, that would have put him slightly above the boy that helped her trigger her new philosophy...though that changed quickly.

Through repeated visions, she was able to piece together more of that blond's life, seeing how he tried to hide his growing jaded personality from those in his 'village', trying to prank others for attention, for some semblance of recognition or warmth...

But he rarely found recognition, even the bad kind, and he _never_ found warmth in almost everyone.

Truly, to him, the entire world seemed to hate him.

A major difference to someone like...the red-haired jinchūriki that he would meet in the future, who, by this point, still had family who cared about him.

What truly stood out to her back then though...and even now for that matter, was his constant attempts at _smiling_.

It was truly perfected by that boy, his smiles, always assuring that old man that occasionally checked up on him if he was alright, as well as all of the adults in his village.

Yet she knew, deep inside, how much of a _lie_ those smiles were.

And the longer that she watched his early stages of life, the more fascinated she became with the boy, unable to tear her eyes away.

The future tyrant remembered when Naruto brought his hands together in order use a ninja 'jutsu', successfully transforming his appearance into something else, something which was completely foreign to her as a child.

And, much to her shock and awe, she couldn't copy him.

For the first time, _ever_ , she couldn't simply learn or copy what someone else did.

Of course, since there were other students learning how to use their powers in his world, one could assume that she would grow to admire them too.

However, that wasn't the case.

The tyrant wasn't so arrogant as to assume that she would always be better than others in every subject, after all, sometimes there were individuals that surpassed her in a certain area due to their diligence in it.

Of course though, the difference here was that Uzumaki Naruto surpassed her in _two_.

He reached the truth by himself for a longer period of time than she has, _and_ could utilize a power that she couldn't.

That boy has surpassed her in the ways that mattered most; power and logic.

A first for her in her entire life, which was why, in another first, her heart stirred for someone.

It wasn't in a romantic sense, it was more like...in a sense of camaraderie.

Of kinship even.

Back then, she felt like she has met someone who could be as extraordinary as her, just in a different sense, a feeling that she retains to the present.

This belief would only be furthered when she noticed his lack of talent for the first time.

At first, she was disappointed, but that dispirited attitude was clearly wiped away when she saw him...try and train.

It was absurd at first, someone who has given up on the concept of life should not be trying to improve his abilities for a class, or at least that's what she believed.

To be perfectly honest, she _still_ wasn't too sure why, back then, that boy occasionally trained on his basic jutsu...

Though, it was possible that, on some level, Naruto wasn't entirely convinced that there was absolutely no hope in getting the love and respect of his fellow villagers. So, a part of him deep inside continued to get him to _try_.

And considering the state of the shinobi now...that theory held water.

Regardless, while his lack of talent and lackluster abilities were off-putting at first, she would later come to the conclusion that this only interested her more.

As, precisely because of this lack of talent and lackluster abilities, the boy would take a different path to her during a combat situation.

The shinobi of that world were all very intelligent as a whole, using abilities to their fullest effects whenever they received the chance. Placing contingencies within contingencies.

However, Naruto was different, as his inabilities would force him to use his prankster mindset to fool his opponents with flashes of brilliance and unpredictability.

It was then, she realized, that he served not as an inferior, but as a _foil_ to her.

Vice-versa as well.

He may not have the talent, but she on the other hand, did.

In contrast, while she held intelligence, he held a mindset which made that intelligence practically obsolete.

At least, that was the case back then.

But never before has she felt such a sense of basic _excitement_ prior to that moment, as she felt she had found someone who would serve as a polar opposite to her...in the best way possible.

The world was colored in nothing but grey to her, but that boy...gave that world the breath of new life, bringing color into her existence.

For, only when she was watching, would she know how it felt like to be _alive_...

And that opinion would never change, even when she was forced to face a harsh truth.

That harsh truth being; that Uzumaki Naruto would not remain as he was as a child.

It would be a few years after she met that boy, during which she ran away from home in order to fully embrace the supernatural world, as well as her own exceptionalism, where she would notice the shift.

She only ever saw flashes of his life, so she wasn't entirely sure when he...changed, but he definitely changed, of that she had no doubt.

The eyes.

It was his _eyes_.

Once upon a time they held that dull quality that revealed his realistic attitude towards the world, proving that he truly understood how vapid and pointless it all was.

More importantly, it proved that, despite their large differences, they were still connected via similar beliefs and ideologies.

That they were _connected_.

Yet the first words that she heard from his mouth after a period of absence, which was spoken with bright blue eyes and a toothy smile was;

 _"I'm gonna grow up and become the Hokage!"_

Hokage.

The leader of his village; his home.

To say that she was _furious_ was an understatement back then.

She didn't understand what had happened to change him, almost didn't want to, but she couldn't deny how she felt back then.

Her sense of betrayal cut deep, even though she knew that it shouldn't.

As much as she was aware that he had no clue about her existence...it still didn't change the fact that his movement away from his former jaded worldview felt as much of a rejection of _her_ as it was of their shared beliefs.

And it stung, truly, she's never been outright rejected before...by anyone frankly.

Rather, she's received an emphatic 'no' before, but her mix of brutal authority and incredible talent has always changed that 'no' quickly.

But she couldn't do anything to him, he was in another world, which meant that she was forced to simply deal with it like a normal person.

Yet another new experience thanks to him.

Though, it didn't change the fact that she gained a new-found bitterness for the blond, one that would stick with her, building into an eventual love-hate relationship with him.

Which was why, through that bitterness, she forged a goal that ran antithesis to his.

If he was going to be a Hokage...then _she_ was going to be a _tyrant._

A king.

At first, this was far more like a petulant retort to the whiskered boy's answer, but that thought would take hold of her soon enough, bringing forth grand ambitions that would only grow in scope and magnitude.

And she had him to thank for it.

 _"I want to crush him."_

That's what she claimed to the former hero, in the best and worst way possible.

To crush _this_ Naruto, and to bring forth the one that she had grown to...

 _"Then you need power."_ he claimed.

She was aware, and she was prepared.

 _"...I want to bring the power of the shinobi to this world, as their elusive and unique abilities would do everything to confound the world of the supernatural. And I have made steps in doing just that, thanks to the power of Sacred Gears..."_

In the past, she wasn't entirely sure how the elderly man accomplished that, but in the present...

Well, now she knew the answer.

Artificial Sacred Gears.

Actual Sacred Gears found within an individual's soul was created by the God of the Bible, meant to serve as a method to counteract against supernatural beings that would try and control humans.

However, it seemed that that crafty old man had managed to devise a way to create artificial Sacred Gears within an individual, many of which were based entirely on the powers of the Elemental Nations.

But not all, but they all shared something similar with one another.

Practically _none_ of them could be conquered through sheer power alone, something that was completely foreign to the power-focused beings in this world.

Simply, the Sacred Gear would depend on who it was given to, as the power would manifest according to the individual's personality...which was precisely why that hospital was meant for those that had 'abnormal' mindsets.

Without knowing any of that though, the little girl would desire whatever power she could gather.

Yet the wily old hero wasn't done.

 _"...However, to truly crush him, you won't just need Sacred Gears which defy logic and reason, but the true power of the humans of his world as well; **chakra**."_

She felt that that would be necessary too, though she wasn't sure how she should go about gaining that power.

 _"I'm sure that you don't understand how you'll get that power, but there is a way to achieve it for yourself, though, in order to do that, we must...'go' to the past."_

The past? The past would help her receive power?

It seemed illogical to her, yet he was correct in what he claimed.

As it turned out, this world held a secret, one that was closely guarded for generations by two powerful groups, which were introduced to her via the symbols they left behind.

One group had a symbol that consisted of a horizontal line with a vertical line right down the center of it, and with two rib-like protrusions near the ends of the line, pointing outwards, giving the ends of the lines a trident-like appearance.

While the other group had a symbol which seemed...familiar to her.

The symbol was a simple fan, with the upper half of it having a red hue to it while the bottom half was the purest white.

Regardless, the owners of both symbols were long dead, left behind by their brothers and sisters to protect a secret that should never become public knowledge.

A secret that the old man, thanks to his ability to see, to _truly_ see the history of the world through unfettered eyes, was privy to.

That secret being; that this world had access to a gate, a dimensional gate to be precise.

One that, if opened, would serve as a bridge to another world far off to this one.

Yes...once upon a time, this world was connected to the world of the Elemental Nations through that very gate.

A gate, which if the hysterical old man's words were to go by, was likely created by a being of immense power, possibly even a god.

Though, despite his discovery, it wasn't like he was able to get into it.

...But, along with the gate, he _did_ find something just as, if not more, valuable.

The bodies of the ancient shinobi that once guarded the gate, deceased for many years, that _still_ carried bits of their DNA.

The old man, with the bodies, was able to _barely_ scramble together enough of their DNA to legitimately create a potion, one that would help someone form their own chakra coils once drunk.

 _Complete_ chakra coils.

However, because of how old the DNA was, the potion could not be replicated.

So, with the DNA of the two groups, the former hero was only able to make two potions in total.

One for her.

And the other for...

...Him.

But now, thanks to that potion, her body had slowly managed to form chakra coils, albeit, while giving her body an immense amount of pain for it.

Yet she had it, and with it, she would be connected to that boy that she had met so long ago on a deeper level.

On a deeper level still, if the DNA she has taken into her system was to be believed.

One could even call them...extremely distant cousins, but cousins nonetheless.

Though, it was only when she allowed for her benefactor to give her a Sacred Gear that she had truly transformed into the woman that would face Uzumaki Naruto in the modern day.

It was a powerful Sacred Gear, one that would become far more powerful if more and more artificial Sacred Gear users existed in the world.

However... _something_ happened.

The blood that was coursing through her veins, thanks to the DNA implanted into her, was affecting the Sacred Gear in her body, mutating it into something far greater.

Something befitting her sublime status.

As the blood of the people that she would come to know as the 'clan of a thousand skills' helped to slowly evolve her Sacred Gear into an ability that truly matched her genius as an ordinary human being, she knew that she was becoming truly _beyond_ exceptional.

That ability that she has gained would one day be shorthanded into a single phrase, one that, once more, fit her more than anything ever could.

 _The End._

* * *

"Hey... _asshole."_

The tyrant blinked, her mind returning back to the present as she focused on her opponent once more, locking with red slits.

"...Ah, apologies, Naruto." the young woman murmured, drinking in his feral features with her eyes, doing her best to memorize the _feeling_ of it. "I was just reminded of something is all."

"Yeah?" Naruto growled, his demeanor nothing if not aggressive. "Well do that in your own damn time! Face me, _now!"_

"...You seem to be more aggressive than I remembered you being while utilized the kyuubi's chakra...did something happen to elicit such dark responses from you?" she questioned, curiously seeking more information now that her target was right in her face.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be in a talking mood.

"Stop talking already..." the shinobi warned, his slits narrowing dangerously. "And face me already...before I come over there _myself_."

In response, all the feral ninja received was a cocky smirk, before she jerked her head to the side, beckoning him to her.

Naruto didn't hesitate at all.

With a heavy step that cracked the concrete underneath him, the shinobi surged forward with red chakra swirling around him, moving at such speeds that the cars parked around him were violently being pushed back against the air pressure he made.

A slow smile split apart her face as she felt his incredible force come to bear on her, the familiar tingling of excitement surging through her chest at the sheer concept.

She had been through many battles prior to this, but she knew that she wouldn't feel this feeling of _rush_ anywhere else.

Not necessarily because this may be her toughest battle yet, but because this was also _personal_.

The complicated mix of emotions that fluttered in her heart as the blond thrust his fist out to smash her in the face...

That very intensity that it invoked in her...

 _Admiration._

 _Disgust._

The tyrant shifted her head to the side just enough to allow for the attack to merely flick her long purple hair aside, using her own fist to viciously hit her opponent across the face.

Naruto though, was prepared, smashing his foot into the ground as soon as her attack sailed towards him.

He would use the force that he made to _push_ himself away from his stationary position, putting him into a spin as he swiftly moved around her front to attack her flank.

Without missing a beat, the young woman cancelled her attack mid-swing and bent her knees, bringing herself to the ground as her enemy was swinging around her with incredible speed, bringing his foot out to hit her in the side.

As soon as the leg crossed over where her head used to be, she brought her own feet out and promptly scooped his feet from right under him.

Losing his footing, the young man growled as he brought his arm out, catching himself before he fell onto the ground.

Though the tyrant wasn't finished, as she continued her spin, increasing her momentum to greater heights as she raised her foot and smashed her foot into Naruto while he kept his handstand.

 _Superiority._

 _Inferiorit_ _y._

Caught off guard, Naruto was sent flying backwards, where he only recovered by twisting his body and bringing his hands out to use his claws on the ground, cutting off his momentum with friction.

His claws did the trick, slowing him down enough to land on his feet, despite the deep marks that his nails left on the concrete streets.

Both of the combatant's eyes locked with one another, both ruby, mirrors of one another.

"I love you." the tyrant stated without reservation, her words echoing in the abandoned streets.

A flash of confusion flitted across Naruto's features, unsure of where her words came from.

And the aspiring ruler definitely couldn't blame the teen for his confusion, as her own volatile emotions were far too...mixed to properly grasp properly.

So she just said what she felt then and there, without pausing.

Yet, there was one more thing she had to express fully...

She smiled as she made her next rare expression of emotion, meaning every word of what she was saying, and relishing it.

" _I hate you."_

Those words echoed just like her last ones, leaving no room for misunderstandings.

As the young man puzzled even more over her words, she raised a hand to point at him with, her ruby eyes glistening despite their dull quality.

"Now **grovel** before me."

As if a massive weight slammed into him, Naruto's body began to fold, trying to bow down to his enemy without his say or his input.

Red chakra swirled around him like a tornado, _fury_ making his human sounds give way to growls and grunts, enhancing his ability to resist whatever magic was forcing him down.

Just barely though, as while he didn't get into a seiza position, he was still struggling with keeping himself upright.

"...Hoh? So you've managed to stay upright despite the fact that I'm using full power...? Not bad." the young king murmured softly, her voice managing to travel to the blond's ears despite how quiet she was. "But I wonder...how will you fight while in that state?"

The shinobi had his brows scrunched together as he steadily forced himself upright, his chakra flaring even more as he resisted the impulse bend over.

He was so busy that he wasn't really paying much attention to his enemy.

That being said, he _was_ keeping her visible through the side of his eye, making sure that she didn't make any sudden movements.

Problem with that, was that she wasn't making any sudden movements.

No, she was slowly and methodically preparing herself for her next attack, raising her left leg so that she could slip her foot out of her shoe.

This seemingly innocent action slipped through Naruto's notice, the kyuubi's chakra enhancing his frustration in his limited movements, which in turn clouded his mind.

It wasn't until his enemy slipped out of her other shoe and then hopped up that the shinobi took notice.

The tyrant, in what looked like a childish move, began hopping up and down in place like a child would do on their bed.

More than that, they weren't supernatural hops or anything, they were normal human hops, ones that didn't extend into several feet into the air.

It was a strange sight to the blond.

Even weirder, soon after she began to go and up and down in place, the sounds that were emitting from her feet's contact with the cement was...off.

Yes, off. As in, while her feet tapped against the ground physically, he didn't hear the sound of the tap until a second later.

...A time lag?

Suffice it to say, the blond was confused, and this served to, if anything, infuriate him even further, as he felt like this would be a prime opportunity to strike before she tried anything.

If he was more clear-headed, he would have been more cautious of the warning signs, but right now, all that dominated his mind was to _attack_.

And the tyrant didn't waste that opportunity.

"...Don't die." she ordered crisply as she continued jumping up and down, her long hair flailing softly due to her movements.

Naruto finally managed to straighten himself out, preparing for a merciless charge as he blinked, clearing his focus.

Then, in a flash, his enemy suddenly vanished from his view without a trace as soon as he opened his eyes again.

Sensing imminent danger, he managed to snap his eyes downwards, catching movement through the side of his eye at the last second.

That movement being a flash of purple.

Red slits widened to the size of saucers as the blond bent his knees to get out of the way, ordering his body to move.

Instead of jumping, his knees buckled down thanks to the strange powers that was being used against him, conspiring to prevent him from attacking or dodging.

With a gasp, he felt more than heard his opponent zip past him with incredible speed, the air contorting around them following her pass.

For a split-second, nothing happened.

Then it suddenly felt like Naruto was _smashed_ by an explosive pressure, the ground underneath him ripping apart along with him.

Cement was split apart into rubble as they were thrown into the air, with a large amount of dust covering the affected area following the shocking attack.

A silence followed, which was only broken after a voice spoke up in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You know...I'll admit that a part of me has felt that naming that attack would be nice. But then I remembered how imprudent that would be in an actual battle situation, so I've abstained from doing so." a feminine voice reverberated in the streets, explaining things that had almost no basis on the matter at hand.

Ruby eyes were focused on the dust cloud that she had made, lightly tapping her feet idly, wondering how the blond had handled her attempt at breaking the sound barrier...right next to him.

No, not just breaking the sound barrier; _shattering_ it.

Truly, the energy that was flowing through her had done wonders in making her body durable enough to _not_ wreck it after such a move.

Stretching her legs a little, she watched as the cloud began to disperse, barely managing to see the silhouette of the young man that she was targeting.

Only after a few tense moments, did her ruby gaze register Naruto's appearance, which at once seemed strong, yet haggard.

He was standing upright, his back straight, with his right arm up in a guard position right next to his face, and his shirt shredded to reveal his right pectoral and sleeves, along with a lot of his skin in those areas.

Though, with his red chakra still swirling around him, his open wounds were mending themselves, leaving no traces of the damage he had sustained.

More importantly than that though...was when Naruto swerved his head to the side to glare at her, his red slit locking onto her through the side.

The look she received was backed up by the fact that his chakra began to grow more unstable, rising into the air like a twister as the rubble began to fly up in suspended animation.

Rather than be intimidated by this scene however, the tyrant was more...puzzled.

She has seen him in this state before in the visions, but she was under the impression that, while he would become more aggressive, he still wouldn't lose his basic strategic functions.

Yet...he reminded her of a brute rather than the strategic minded fighter she has come to know.

...Has something happened to him since the last time she saw him?

Her thoughts on the matter would have to wait however, as, right before her eyes, the blond _changed_.

The mindless aggression that characterized him before was erased, as his feral features smoothed out into a more calmer and balanced facade, his red slits becoming more calculating.

"...Hoh~" the shinobi huffed, turning around with a heavy step, still under the affects of whatever his opponent used on him. "Well... _this_ is interesting. But not bad I guess."

Now it was the young woman's turn to be confused, cautious by the massive shift in demeanor.

Yet Naruto continued, almost looking amused. "Wow, this feeling I'm getting is...kinda like last time. I feel good...no, _great_ even. Liberated. Yeah, that, it's that. Though these...what is it? Weights? I guess, yeah, weights...they're annoying, ya know? Care to take them off so that I could rip your throat out?"

The tyrant raised a delicate eyebrow, intrigued. "My...this is quite the change. You've lost your mindless aggression, yet you've kept the violent tendencies that I associated with this state...no, actually it's _worse_. I don't think I've ever heard you threaten death on someone quite so casually...and _mean_ it."

The shinobi shrugged in response, chuckling casually as if he was sharing a joke with her. "Yeah~ I agree, it's kinda weird. But I don't hate it, no, I think it's great! Why you may ask? Well...I guess it's because..."

A foot smashed into the ground, viciously cracking it apart as the teen suddenly used it as a springboard to soar forward, his body trying to force itself back into a bow, but unable to because he was in mid-air.

So shocked was the king by this maneuver, that she could only stare at the incoming claws that were aiming at her throat, eyes wide.

If it wasn't for another ability that she has gained throughout her clashes with other...'abnormal' individuals, she would not have been able to dodge the incoming attack.

Literally, her body was bent backwards without her input, as if she placed it on autopilot, and narrowly dodged the claws that swiped against her throat, _feeling_ the chakra that coated his arm make very slight contact.

Landing by her right in a grunt, the teen was forced to take a second to recover now that his body was trying to bow again.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on..." the tyrannical female proclaimed steadily, eyes sharp. "But it doesn't change the fact that you're still dangerous...and that I fully intend to show you the _correct_ way of thinking."

At least, that's what the blond thought he heard.

He was too busy dragging his nearly unresponsive arm up in a defensive position to intercept the foot that was about to crash against him.

Somehow, he managed to bring that arm up in time, feeling bone creak as he was sent sliding back, his feet scraping harshly against the cement underneath, using his other hand to try and grab something in his pouch to fight back with.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the tyrant was about to let up any, as she very much chased after her opponent with her fists balled, ready to pummel him while she had the chance.

In quick succession, the young woman let loose lightning-fast blows that rained on him the second that he stopped sliding backwards, feeling each one connect since he could only use his nearly unresponsive arms as a shield.

He only managed to throw an open-handed hand at her in a pathetic attempt to push her back, which was painfully slow and uncoordinated, most likely due to her ability still in play.

Naruto couldn't do _anything_.

Well aware of this, after knocking the blond's head to the side with her fist, drawing blood from his mouth, she spun around and attempted to hook his feet from under him, about to deprive him of any semblance of a chance to fight back.

But, to her shock, Naruto hopped up as soon as she finished her spin, her feet connecting with nothing, as though...

As though he was _waiting_ for her to do that...

Ruby eyes narrowed as she watched the young man smirk at her through bloody lips, raising his arms to make his own attack.

A simple thought occurred to her at that moment; could someone bow in mid-air?

She supposed they could...in a sense, but when she made her order, she very much imagined the picturesque bow in a seiza, something impossible without the ground.

Her influence over his body wasn't necessarily cancelled, but it did help counteract it.

An unbidden smile pulled at the side of her lips, not really expecting such a move, relishing in that fact.

...Though, it wasn't like she _had_ to make him do that bow, she could simply order his body to do something else, but she didn't necessarily want to show off her abilities _yet_.

"Naruto..." she murmured, her ruby eyes glistening. "Let's enjoy ourselves _further_ , shall we?"

The shinobi flashed his sharp canines, an insane glint his slits. " _We_ can't enjoy anything if _you're_ about to die!"

Still in mid-air, the young man raised his arms in order to slash at his enemy, fully intending to rip apart her head in a gory display.

But he was cut off, as a foot without a shoe was smashed into his stomach, making his breath hitch.

With a dancer's flexibility, the young woman on the ground raised her foot to catch the whiskered teen in the air before he reached her, her leg longer than his arms.

This action sent the shinobi back again, into the air, seemingly getting pummeled.

But, unbeknownst to her, Naruto only smirked even wider as he flew back, his plan about to be put into action.

A plan that his oppressive enemy wasn't aware of until she felt something _tug_ her arm, shocking her.

Taking a very close look at her arm, she saw a very long and thin string that was wrapped around it, dragging her towards...

"Got ya!" Naruto crowed, deadly intent in his eyes once he pulled at the shinobi string that was on his fingertips.

Back when he was sent sliding backwards and before his opponent began pummeling him, he managed to grab some shinobi string on his other hand, wrapping it around his limb.

Then, while she was in the process of beating him with her fists, he threw his hand at her with an open palm in order to wrap it around one of her arms, being long enough to not be noticeable until he was sent _really_ far away.

Which, he just was.

And now, thanks to the fact that he was in the air and not as affected by her ability, he would be able to properly fight back.

Thanks to her intelligence, the tyrant quickly became aware of his plan, his smile growing wider in anticipation as she dug her fingers around the wire.

"This is it...! This is what it means to feel _alive...!_ " she whispered harshly, breathing harshly, embracing the sensation that she only felt in circumstances that involved this teen.

With practiced ease, she finally began to use the energy that was originally from the shinobi world, focusing it on the soles of her feet, sticking to the ground.

And _pulled_.

Due to the shinobi's lack of leverage, thanks to the fact that he didn't have anything solid to hold onto, he was quickly yanked back towards the ground at significant speeds.

Which, even then, was something that was in Naruto's favor, exemplified when he brought his claws out.

Between the two combatants, _he_ was the only one with anything sharp to utilize as a weapon, which meant that _he_ could end this all with one swift stroke.

...If he had the chance.

And she just gave him that chance.

Catching onto his plan, the tyrant jumped backwards in an attempt to get away from his attack, wary.

But she quickly found that she couldn't, as her back met the wall of an apartment building, preventing her retreat as the blond charged forward with deadly intent.

With red slits colored with glee, Naruto thrust his hand forward, claws jutting out to pierce his enemy's heart in one clean impalement.

At the very last second though, before he reached her body with his hand outstretched...

He _heard_ something.

It was quiet, and even, but it was something that he had more than enough time to become familiar with, though it wasn't really something that someone would even think about twice about in their daily lives.

Breathing.

Quiet breathing.

So quiet that it couldn't belong to an adult...so it was a child's?

But it had a slightly lower pitch to that of a girl's...so it was a boy?

Since it was even...that child was asleep?

No. More than that.

The breathing was coming from beyond the wall.

Right behind _her_.

If he continued with his attack, he would have ripped apart a little sleeping _boy_.

Naruto stopped his hand right in front of the tyrant's heart, not piercing her skin at all, using the very tip of his foot to stick to the ground with his chakra.

His red slits were locked with her dull ruby, his own wide with disbelief, sanity returning to those orbs of his.

He couldn't speak.

He had no idea what to say.

"You almost killed him." was all she said, voice even.

Naruto's breath hitched, feeling like he received a sucker punch.

"...Do you feel guilty?" she wondered, retaining that almost clinical tone of voice, not necessarily judging. "That you would have prematurely ended a young life?"

Red slits shifted to the floor, shaking, his eye fluttering open and close in small intervals.

"So you do then?"

He didn't answer, whether it was because he was still in shock or because he just didn't want to was another question entirely.

"...I don't understand that mindset." the young woman admitted quietly, her irises studying him.

The blond snapped his head up, his eyes wide in even more disbelief.

"He isn't anyone important..." she started quietly, only gaining steam as she continued. "It's not like anything important will happen to him, or he will do anything important...he's just...a normal child that will grow up. Grow up doing nonsensical things, _useless_ things, contributing into a society that does _nothing_ but promote useless things, while singing about _useless_ platitudes..."

"...Useless...?" Naruto echoed, his voice barely a whisper.

"Useless." the tyrant affirmed solemnly. "And you know why that's the case? Because, simply, they pay homage to _life_ itself. When life itself consists of nothing except struggles upon struggles, a constant battle to simply cling to life...a battle in which everyone will lose in the end anyway."

Now the oppressive female focused intensely on him, her eyes searching his. "You...understood this once, right? You accepted this philosophy as fact..."

"No." Naruto shook his head, taking a step back from her. "No, that's...no. What you're talking about is just a bad time in my life, a time that's long gone. They aren't meaningless platitudes, they're _real_."

"Oh?" the tyrant wondered aloud, her features scrunching slightly. "So...you're telling me that a part of you _didn't_ simply wonder whether you should just finish me off while you had the chance? That the life of that child was worth the price for my death?"

The shinobi opened his mouth to loudly deny the claim, vehement at the sheer thought of what she was suggesting.

Yet nothing came out, stunned, suddenly uncomfortable.

"...You _did_ , didn't you?" she drawled, a slow smile creeping onto her lips. "A part of you, deep inside, didn't really _care_ , right? Just like when you were a child, despite the fact that you gave up on getting love from your fellow villagers...a part of you still silently _hoped_. Well, it seems to be the opposite now, with a part of you retaining that apathy from your past."

Naruto bowed his head again, clenching his fists, his entire body trembling, stuck at an impasse.

Recognizing this, the young woman took a step forward, her arms outstretched, reaching for him. "...Why resist this, Naruto? All of this moralizing has done nothing except make your life more difficult for you, hasn't it? Just...let it _go_. The life of that child, the life of your many enemies, as well as allies...they are all meaningless. You have no need to feel guilty about taking a life of someone that is insignificant..."

She cupped her hands on his cheeks, eyes beseeching him, trying to get him to understand.

" _Let go_."

The shinobi kept his eyes on the ground, his pupils quivering slightly in indecision...

Until they lit up.

"You..." he started slowly, his eyes refocusing on her's. "Is _that_ why you did it?"

The tyrant frowned, unsure of what he was talking about. "What?"

Naruto blinked, breathing out steadily, before trying again. "...You said that the lives of insignificant people aren't important...that I don't have to feel bad about taking their lives. So...I was just thinking...maybe that's why you accept this belief? Maybe...you don't want to feel bad about crushing the lives of others? So you're using this philosophy...so you don't have to feel guilty for your actions...?"

The shinobi was suddenly sent forced back, pushed back by her as if she was touching something scalding hot, her ruby eyes _glowering_.

"You...!" she snarled. "That's not-!"

"I think I just struck gold." the shinobi retorted back, not even letting her get a word back in, silently thankful that she pushed him away.

He could take a second to recover; mentally.

It took the tyrant a split-second to calm herself down, caught flat-footed by the sudden inquiry. "You...really are something. I don't recall the last time that someone has managed to throw me off my balance quite that easily."

"I have a talent for pissing people off, I think." Naruto dryly noted, retaining his kyuubi enhanced features, but now back to a more stable state of mind.

As he was now, he had returned to a reasonable level of control over the initial transformation of the kyuubi's chakra.

Possibly thanks to the shocking fact that he almost killed a child.

Now...all he had to do was _stay_ this way, as he actually did need to use this power to fight on even terms.

Unfortunately, the senjutsu that he used back in his battle with Ophis had left him weakened, as this corrupted natural energy really did seem to have negative effects on him after he was done using it.

He was weaker than usual to be perfectly honest, and his level of fighting right now was weaker than his usual base form.

But he didn't want to go further than this in borrowing the kyuubi's power, _or_ use senjutsu a second time.

He'd have to work with what he had.

But first...

"What's your name?"

The tyrant blinked, straightening her back in caution, mentally preparing herself for whatever her crafty adversary was up to. "Why does it matter? Now? Of all times?"

Naruto shrugged. "I have no idea what to call you, so I'd like a name for future reference."

"...I don't have a name."

" _Everyone_ has a name."

"I _don't_. I threw it away." she maintained, growing ever more suspicious the longer that they spoke. "...What's your angle here? What are you plotting...?"

The shinobi cocked his head to the side. "I...don't really have one to be honest. I just wanted to know your name. I can't really just call you 'purple-haired king wannabe', can I?"

The tyrant twitched involuntarily at the name. "...You seem far too upbeat right now, especially after your demeanor prior."

"Oh. Don't get me wrong. I'm feeling ridiculously stressed right now." Naruto retorted with a bitter smile, before returning to his more positive attitude. "I'm just doing a really good job at suppressing it right now, for this, because it's important to me."

"My name?"

"Exactly."

"...And you think that acting in such a manner will make me more malleable?" she questioned with genuine amusement, crossing her arms.

"It put you into a talking mood, didn't it?" the blond shot back, crossing his own arms in response.

The tyrant's amused expression slid off of her face after that, falling into a more thoughtful one. "...I suppose it has, hasn't it?"

Her ruby eyes fixated on the shinobi again, flashing a genuine smirk. "Truly, I have never been so amused by another individual...or surprised by one, either. Very well, I'll tell you my name...after one more round between us."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, sensing that she was itching for another go at him, aware that he didn't have much more time for questions.

"Alright, but I have one more thing to ask before the second round begins." he started, making it quick. "...You keep saying how much you want to make me 'see the error of my ways' so to speak, but...you don't seem too concerned about changing my mind right now. No, you're so focused on just beating the shit out of me. I hope you know that you won't change my mind by beating me, right?"

The tyrant leaned forward a little, her ruby eyes hooded. "...What? Do you _want_ me to convince you... _now?_ "

The shinobi wasn't amused, stonily staring at her with a firm expression.

For a few moments, the both of them simply stared each other down, challenging one another.

Until the mysterious woman finally leaned back again, smoothly returning back to topic. "I'm in no rush to convert you back to normal, no rush at all as a matter of fact. I'm satisfied enough by simply meeting you in person and..gauging your abilities. Besides, I've already begun the process of showing you the truth...you will realize the error of your ways soon enough."

"You've already-?" Naruto repeated, before his blood suddenly went cold. "Wait...what do you mean by that?"

The tyrant went silent.

Taking an aggressive step forward, with all pretense of civility and serenity gone, the shinobi bared his sharp canines and demanded answers. "Hey! That last thing you just mentioned...what the hell did you mean by that!? _Answer me!"_

At first, all he really got was an enigmatic smirk in response.

But her next words did absolutely _nothing_ to make him feel any better with the situation.

"Let's just say..." she rasped. "That you will begin to agree with my point of view soon enough."

* * *

A young man with long brown hair was impatiently tapping his fingers on the desk he was leaning on, waiting for his opportunity.

Which, by this point, seemed like it was never going to come.

Shiba, a traitorous member of the Hero Tribe has been waiting for the adoptive child of the Toujou Jin; Nonaka Yuki, to call her father in order to inform him of his biological son's survival.

Such an event would no doubt distract the powerful man enough to allow for Shiba to make contact with the old man that he has...'allied' with, completing the deal that they have made with one another.

The young man was uneasy, at best, with keeping a contract incomplete, as it allows for a debt to accumulate, and he _hated_ the very concept of a debt.

Still, to his frustration, he hasn't been able to complete his deal, mostly because Toujou Jin was _not_ under any duress, suggesting that he was _not_ dealing with the fact that his son was, in fact, alive.

Which meant that, for whatever reason, Nonaka Yuki has _not_ called her adoptive father.

...That or Jin was a great actor.

Regardless, he _had_ to make contact with that old bastard...and soon...

"...Yo, Shiba, haven't seen _you_ in a while..."

Shiba felt his brows crinkle at the rather familiar voice, quickly getting himself back into his 'loyal' hero persona. "Ah...it has been a while, Takashi-kun."

To his side, a young man wearing the formfitting standardized hero outfit walked up to the traitorous hero, a small grin on his face. "Heard that you were almost immediately dragged into the newest meeting of the elders the second that you got back. Must be rough."

"Eh, it's not so bad." Shiba remarked with a smile, sticking to his facade. "It helps to know that I'm just doing my part for the Hero Tribe."

Takashi merely hummed, taking a seat by the other hero with a casual air. "Maybe."

Shiba didn't really look at the younger man, teen really, and kept his pupils focused ahead.

But he _was_ taking in his profile through the side of his eye, suspicious at his timing.

Hayase Takashi; a well built young man with short messy blond hair, which was slightly dyed dark brown at the fringes, and sharp blue eyes.

Put simply; he was a new and talented hero among the numbers of the Hero Tribe, someone who mostly kept to himself...except for a few exceptions.

Shiba being among them, for reasons that the hero wasn't so sure about.

Between the two, they were practically polar opposites, nothing really to connect either of them with one another.

So...why did the younger man seek him out? Was it really just for inane small talk?

...Or maybe he was simply becoming way too paranoid?

As Shiba continued to weigh in on his suspicions, Takashi himself was staring at the table as if it was the most interesting thing in the world for him.

He was seriously having doubts as to why he was here, and why the Great Hero even needed him here in the first place...

Toujou Jin; the Great Hero, has asked him about a month and a half ago to keep an...eye open for any strange actions that the hero; Kyouichi Shiba, might make.

Whether their leader was correct, or simply becoming a little too mistrustful after recent events was something that Takashi was seriously wondering about.

...Maybe the whispers that Jin was, perhaps, no longer fit to be their leader were true...?

"Takashi-kun."

The young man blinked, getting back to his objective. "Ah, oh, sorry, was distracted."

Shiba smiled at him while keeping his eyes closed, friendly as always. "Apologies, Takashi-kun, but I'm curious, what are you doing here in the recreation room?"

Takashi shifted uneasily at the query given to him, aware that he really didn't think up of a decent reason to actually _be_ there.

Both males were in the recreational room near the conference room for the the higher ups, a place that most heroes didn't really pass by casually without a reason to.

The blond opened his mouth to respond, thinking up something on the spot. "I-I was curious to hear about what really happened, so I was hoping to hear it from a possible first hand source. That's all."

In reaction to his lie, Shiba's smile grew even wider than before, some could say that it even went mischievous. "Hah~ I see, that makes sense. Though, I'm sorry to say that that information is top secret, as the elders have forbidden me to tell anyone about what has happened until they deem it alright. Information can be a _dangerous_ thing after all~"

Internally, the traitorous hero was very much satisfied in seeing the flash of frustration in Takashi's features.

He had no idea whether the younger man was here under orders to get information, or whether he was genuinely trying to quench his own curiosity, but either way, he was more than happy to upset him in anyway he could.

And he was about to take it even further, made even worse by the fact that Shiba _did_ actually need to go.

"Anyway, sorry about this, Takashi-kun, but I need to find and speak with Jin-dono about...certain things, mostly about the loss of the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe." he apologized, smoothly standing up from his seat so that he could do just that.

Takashi smoothed out his annoyance quickly, offering a small smile instead to his acquaintance. "Ah...no, of course. You're a busy man right now, no need to apologize."

As the traitor swiftly made his way to the door, prepared to take his leave and give a final farewell to the teenaged hero, he paused.

Right at the very handle of the door.

The door that the traitorous hero was about to leave through would have led him to the hallway of the relatively sizable western-style castle that he was in, one that had plenty of guards since this was a place where the elders consistently adjourned in.

Guards...which he didn't sense.

Shiba always had a strong ability to sense other people, something that made him into a dangerous force against other groups the second that he entered the battlefield.

And, even while inactive, he could always _feel_ the people who are not that far from him via distance.

Yet, right then and there, he couldn't sense any of the guards past this door.

With a newly found cautious air, Shiba slowly opened the door, eyes keenly aware.

What he saw made him freeze on the spot, unable to register the very real, yet thoroughly unimaginable scene in front of him.

It was simply _impossible_ , yet there it was.

In front of him, in the long hallway made of fine brick and mortar, was _red_.

Lots and lots of red.

'Red paint' was splattered across the walls, as their owners, impaled and staked all over said walls, were simply...hanging there...loosely.

"...What is this...?" Takashi whispered from behind Shiba, horror lining his voice as he walked up to his fellow hero.

Shiba was too stunned to try and even retort to the other human, but that wasn't the only reason why he didn't say anything.

 ***Clap* *Clap* *Clap***

The echoing sound of two hands impacting against one another in a leisurely fashion became known to the young man's ears, bringing forth a genuine chill to his spine.

...He didn't sense anyone in the hallway.

He _heard_ the sound of clapping, but he didn't _feel_ their presence.

Despite this, Shiba turned his head to follow the source of the sound, one of his eyes opening wide at what his optics registered.

Right next to one of the many impaled bodies, nearly hidden from sight by using that very body as cover, was a young man.

That young man, at first glance, was the definition of 'average'.

He had an average height, an average build, average short black hair, and average looks.

If the heroes who were staring at him didn't know any better, they'd guess that he was just a normal high school student that got lost. Especially considering the black jacket he wore, which had a white collar, five yellow buttons lined down the middle, and matching black pants.

But...there was something wrong with this boy.

Ignoring the fact that Shiba couldn't sense his presence...at _all_ , there was also the fact that there was something patently... _twisted_ about this child.

It actually reminded the young man about that old man's pet project...that girl with the purple hair...

No...it was similar, but not quite the same.

That weak-looking boy, now done clapping, would finally push himself away from the wall that he was leaning on and face the duo, spreading his arms out as if he was about to hug them.

「Hello there, fellow humans!」the teen cried out in an exaggerated fashion, a wide smile on his face. 「Apologies, apologies! I'm here on behalf of the Space Federation to kidnap a brave soul for ransom! Would any of you fine gentlemen like to give yourselves up for the cause?」

Shiba and Takashi shared glances with one another, concerned about the mental stability of the boy in front of them, before Takashi decided to take aggressive step forward. "...Were _you_ the one responsible for this?"

The unknown young man blinked, his blue eyes scanning the area around him, as if _just_ acknowledging the fact that everyone around him was dead. 「Hmm~? Oh! You mean all of these people? Please, don't jump to conclusions! Truth be told, they all already looked like this when I got here.」

As the black-haired teen waved away the accusation, Shiba couldn't help but notice how... _bloody_ his clothes were.

And almost immediately after that, the traitorous hero soon realized grimly that all of the guards that were nailed to the wall...happened to be nailed by what looked like...

Shiba frowned, the weapons looked kind of like...screws, as the business side of the metallic object had a spiral motif, and the...handle, so to speak, looked just like a Phillips head screw.

With a wide smile, the teen then raised his arms while holding onto those very same screws, which just so happened to _also_ be covered in blood.

「Now...I don't know what kind of dastardly individual could have possibly been responsible for this.」he admitted, shaking his head mournfully, before flashing a friendly smile as blood dripped from his weapons. 「But, I _can_ assure you one thing!」

Right at that moment, an annoying ticking sound began to reverberate in the hallway, becoming overbearing in how loud it was.

And just like that, Shiba suddenly felt the intense energy signals of up to seven other beings, quickly closing in on them from the outside of the relatively old western-style castle.

It was coming from...!

The teenaged boy in front of them smiled his pleasant smile as the very ceiling fell apart due to an unknown force, looking about as innocent as a little child.「 _This isn't my fault._ 」

The ceiling from above suddenly _exploded_ , the force of which literally blew back both heroes, and, to their own shock, completely caught their twisted adversary in the center of it.

Though, by that point, they didn't have the luxury to even think about him anymore, as ceiling fell on top of them once the world as they knew it gave way to a blinding light.

* * *

 _"_ _No."_

The tyrant raised a delicate brow at Naruto's emphasized 'no', curious.

Red slits fluttered close for a moment, as the blond took a deep breath, calming himself. "...I know what you're doing. You're trying to piss me off, to disrupt my center to get me to make stupid decisions. Well, that _isn't_ going to work."

A chuckle was his only response, one that did it's best to emulate the emotions behind an actual chuckle, while failing on some fundamental level. "I'll admit...that was partially my aim, but that would have only been a nice addition to my main goal. Not necessarily my true objective."

Naruto stared at her, lips set in a fine line, making sure that he didn't let himself run rampant again now that he had control.

The tyrant returned the stare with a blank expression, before she tilted her head to the sky. "...To be blunt...Naruto, dreams are...nice things. But every dream, inevitably, will end in time. All I'm doing is showing that this dream that you've been experiencing, no, this _nightmare_ , is going to end. So that you can embrace what you once were."

Her ruby irises focused on him again with pinpoint accuracy, her regard intense. "This...belief of yours; in the bonds between people, or, to be more specific, your faith in those that you trust as comrades..."

* * *

Hayase Takashi was trying to breathe, trying to fill up his lungs with oxygen instead of the myriad other dangerous gases in the air that was let loose following the explosion.

He couldn't though, it was too much, too sudden.

More than that...his eyes were still recovering from the sudden flash of light, leaving him temporarily blind.

To make matters worse, the cloud of debris that was created by the explosion earlier was not only suffocating him, but it also severely muffled his vision.

To his relief though, it didn't muffle his hearing.

"...Hurry up...grab him and...their leader finds us...!"

Fragmented words were all he really managed to catch, but nothing to put those voices to.

Thankfully, by this point, his blue eyes slowly began to recover from the bright light from earlier, so he slowly began to peer into the devastation that was wrought onto the castle in the Hero Tribe's hidden space.

And the first thing that Takashi noticed as he looked into the dusty atmosphere, was a young man that was standing upright, curiously looking about himself at the destruction.

To the hero's rising shock, he realized that it was that strange teenager that got rid of the guards, the one that was practically at the center of the explosion from above.

Yet...if his eyes didn't deceive him...he didn't see a _single_ wound or scratch on him.

Takashi himself was practically rendered immobile, despite being at a decent distance away from the epicenter of the blast...yet this guy was completely unharmed...?

「Oh...! Hey! You're alive!」the other male exclaimed as he noticed his blue eyes locked onto him, a happy smile plastered on his face. 「I wasn't sure if you would survive the blast or not...so congratulations! You're not dead!」

The hero ignored the strange words he was hearing and focused his energy on his own. "...You...how did you not die from that explosion...?"

The young man of average height and of average build regarded him for a little bit, his smile growing wider as his eyes narrowed, growing sharper, more _menacing_.

「...Who said that I survived the blast?」

Takashi was taken aback by the question, with another one right at the tip of his lips-

But before he could, the freaky male shifted his demeanor again, becoming bright and chipper, with the menace of prior disappearing. 「Ah...sorry! I can't answer anymore questions today! Unfortunately, we have to leave before your leader gets here, since we've got what we came for, and none of us want to deal with a 'Great Hero'...」

The young hero growled as he forced his arms to push him up from the ground, the dust slowly parting way as his adversary smiled and walked away from him.

As he tried to get back on his feet, he watched the other male jump high into the air, parting the dust clouds, and landing right next to a silhouette.

Thanks to his quick movements, the dust was partially parted enough to catch a glimpse of the other silhouette, who was very much possibly a partner.

And that partner would turn his head to look at him.

Cerulean blue eyes.

Lightly tanned skin.

Untameable spiky blond hair.

And, most strangely, three sets of whisker-like lines on both sides of his face.

That young man turned to him, looking down at him from above, a small grin reaching it's way to his youthful face. "...You know...I _could_ kill you, but it's not like anyone will ever believe that a guy like me would ever do something like this. So...just for shit's and giggles...I'll let you live...dattebayo."

Fury spiked in Takashi, remembering the heroes that were killed in the hallway, as his enemy apparently felt that he wasn't even worth the effort.

"You...!" he roared out with his last bit of energy, as the world around him began to fall away to his blissful unconsciousness. "I'll never forgive you...do you hear me!? I'll _never_ forgive you!"

All he heard was a breezy laugh as the invader turned away from him, confident in his victory...

* * *

"...That faith in those that you trust." the tyrant continued sharply. "I'll show you how foolishly idealistic that belief is."

Naruto grimly regarded her, sensing that the woman ahead of him truly had done _something_ , not knowing what though.

"No more talking." she finally proclaimed, her patience wearing out. "It's _time_ , Naruto!"

Without hesitating, the tyrant rushed forward with terrific speeds, remembering how her opponent was still affected by her ability to force him to bow, prepared to utilize that to it's fullest-

A balled fist viciously interrupted her charge, hitting her hard across the face before she could connect her right hook at the blond.

Her eyes were wide in surprise, as the shinobi actually managed to move fast enough to cut her off mid-swing _despite_ his handicap.

No...wait.

His movements weren't as sloppy as they were before, when they were weighed down.

No, his movements looked crisp and precise, the same as they were prior to when she used her ability.

"...Did you think that I was gonna be affected by that weird technique of yours forever?" Naruto questioned with a smirk, his countenance suggested that he was victorious in something. "Well, sorry to say, but I'm, for the most part, beyond it now!"

As his enemy took a few steps back, losing her balance following the surprise attack, Naruto quickly shifted his body into position, ready to pounce. "The answer to dealing with whatever it is that you did to me...isn't power, no, it's something that defines me far more...!"

Before the tyrant recovered, a powerful punch knocked her off of her feet and made her slide harshly against the battered cement streets, hearing his triumphant roar.

"It's _will!_ "

With a grunt, the young woman forced herself into a roll while getting sent away, internally satisfied with the new state of affairs.

Her ability wasn't infallible, and it seemed that the blond in front of her had found a weakness that she herself wasn't even aware of.

Impressed by this, the same moment that she managed to recover and stand upright again, was the same moment that she decided to divulge a bit of her powers, a show of her respect.

"... _Weighted Words._ "

Naruto perked up, seeing her back up with a red mark on her cheek, but outside of that, no worse for the wear. "Huh?"

" _Weighted Words_." she repeated, raising her right hand, where a small ball of electricity occupied, crackling with power. "An ability that I picked up a few years ago from a... _failed_ king. This power allows me to control basic electricity in general, and specifically; electric signals at will...including, say, the electrical signals that your _brain_ uses to control your body."

She then shrugged her shoulders, completely at ease. "Really though...it's more accurate to say that the electrical signals that your brain began to use became too powerful for me to control when you, literally, put your mind into it. Simply put; the many neurons in your brain have sent more powerful signals to the rest of your body once your emotional state became more firm with your 'willpower'."

The shinobi blinked, not really understanding, but catching the gist of it.

But instead of searching for more information, he decided to question her about something more glaring. "...Why did you just tell me that?"

The young woman allowed a small smile to grace her features, which, of course, was distorted at best. "It's a nod to your impeccable penchant for reaching conclusions that seem...unsolvable. My way of expressing my respect, if you will."

In an unsettling move, she then raised her chin ever so slightly as her smile grew. "That being said...I haven't told you _everything_..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what her next move was-

His red slits snapped to the ground, shock interlacing his features as the very earth rumbled beneath him.

Jumping backwards, he narrowly avoided a pipe which suddenly pierced from underfoot, electricity dancing on the palm of his enemy's hands.

"Machines are under my purview as well." she stated blandly, as numerous pipes that connected to the many apartments around them were forced to try and impale him.

Naruto was forced to continuously make back-flips as more and more pipes pierced the ground, aiming for him with pinpoint accuracy, never letting up.

To make matters worse, despite the fact that she was controlling the pipes that were trying to impale him, she also began to move towards him with incredible speed.

Taking a second to check her out before he was forced to slide to the side, he noticed that, through sheer speed alone, she was creating afterimages of herself, multiplying herself every second.

Then, to his rising concern, those afterimages began to move independently from her, spreading out to target him from multiple sides.

Clicking his tongue after he stopped his slide by using his chakra to stick to the floor, thus preventing a pipe from impaling him by predicting his momentum, he quickly brought his hands together to make a familiar hand seal.

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_ " he exclaimed, as several copies of himself formed around him, prepared to do battle.

Unbeknownst to him, the young woman in front of him only smirked in triumph at the many clones, not looking dismayed at all.

Still, by that point, the real tyrant slowed down to a halt as her many clones rushed ahead, moving to engage.

Naruto just frowned at this tactic, already aware that the clones that were about to attack him were, in fact, just images, nothing more than that.

Perhaps she thought that his clones were images too...?

If so, the shinobi was about to utilize that belief to his advantage, as all of the blondes rushed forward towards their real opponent.

One of his enemy's afterimages raced to meet him, raising their fist so that they could crash it against his face.

Smirking, the shinobi let it.

And, as expected, the fist came sailing through him, not affecting him whatsoever.

As he thought, they were just distractions.

The same thing played out to all of his clones, as they all ignored the afterimages so that they could rush the original.

Smirking, the young woman then ran at them again, closing the distance quickly as several _more_ afterimages appeared at her heel, rushing alongside her.

Narrowing his eyes, suspicious, the shinobi kept moving forward, moving to who he _knew_ was the real one.

But before he could reach her, one of her afterimages rushed ahead and raised it's foot to hit him against his stomach, intercepting him.

He completely ignored it.

Once more, like last time, the leg came sailing past him, proving that it was ethereal.

With that out of the way, Naruto viciously collided with his adversary, smashing his arm against hers in a contest of strength, his red slits contacting with her dull ruby ones.

"I don't know what the hell you were trying to accomplish, but it sure as hell didn't work!" he proclaimed easily, flashing his sharp canines in a grin.

In response, the tyrant merely cocked her head to the side, expression cool. "...Are you sure?"

He wasn't able to get a word in edgewise.

Memories rushed into his skull, as yelps rang out from among his clones after some of them were caught in sneak attacks.

He didn't even need to be informed about what had happened.

"B-Boss! Some of her clones...! T-They're real! Like us!" he heard one of his clones cry out in warning, newly wary of the many afterimages surrounding them.

Naruto grit his teeth, glaring at the tyrannical female in front of him as she continued to match him in physical strength. "...You knew how to make corporeal clones? More than that, you hid them among afterimages..."

A low chuckle was what he got as a reaction to his unspoken query, at first.

"...Come now, Naruto, don't give me credit where credit isn't due. I didn't have this in reserve at all..." she drawled in a light tone, almost mocking. "To be honest, I actually only learned how to make corporeal clones just now."

The shinobi's eyes widened, shock painting his face. "W-What...?"

What she just said, what she just claimed...was fake, right?

The way she just phrased that...made it sound almost as like she had just copied his jutsu...

"...You're beginning to understand just what you're dealing with, aren't you?" she whispered, her words at once sounding like she was truly understanding him, yet also sounded like she was pitying him. "Despite all of your strength...you can't beat me, not truly."

Naruto growled lowly in his throat, rebelling at the very idea that there was no chance to beat her. "I wouldn't get so cocky if I were you! There's no such thing as an ability without flaws, not in this life! I'll find a way to win, as I always do!"

Despite his declaration against her, the tyrant smiled. "...I'll be looking forward to it."

With a snarl and a mighty heave that was backed up by swirling red chakra, Naruto pushed against the young woman with so much force that it not only knocked her off of her feet, but it also sent her into the air as well.

Without missing a beat, he quickly rushed after her.

The sounds of their clones clashing left their ears as the two airborne humans focused on one another, colliding against each other again above the myriad of buildings.

Their clash was explosive, violently pushing away the air as both powerful beings gave as good as they got.

When the blond threw a right hook at his enemy, snapping her head to the side and nearly making her see stars, she retaliated just as quickly with her leg, smashing into his abdomen hard enough to knock the air out of his body.

Both combatants were knocked from the air after this first clash, crashing on top of buildings on opposite sides of the streets.

They both recovered quickly, staring each other down from opposing streets.

Then, in a surprise twist, the tyrant turned her body around and ran down the building to jump to the next one, moving parallel to the streets.

Notably, she was moving _away_ from the center of Kuoh Town.

Naruto realized this, but opted to give chase anyway, running parallel to her by jumping from building to building on his side of the street.

Running at equal speeds, the shinobi saw the young woman jump high into the air, towards his side of the street, moving to intercept him.

Refusing to play her game, the teen jumped high into the air as well, moving to intercept her interception, crashing against her in the air with overwhelming force.

Trading blows, the duo threw their fists at one another as they passed each other by, trading places with their respective streets.

However, the second both of them landed, they continued running forward, conducting a running battle that increasingly focused on their intermittent clashes in the sky, where they met.

If anyone was watching them, they'd only see a yellow and purple blur occasionally crash against one another as they moved further and further away from the center of Kuoh Town, reaching the outskirts as the air blew away from them every time they met.

On one of those many occasions, the two met in the air again, both becoming increasingly wounded from their run-on fight, and traded blows once more.

This time, with incredible speed, the tyrant caught a punch aimed at her shoulder, and then brought her knee up to try and hit the blond in the stomach.

Reacting quickly, Naruto brought his own knee out and crashed it against her's, stopping it cold, and brought his other fist out swiftly, prepared to take this chance since she was caught off guard.

The young woman's head was snapped to the right, as Naruto's right fist impacted against her cheek and sent her back.

Refusing to let her go however, the shinobi grabbed her small white jacket before she could be sent too far away, and brought his fist up again, knowingly concentrating the swirling red chakra around him into that limb.

With a mighty swing, the teen practically _smashed_ his fist into her, splattering quite a bit of blood towards the ground due to the new wound he had just made.

Yet, to his shock, she wasn't sent flying this time, even though he had let go of her.

That was probably because of the fact that _she_ managed to latch onto the arm that swung at her.

As soon as his arm was secure, she, in a thoroughly impressive feat of martial prowess, _swung_ him around her and towards the building on her side, using the momentum that he gave her to her advantage.

At first, it kind of seemed like their little run-on battle was going to continue.

But that was before Naruto realized that he wasn't heading towards the roof of the building that he was sent flying to.

No...he was heading straight towards...

 ***Crash***

...One of it's windows.

A pained grunt later, and the whiskered teen crashed harshly against a wall inside of the apartment complex that he was thrown into, which in turn, toppled the bookcase which was right next to his crash site.

More than a few of the books fell on top of him, much to his disgruntlement.

That being said, he didn't really have the time to worry about that, as he had a feeling that his adversary wasn't planning on giving him a break.

So he took a quick scan of his surroundings, quickly grasping that he was in an abandoned apartment complex, probably used as a storage by the owner, if all of the boxes and dust said anything.

Perfect. As long as no innocents were endangered, he could fight without worry.

That being said...

Naruto quickly took the chance to merge with the dark atmosphere in the room, preparing a surprise attack once the young woman came by here.

Never let it be said that the blond had honor, he _was_ still a shinobi after all.

Just like that, the shinobi began to wait for his enemy, his heart hammering inside his chest, listening to any vocal cues...

...

...

Red slits snapped to the floor, hearing, the sound of a door opening on the floor below, not at all conspicuous in entry.

So she wasn't the sneaky type then, huh?

This belief was entrenched further when he heard her storm upstairs through the main lobby, before practically _slamming_ the door open to this specific apartment.

It took a little longer, but eventually, the purple-haired 'king' entered his view, her eyes scanning around, searching for him.

...Actually, now that he was not in the middle of deadly combat, or stressing out over the words that she goaded him with, he could actually _look_ at her.

That is to say; inspect her appearance.

Looking at her now, the blond began to expect that her severe appearance attributed to his belief that she looked older than she actually was, as now that he looked at her...she looked to be roughly his age.

Though, despite her youth, she was very...advanced, for her age.

As for her clothes; she was wearing an open white jacket that was was held together at the collar, which framed a nearly form-fitting black t-shirt that showed off her stomach, a pair of black form-fitting arm warmers, and a pair of dark blue jeans.

...She also wasn't wearing any shoes, since she took them off for that little attack of her's earlier.

Overall, the -probable- teenager was wearing casual clothes with a rather dull theme. reflecting her overall attitude he believed.

That being said, even with her dull ruby eyes, she was still a beautiful woman with long purple hair that stretched to her waist.

Still, she was his enemy, and he _would_ take her down, here and now.

With his resolve strengthening, Naruto prepared to pounce on her, his red slits sharp.

"...I know you're here somewhere, Naruto." the tyrant muttered out loud, her voice confident. "But since you're unwilling to come forth yourself..."

Her ruby eyes narrowed as she raised her fist above her head in a threatening manner. "...I'll just _force_ you to reveal yourself!"

With tremendous force, the young woman brought her fist towards the floor, _shattering_ it as if it was made of paper mache.

Naruto couldn't help but shout out in surprise as the floor underneath him gave way, making him tumble downwards in a heap.

With a grunt, he swiftly pushed himself back up to his feet, ready for a fight, as everything from above was coming down to their new arena.

And the tyrant apparently agreed with that sentiment, as she gracefully landed in front of him, locked eyes with him, and then _moved_ to engage him.

Naruto moved forward as well, raising his fist as red chakra enveloped him once more, more than ready to start the fight all over again.

Yet both combatants paused, as an the object from above literally crashed right in-between the two of them, cutting them off from each other before they could get going.

The shinobi growled, registering only a large cloak which covered the object up from sight, before he saw it loosen up a bit from the fall.

Then, right before his eyes, he saw a pair of red slits.

Naruto paused from there, all of his previous thoughts erased as he took in the pair of red slits, marveling at the ferocity in them.

It took him a second to realize what he was looking at.

Or rather, _who_.

The cloak that covered the fallen object fell off to reveal a large and expensive frame, one that held reflective glass in it's confines...which allowed anyone that was looking at it to see their reflection.

He was looking at _himself_.

Naruto studied the mirror for a moment, eyes wide as he took in his own countenance, seeing all of the cracks that lined his visage due to the impact that the mirror itself endured.

And, even as he was watching, those cracks were getting larger, expanding ever forward.

Just by looking at it, the blond felt...uncomfortable, like he was steering too close to something that he didn't want to broach on a fundamental level.

Those cracks weren't getting better...no, they were getting worse.

He could see it right in front of him, as obvious as the sun itself; that eventually...little by little...

It would _break_.

As predicted, the glass in front of him finally shattered into pieces, falling apart right in front of his eyes as a pair of ruby eyes became visible to him again.

His opponent stared at him, silent, solemn even. "...Your eyes...they're back to normal."

Naruto blinked, raising his hand, noticing that his claws have regressed back to his normal fingernails, and that the aura that signified his use of the kyuubi's chakra was gone.

Did he do it subconsciously after staring at that mirror...?

"...Naruto."

The shinobi glanced up again, surprised to see the very faint...vulnerability that his opponent was expressing, as if she herself was spooked by something.

"...What did you see?" she asked quietly, ruby irises peering into his cerulean.

He have her an honest answer.

"I-I don't know." he admitted.

She nodded in return, a bitter smile tracing it's way onto her lips. "Yeah...me too."

Both of them then raised their heads to look at one another, something meaningful passing between the two as she opened her mouth.

"You know...this is ironic I think." she began, closing her eyes. "Here we are, speaking to one another, with the frame of a mirror between us..."

The shinobi didn't say anything, but he understood what she meant.

Regardless, she went on. "...In a sense, deep inside, I think...that I've come to see you as my own reflection, as everything that I'm not. I have talent, while you don't. You know effort, while I don't. I have _nihilism_...while you have _hope_. It...really does feel like we're reflections of one another, doesn't it?"

Naruto lowered his gaze, refusing to answer, yet acknowledging the opposing forces that they seemed to represent.

Still, he didn't want to admit it.

He didn't want to truly admit to the fact that...her eyes...

Her _eyes_...

...They looked so much like his, once upon a time, during a very dark portion of his life, before he _changed_.

When he looked at her...he...

Naruto blinked, staring at her, recognizing the young woman that he has fought throughout Kuoh Town.

Then, in his own vision, through a trick of his own mind...

He saw _himself._

Just as he was, yet different.

As he had the same dull eyes as she did; reflecting someone that had grown apathetic to everyone and everything.

Someone that had given up.

Then, as he blinked again, the young woman from before replaced that disturbing visage, staring at him.

The shinobi blew out some air, trying to stay calm. "You...what do _you_ see...?"

The tyrant peered into his bright blue eyes, silent.

For a split-second, whether it was her head playing tricks on her or not, she didn't see the young man that she was fighting against just now.

For a split-second, she saw bright _ruby_ eyes instead of bright sapphire.

Everything he was, reflecting her in a way that she didn't want to consider.

The young woman closed her eyes at the visage. "...I don't know."

Both teens stayed like that frozen in their respective sides, on opposite sides of the frame, sapphire and ruby remaining in constant conflict, as they rejected each other.

Yet, the one with ruby eyes still tried, in her own way, to reach out.

To close the gap between them, to bring him to her, so that they wouldn't have to merely remain as reflections that couldn't connect.

In a way, she wanted that connection, seeking to force it's creation, even if she had to wrest it forth by making dubious claims.

Such was the case as her eyes snapped open, gleaming as she took a step forward, leaning into the mirror frame. "But...I know what you saw. You saw what you will become, what your ideals will inevitably lead you to...which is disappointment."

She took another step forward, beseeching him once more. "...Naruto, please, turn away from the path that you're walking...don't suffer anymore needless pain."

Naruto pursed his lips, recognizing what she was doing, and feeling all the more uncomfortable for it.

What she was doing...was very similar to what he did for others.

He would tell them, inform them, preach to them about the errors of their way, trying to steer them into a path which he believed would be to _their_ best interest.

Was this how he looked to others? While he was speaking to them with such powerful charisma?

In a sense, even in this, she truly was like a reflection of him...

"...I can say the same about you." he returned, flipping the table on her. "Why do you...obsess over me as you do? Before, you mentioned that I kept bringing out these...emotions from you. How you truly _felt_ while in my presence. How we are _special_..."

The shinobi raised and extended his hand, palm open, offering it to her.

"...To me, it sounds like you want to _live_." he maintained, serious. "Maybe...deep inside, you want to feel again, you want to have friends, you want to have loved ones...and you're using me to get access to that. So, instead of getting me to follow your way of thinking...why not try and follow _mine?"_

The tyrant's eyebrows rose so high above her head that it completely disappeared on her face, hidden behind her bangs. "You...you're trying to _change_ me?"

Naruto shrugged. "Why not?"

The sheer incredulity that was on her face spoke for itself, before she recovered and shook her head slowly. "That...that's the first time that someone has tried to convert me from my way of thinking...you truly are someone special...aren't you?"

No, he wasn't.

"...I understand." she proclaimed, straightening her back so that she could reach her max height. " _This_ will be our dynamic; you will try and change me, while I'll try and change you. Connecting with one another through our thoroughly differing goals, yet with similar attempts at conversion. Mirroring one another..."

Naruto regarded her, setting his lips into a fine line.

He could only say one thing in regards to her statement.

"...You're wrong."

She paused, confused.

Seeing this, he elaborated. "...I'm not here to necessarily force you to my way of thinking. I just..."

The shinobi cut himself off, biting his bottom lip, remembering what was most important, out of everything.

"...I just want to protect those that I care about, and help who I can afford to along the way." he claimed. "But sometimes, in order to preserve what I have...I have to pick and choose my fights...so if helping you means that I'll sacrifice those that I care about _now_...then that leaves me with no other choice."

To put it simply, he couldn't help everybody.

He couldn't save everybody.

And...this woman in front of him...may be one of those people that he couldn't help. Not without getting those that he cared about caught in the cross-fire.

The tyrant blinked, watching him with surprised ruby irises.

Then she smiled.

It was a genuine smile.

Yet, it was very much a sad one.

"...I do believe...that this is the second time that you've _truly_ rejected me today." she whispered, closing her eyes. "...Hopefully that will change, soon. But until then..."

Her hand stretched forward, reaching for the blond, hooking around his neck and _pulling_ him closer to her.

Naruto stared into her eyes, his blue irises reflected by her ruby, her face inching closer as she dragged his head lower towards her's.

Only when they were mere inches from one another, their foreheads touching, did the shinobi firmly stop her from pulling him in further.

"...And here I was wondering if you'd let me continue." she murmured, her eyes boring into his.

Naruto's expression changed not a whit. "You wouldn't have gone all the way anyway, right?"

A small smile graced the young woman's face. "You know me so well already...you're correct, I simply have to share my gratitude with you for indulging in one of my precious few wishes."

He didn't want to ask him what that 'wish' of her's was, so he stayed silent, letting her continue.

"...The old man that wanted you to join him in his quest to recreate the concept of 'heroes'." she whispered to him, her words low and voice serious again. "He has a powerful Sacred Gear within him that allows him to see visions, visions that allow him to peer into the present, past, and future. Now, I'm not going to tell you everything about his abilities...but I _will_ tell you one thing. His ability to see into the future, _isn't_ written in stone. Rather, they take in the variables of the present to make somewhat accurate predictions of the future."

The shinobi's eyes widened at this rush of information, realizing very quickly how important this was, as well as the vicious blow she has just dealt to the old man she was referring to.

"...If he twisted it up a little bit, he could have tried to convince me that it was destiny for me to join him, or something like that." Naruto figured, his brain running a mile per minute. "Yet you just..."

"I'm not done." she cut him off, all business despite the fact that their noses were touching, and their lips were only a step away from one another. "There are others like me, nowhere near as powerful, but many of them with abilities that cannot be overwhelmed by sheer power alone..."

Rambling now, the tyrant kept up her barrage of information, not letting up. "...The old man that I was referring to has found a gate that is supposed to be affiliated with the Elemental Nations. How or why is unknown."

The blond's eyes widened to the size of saucers at that last one, getting him to open his mouth to demand for answers.

Yet he couldn't once she locked eyes with him again.

She paused after her last information burst, searching his eyes, her own eyes softening as she spoke again.

"...My name..." she started slowly, whispering so lowly that he could barely hear her. "...Is something that I've discarded once I ran away from home...but, since you're so eager to know...here it is; it's Kurokami Medaka."

Naruto breathed in, finally labeling her with the name that she was given from birth, musing that it actually fit her _really_ well.

The kanji; 'Kuro' meant 'Black', while the 'kami' meant 'god'...

So her last name practically meant 'Black God'.

If that didn't fit her personality, then the blond didn't know what would.

The teenaged girl known as Kurokami Medaka, with hooded dull ruby eyes, regarded him carefully, her arms slowly unwrapping from his neck. "...I don't believe in destiny, Naruto, but if I did, then I'd believe that we would be fated to clash again, until one of us became victor of our bouts. So...with all of the information I have bequeathed to you, I only ask one thing from you in return."

She clutched at her burnt and battered shirt, looking at him directly in the eye. "...Don't fall to anyone else, not until I face you again."

Naruto didn't verbally react to her plea, instead opting to raise his chin in defiance, as if taking the challenge she had offered.

Medaka was satisfied with that.

In a flash, the tyrant backed up from him, backing up to the section of the wall that was collapsed following her destruction of the floor above. "...The last of my clones were destroyed by an interfering magic attack, and despite the fact that your clone was taken along with mine, the destruction should give them all an idea of where we went. So I'll leave you with this, Naruto."

She jabbed her finger at him, her countenance fiercely determined.

If only he knew how _strange_ her actions were in comparison to her normal behavior, how she was always apathetic, yet now she was far more...expressive.

But he couldn't have possibly known that.

" _I'll_ be the one to reform you." Medaka claimed, confidence abundant. "You can bet on that. So until I save you from yourself...stay alive out there."

And with a jump, the purple-haired teen escaped through the apartment and rose towards the ceiling of another building, her long hair trialing behind her as she left the area without looking back.

His adversary had simply disappeared, going away as quickly as she had appeared in the first place.

* * *

Medaka sped past the many buildings that she had previously battled on with little effort, only wincing every now and again as some of her wounds smarted a bit.

Truth be told, she's never been as battered as she was then since...oh, since the very beginning of her entrance to the supernatural world.

Before she truly became a _king_ to be reckoned with.

Yet look at her; covered in dust, cuts, and dried blood, some of which wasn't even her own.

Needless to say, she was _very_ satisfied with the blond's power, even more so when she realized that, if his visage was of any indication, he was already pretty weakened before they even fought.

She was very interested in seeing what he could do when he was at full capacity...

This... _rush_ that she felt whenever they traded fists was definitely something she could get used too.

By this point, the tyrant shook her head, focusing back on the important matter at hand.

She meant it when she claimed that she was going to reform him, and she wasn't joking when she claimed that she had already started the groundwork for such a transformation.

Old man Shiranui's plan to 'save' his 'comrade'; Shiba, should have been well underway by now.

And, to be frank, she didn't really care if his plan succeeded or not, as long as her vice-president completed his task by framing Naruto in the attack, that was fine.

If anyone was watching her then and there, they'd notice how the young woman's demeanor slowly reverted back to a more dispassionate stance when compared to her attitude when facing the shinobi, her 'normal' so to speak.

And that attitude was reflected when her lips merely twitched upwards instead of outright smirking when she remembered what she had her subjects do.

Her vice-president was too join the group of six and help their objective, using his unique powers to full effect.

Knowing him, he's just erase his presence entirely...

Outside of helping the group, he'd have that little friend of the fake king mascaraed as Naruto, in essence, using the ability that was inspired by the shinobi's _henge no jutsu_.

The important thing was for _someone_ to see him, so as to sow the seeds of distrust.

She was confident that this seed would sprout, and further Naruto's disillusionment with his beliefs, and only further the decline of 'this' Uzumaki Naruto.

It would only be a matter of time now...

Medaka's ruby gaze narrowed as she saw several forms up ahead, quickly moving down the battered town streets, forcing her to hide behind the stairway entrance on the roof, spying on them.

As she expected, she saw the many friends and comrades that the blond has made in Kuoh Town, rushing towards his aid ostensibly, prepared to fight if necessary.

How quaint.

How useless.

Regardless, this was an excellent chance to take memorize the more important ones for later, just in case.

Ahead of the group that was soaring through the air, keeping an eye out, was a red-headed woman with blue-green eyes, wearing the Kuoh Academy girl's uniform.

If she remembered anything about this territory, then she could make an educated guess and say that that was Rias Gremory.

Looking at her now, she easily dismissed her as not talented enough to pose enough of a threat to take seriously, even with her inherited power.

And if _that_ was the Gremory heiress, then that must mean that the woman with short black hair and glasses must be the Sitri heiress...

Just like her counterpart; she quickly concluded that she wasn't worth the effort to remember properly.

After a quick scan, she pretty much dismissed each and every single one of the entities that were rushing to help their comrade, not seeing anything special in any of them.

At best, some of them had mediocre talents, but none of them had the strength to even back the shinobi up, let alone help him in a fight.

If anything, they were liabilities.

And she would show him the truth of that belief soon enough.

With a flourish of her hair, Medaka left her hiding spot and continued on her way back to the old man's institution, planning out her next move.

She learned quite a bit from her battle today...and she felt that an...'upgrade' was needed.

The next time that she faced Naruto, she would be far more powerful.

He'd better be prepared for her by then...

* * *

"...Man, what they hell happened here? Did someone start a war or something?"

That was Issei's rhetorical question, though his query was something that everyone there could have asked with a serious expression, and most people would probably take it seriously.

It really _did_ look like a war was waged here, in this street.

The group that was moving to aid their friend was split into two groups; the flying and the runners.

This way, if Naruto's enemy had any friends, they could hopefully become aware of them before they got ambushed.

For all intent's and purposes, they were moving through enemy territory by this point.

"Did you two catch what happened here, Issei-san, Asia-san?" Sona called out from above, looking downwards at the street.

Both teens turned upwards to share a look at the devil above, both shaking their heads in near unison.

They were pretty far away from the actual clash, though they _did_ hear parts of what must have been quite the fight.

Though, by the time that the group arrived, it was obvious that both combatants had moved away from their original location, taking their fight further away from Kuoh Academy.

More disturbing though, was the fact that they met a copy of each combatant duking it out where they used to be.

The fact that someone could create a physical copy of themselves like Naruto could was...disturbing, to say the least.

Too bad Rias prematurely shot the copy before they could even ask it any questions.

Back in the present, Mio, who was running alongside Yuki, was staring grimly ahead, nervous at what she'd find once they reached her blond, remembering how spooked he was when she first saw him.

"Hey, Mio-sama."

The red-head turned, meeting with the purple orbs of Maria, giving her a measure of ease at the familiar visage.

"He's going to be alright." she soothed, an easy smirk splitting her face. "This is Naruto-sama that we're talking about, he'll make it back to us in one piece."

Mio turned away from her, staring ahead, praying, ironically, that she was correct.

As they were running, she felt a hand casually place itself on her shoulder, tightening slightly in silent comfort.

She didn't need to turn around to know that Yuki was trying to ease her as well.

"Hey! I think I see someone ahead!" Rias called out from above, squinting at something ahead.

All eyes snapped ahead, registering the form that was ahead of them.

It was someone that needed no introduction.

A teenaged boy was ahead of them, wearing an orange t-shirt which was ripped apart, dark blue jeans which were filled with holes, and orange-black sneakers which were extraordinarily worn.

Uzumaki Naruto was staring off at somewhere in the distance, focused, before he slowly turned around to face the group, features blank.

The racially mixed group all stopped within a few feet from the young man, the ones in the air landing with everyone else on the streets.

Everyone stared at him, taking in the fact that he was there, right in front of them, alive and well.

This silence dragged on until a certain pervert piped up.

"You look like shit."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah...I feel like shit too."

Just like that, the ice was broken.

What must have felt like thousands of questions suddenly streamed out of everybody's mouths, wondering about what had happened, who he had fought, and whether he was alright.

It actually overwhelmed him a little, hearing so many things and seeing so many familiar faces in what felt like...well... _forever_.

But what really caught his eyes was the young woman that strode forward ahead of the group, rushing towards him with obvious intent.

Her flash of long red hair, which, for some reason that the blond couldn't fathom, was let down to cascade down her back, made the person's identity obvious.

He didn't manage to say a thing before she wrapped him up in her arms, hugging him as if her life depended on it.

"...Naruto..."

Naruto's eyes softened, recognizing the emotion that she probably couldn't put into words. "...Hey there, Mio. It looks like...that you've been through a lot, huh?"

She didn't' answer, she just pushed her face deeper into his shirt, clutching at the fabric with a vice grip, her shoulders trembling.

 _How would he look at you...?_

Mio clenched her eyes shut, remembering the haunting words of Diodora as he burned, trying to dispel the idea that he placed in her away from her mind.

The shinobi stayed silent as he wrapped his imouto in his arms, holding her close, the words of the warrior that he fought just now also echoing in his head.

 _That again; like your best friend, like your sensei, like your master, like your very home itself...you'll be abandoned. All. Over. Again._

"...Naruto...?" the half-devil started, her voice quiet and small, fearful even. "...Do you...?"

Naruto put more force into his hug, silencing her before she even really began.

"...We've been through a lot, Mio." the blond admitted solemnly, welcoming the feeling of the embrace. "So...for now...there's no need to talk. Just for a bit, let's just...keep going."

Mio lifted her head up, her pink eyes reflecting off of his blue as he smiled at her.

She didn't say another word, she just tucked her head back into his chest, breathing in his scent, taking comfort in his presence, feeling the stress of the long days begin to slide off of her.

Naruto...

His name, unspoken in the depths of her heart, grasped at what it represented.

The two of them stayed like that, letting the moment help them with their respective problems, at least on a basic level, letting them know, simply; that they were not alone.

And that was a moment that everyone around them was letting them have.

It took a little bit for Naruto to finally begin the process of letting her go, but he knew that he had to speak to the others, aware that they looked battered as well.

Mio let go of him reluctantly, not really wanting to, but accepted it regardless.

"...Everyone." the shinobi started, scanning all of the familiar faces around him, registering one prevalent thing among them. "...You've all been through a lot too, right?"

The myriad of reactions that he received was telling enough of how correct his assumption was.

Koneko, who was still recovering from nearly losing Yuuto, winced, remembering the creeping feeling of natural energy...and the one that she knew utilized it.

Beside her, Issei clenched his jaw, remembering the burning man that he impaled with his fist, unwilling to admit that he...sometimes saw him whenever he closed his eyes.

Floating down from the sky, Akeno shifted her gaze slightly to focus on the fallen angel that was behind her, her violet eyes crinkling in aversion.

Asia followed her lead, looking at the black-haired fallen with a faint bit of nervousness in her pupils.

As for Raynare, a flash of uncertainty danced in her violet orbs, remembering the exorcists that nearly started a fight because of her appearance. Knowing that a war could have sparked from it during a time when she was focused on trying to cure the sickness plaguing her people.

These many reactions were obvious to Rias, who was watching carefully, making her deflate a bit at what everyone was forced to endure.

Though, unbeknownst to her, and everyone there, a certain _knight_ had arrived to the scene, watching them all from the roof of one of the apartment complexes nearby.

For him; he very much remembered the series of events which led him to hunt for the fragments of Excalibur, in honor for the memories of those that died before. Truly getting him to empathize everyone else's trials.

And, for the most part, Naruto saw all of these myriad reactions.

"...I'm not exactly sure what has happened while I've been away, but I can tell now that almost everyone here has, at least, faced a crisis of character, right? I should know, I literally just faced one."

The shinobi paused, letting his words sink in, before moving on.

 **-0-**

"However, there is one thing that I _do_ know about these kinds of problems...and that's that you either have to overcome them, or let them overcome _you_." he maintained, serious.

Many of them glanced away from him, some of them getting the impression that he was reprimanding them more than anything else.

Then, much to almost everyone's confusion, his frown, very much, turned upside down.

"And I completely, with full confidence, believe that _all_ of you can overcome such trials dattebayo!" he declared, a bright smile piercing through his serious demeanor.

Behind him, Mio was smiling, sharing in his infectious optimism, sorely needing it.

She had a feeling that everyone else needed it too.

"...The person that I fought just now believed that you guys were useless, liabilities even, that you would never match up to me or contribute to my well-being." Naruto explained, his smile turning into a feral grin. "But she didn't see what I saw! She didn't see the potential, both in normal people, and in you sorry lot! I...really do believe that you all could get out of this funk, and become stronger for it. That you all could surpass your current selves to become something even greater!"

Before everyone's eyes, smiles were growing, hearts were lifting, blood pressures were rising, and eyes were lighting up as the young man continued, truly bringing them all up.

A light piercing through their foggy grittiness.

"Because, no matter who we are, we _all_ have to keep moving forward, regardless of where we come from and what we believe. And I believe that we all _will_." the shinobi proclaimed, expressive.

Yuki crossed her arms, sharing a small smile with Maria next to her, a breathy laugh escaping through her mouth.

This, very simply, was so Naruto of him.

"I may have only known most of you for about a month or so...but I know that all of you care for each other, enough that you'd hate it if anyone here got hurt. For your information, _t_ _hat's_ the inspiration that all of you need to face your personal trials right there! Those bonds will push you to new heights, either through personal inspiration or by working together with those you care about!" he exclaimed, taking a step closer to everyone else, reaching out to them through his words.

Naruto raised his fist, punching out at them all, a toothy and teasing smirk easily seen on his slightly bloody features.

"I have faith in you bastards!" he declared. "So...if _I_ can do have that, then you lot should have enough faith in _yourselves_ to reach that new summit, right!?"

Rias and Sona shared a smile with one another, seeing everyone's spirits rise to new heights.

Laughs were heard when Issei roared out in agreement.

Dull looks were spared when Akeno claimed that the shinobi should quit while he was ahead before someone fell in love with him.

Nervous smiles were shared when Yuki walked up and asked Naruto whether they could share a bath in celebration for his return.

Mio just smiled at the scene, expression brighter than it has been in a _while_.

They were back together.

On one of the roofs, Yuuto also shared in their raised spirits, smiling as he turned around and moved to join them.

As he was coming down, he saw the first inkling of light peeking from the horizon.

Sunrise.

It felt fitting.

They had a lot of problems to face in the future...but they'd deal with it.

As best as they could while having each other's backs.

* * *

 **AN: Welp, this is it for a while. I'm going on hiatus following this chapter as I get shipped off. I hope you all enjoyed the fic up to this point, and that you're all satisfied with where I left off.**

 **Leaving off with hope instead of despair felt fitting to what I wanted from this Arc. I get that some felt this fic was getting dark, but it's a dark before the sun peeks out, as is fitting.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all liked the OST, was it good? Hope it was. I love OSTs, so I practically have an entire favorite list of OST on youtube whenever I want to emphasize a certain moment. Though it was hard, choosing between the second round between Naruto an Medaka and the last heart-warming moment of this chapter. Hope I made the right choice. :P**

 **And, yeah, the fourth crossover is indeed Medaka Box, I had this planned since the very beginning of this fic, so yeah, this was a long time coming. I have explanations ready for how their powers make sense in the universe I have built, so no worries about that.**

 **Though, I didn't want to leave the mystery of how Medaka got chakra hanging, so there was a bit of exposition in this chapter, it will all be explained in deeper depth later in this story, but the mystery of "gate" is something that is actually found in the Narutoverse itself. Mind you, it's non-canon, but the gate between world will be something vital later on in the story.**

 **Another thing, some people feel that there's a lot of stuff in this story, and that's true. I wanted everyone to know that...while Naruto is an important player in this world, the world does *not* revolve around him.**

 **There's a lot of other groups in the background, and while it feels like there are a lot of "bad guys", it's more like there are a lot of groups with their own agendas that might clash with our favorite blond in the future.**

 **I guess I had enough of single-focused villain versus single-focused hero tropes. Ya know?**

 **Finally, before I am completely gone, I've gotten some suggestions for getting a "Reading" fic for this...uh...fic. You know what I mean, right? Do you all think I should issue a challenge like that so that you lot could have sometihng to read while I'm gone?**

 **Just a thought, this is my last chapter in a while so...**

 **-RekkingPride out!**


	39. Recap time!

Lights shone brilliantly, illuminating the well-waxed wooden stage as the crowd restlessly waited for the show to begin.

Murmurs and excited whispers echoed across the sizable auditorium, letting anyone with ears know that everyone's anticipation was building as time crawled by.

So the second that those lights dimmed a bit, the subdued uproar immediately subsided, the silence conspiring to reinforce that breathlessness that everyone was experiencing.

It was about to begin...

For long tense seconds, everyone waited, looking for even the most insignificant change to signify the main host's entrance.

 ***Plop plop plop***

Then, piercing through that tense blanket that took all sound away, was the sounds of childish steps being taken, obnoxiously becoming known to all as exaggerated anime-like footsteps.

In mere moments later, a small figure emerged from the left side of the stage, their features illuminated by the bright spotlights above.

That figure; being Uzumaki Naruto, in chibi form.

As to why he was like that...?

He had no clue, but he wasn't questioning it.

He liked the sounds that his footsteps made too much to question it.

A roar of approval exited the throats of the crowd facing the stage, quickly recognizing the figure that entered their sight despite his diminutive size, rejoicing in his presence.

Naruto himself, caught off-guard by the crowd's reaction to his appearance, waved awkwardly at all of them, a little overwhelmed by their deafening approval.

Slowly but surely however, the spiky-haired blond began to grin more confidently, taking in and basking in the crowd's love as his blue eyes shone brightly.

He continued to wave at everyone frantically as the uproar steadily began to die down, giving the blond a chance to actually hear himself think, much to his silent happiness.

As soon as they calmed down enough to _not_ make his ears ring, the chibi version of the shinobi finally spoke.

"Yo, everyone! Uh...it's been a while for everyone, I'm sure, at least I think it has, I'm not too sure." he began, frowning as he tried to articulate what he was trying to say properly. "...I'll be honest, I don't know why I look like this, why I sound like I sucked in an entire room of helium, or why I feel like I should be telling you lot what I'm about to tell you."

He paused there, scrunching his eyebrows together in deep thought.

"...It _is_ helium, right?" he wondered to himself, trying to remember one of those lessons that he had not entirely slept through, before forcing himself back on topic. "Anyway! I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I do know _one_ thing."

A toothy smirk stretched across the chibi's face as he closed his eyes, taking in the visage of a fox, especially with his tiny stature.

"...I get to set the record straight for everyone about the story of Konohagakure's legendary Hokage!" he practically squealed, pumping his fist in excitement. "With this, no one can deny my badass...-ness. Yeah, this is my debut to the hall of fame, no doubt!"

It took a bit for Naruto to bring his ego back down from the stratosphere, but once he did, he cleared his throat and brought out a switch from his pocket, pressing it without hesitation as he turned to face the crowd.

Behind him, a giant screen began to descend from the ceiling, occupying the entire backstage so that everyone could see what he was about to show.

Absent-mindedly, Naruto pressed his thumb onto the switch again, activating the slideshow that was prepped for his professionally made...speech.

Er...presentation?

No, wait; autobiography!

Whatever the hell he was doing, he was about to start it right when the screen activated, showing an image of a non-chibi Uzumaki Naruto casually walking down the streets of Kuoh Town, glancing around, taking in the sights.

"Alright, as I'm sure most of you guys remember; my name's Uzumaki Naruto, and I accidentally managed to get myself trapped in this weird world of angels, devils, and other supernatural beings in one of the worst possible times. Seriously, my luck is shit, if it wasn't obvious to everyone here dattebayo." he complained sourly, crossing his arms. "Like, yeah, touching strange things in general isn't a good idea, but..."

The shinobi trailed off, realizing how stupid he sounded, before awkwardly forcing the conversation forward. "Anyway, as I tried to find my footing in this world, I would meet a bunch of people that just so happened to be involved with the supernatural. From humans with hero complexes, to devils with a habit of convincing people to join her side. A bunch of interesting characters they all were, that's for sure."

A click later, and the screen shifted towards it's next slide, depicting three portraits side-by-side.

From left-to-right; was a young woman with long crimson hair and confident blue-green eyes, a young woman with short light-blue hair and unyielding yellow eyes, and a young woman with long vibrant red hair that were partially tied into pigtails which framed her slightly timid yet determined pink irises.

Those three portraits were of...

"Gremory Rias, Nonaka Yuki, and Naruse Mio." Naruto introduced each of the females, jerking his head to turn everyone's attention to the screen, before scowling a bit. "Wait...right, they say it as 'Rias Gremory' instead...man, that's weird to say."

Shaking his head at how weird some people are by introducing themselves to others by telling them their first names, he continued. "So...yeah, those three up there are the main players of the groups that I met after I traveled around Japan and landed myself in Kuoh Town, all of whom would become my trusted comrades in a short time. They are all pretty dependable, even if I have to bail them out a lot."

By this point, the chibi was scratching the back of his head with a cocky smile, somehow being shy while brimming with overconfidence. "As a matter of fact, since I save their butts so many times, one can even say that they're my underlings!"

This confession elicited interested 'ooohs' and 'ahhs' from the audience, having never heard of this fact prior to this moment.

It turned out that there was a reason for that.

"...Really? So we were underlings, huh?" a voice drawled out slowly, quickly making the blond on stage go rigid. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, I had no idea either!" another voice piped up, very familiar to everyone on stage. "I guess that it's true what they say; everyone's got their own version of certain happenings, eh?"

Even as the two voices were cutting into the shinobi's presentation, that teenaged male was already cursing under his breathe with his colorful language, caught in his bit of...exaggeration.

Not that he'd admit.

"...You girls too, huh?" Naruto questioned grumpily, his blue eyes reflecting off of the two female's pink and purple pairs.

Just entering the stage in full view of the audience, were the chibified versions of Naruse Mio and Naruse Maria, who were both giving their family member mixed looks of amusement and exasperation.

Mio, displaying more exasperation compared to Maria's obviously amused expression, shrugged her shoulder. "Yeah, we've got no idea why we've been...'chibied'. Or, for that matter, why you're in front of a bunch of people on a stage..."

The red-head trailed off from there, her left eye twitching as she watched her brother begin to snicker quietly to himself, covering his mouth with his hand as he tried to hold it in.

Naruto, beginning to double-over, jabbed a finger at her with mirth lighting up his eyes. "...You sound so damn squeaky."

Mio's face flared up in embarrassment, giving her a slight stutter in her already high-pitched voice thanks to her chibified form. "Y-You sound as ridiculous as I do! So you have no room to talk!"

A smirk adorned the blond's features as he regarded her. "I don't sound _nearly_ as bad as you though."

"What are you talking about!?" the half-devil countered, huffing as her cheeks slowly returned to their natural tint. "You sound like a chipmunk that has just learned how to talk!"

Naruto blinked, surprised. "...No, I don't."

"Yeah, you kinda do. Shocking, isn't it?"

"...Nah, you're jacking my chain, aren't you? There's just no way that I sound _that_ bad dattebayo."

As the two continued on with that completely irrelevant topic, Maria quietly and swiftly grabbed the switch out of the shinobi's hand while he was occupied, co-opting it so that she could take over from there.

She had to set the record straight after all.

"Ok...I don't know where Naruto-sama left off, so I'm just gonna start where Mio-sama and I first met him, if that's alright with everyone?" the chibi girl with the gothic lolita dress questioned the audience rhetorically, before activating the switch for the screen behind her.

The screen, predictably, changed slides to reveal a still image of a certain blond teen charging in to battle against a small horde of grotesque monsters, twisted up by their own demonic energy, as they surrounded the daughter of the Original Lucifer and her guardian.

"Alright, for those who forgot; Mio-sama and I were on the run from those that had a grudge with the Original Lucifer, as well as from stray devils thanks to Mio-sama's inherited power, which she couldn't control. As stray devils that have completely succumbed to their demonic energy become monsters that seek power, usually by eating things. Sucks, right?" the succubus explained, elucidating on their background to their situation during that time.

"So, it was inevitable that we were gonna get ourselves in a situation where we had no way out eventually, and we found ourselves in just that situation in a forest near Kuoh Town. And it was bad, really bad, so bad that...back then, I wasn't sure that we'd get out of that fight alive."

She paused there, sparing a moment to glance at the bickering siblings next to her, smiling softly as the raged on with their completely pointless disagreement, basking in it.

Then she turned around, all smiles, her bright purple eyes glinting in the spotlight.

"Then, like some kind of maniac, Naruto-sama came in and saved us all!" Maria exclaimed, vividly remembering the moment herself. "He just swooped in from the forest and took down every single stray devil, one-by-one, and took us in during our time of need. Giving us a home when we had none."

The succubus tilted her head downwards, trying to stop the growing smile that etching itself on her face, a little embarrassed, taking a bit of time to get her face straight again so that she could continue.

Thinking back on what happened hit her more than she expected.

So, unwilling to let herself get caught in that feeling of genuine gratitude, she decided to wreck it in her typical Maria-fashion.

"When Naruto-sama took us in, we would get dragged into the many unfortunate happenings that our blond hero here got involved in, giving us both quite the eventful month or so." she concluded, a mischievous glint entering her bright irises. "But does anyone here know why exactly Naruto-sama let us crash in his home?"

Murmurs started to bubble up from the crowd of people that were listening to the loli onstage, confused in nature to be sure, as no one there had any real idea.

Very few noticed the mischievous glint that entered her eyes, or the cheshire smile for that matter.

"Well..." Maria started slowly, that air of impish amusement becoming obvious. "It's because I offered my body to Naruto-sama of course."

Hearing gasps ring out from her audience, her smile grew more impish as she went on. "Yes! And not only did he accept my offer, but he actively _feasted_ on my body every night afterwards while Mio-sama slept, touching me in ways that still make me squeal right now-!"

Maria suddenly cut herself off, the feeling of a hand grabbing the crown of her head preventing her from continuing her tale.

Especially as that grip grew tighter.

"...Oi...what the hell are you doing?" a certain ninja growled behind her, his grip on her skull getting ever more oppressive.

Ah...

"N-Now, wait a second, Naruto-sama. Don't jump into any hasty conclusions now..." the succubus sputtered out, eyes wide.

And her eyes only grew wider in nervousness when the chibified form of her charge came around and leaned over her shoulder to look at her in the face, her expression eerily stoic.

"...Maria." Mio drawled, a threat implicit in her tone. "Do you mind repeating what you've just told the crowd to us? We are just _dying_ to hear what you have to say."

"...You emphasized 'dying' a lot there, Mio-sama..."

"Don't worry about the small stuff so much."

"...I'm very worried, Mio-sama...about a lot of things right now."

"Am I one of those things, Maria?" Mio asked, a way-too-friendly smile gracing her features.

Maria shuffled awkwardly, biting her lip. "Uhh..."

Right behind her, Naruto was giving the silver-haired a more and more sympathetic look the longer that she was interrogated by the red-head, recognizing that she was about to get punished.

Honestly, while well deserved, he still had to pity her a bit.

"...My, my, aren't we having fun out here?"

The trio that were causing a ruckus onstage were jerked from their squabble, recognizing the voice that cut into their...'conversation'.

"Ah...you guys too, huh?" the shinobi sighed, revolving on the spot to face the small group that entered the scene.

Meeting his gaze was the blue-green eyes that characterized Rias Gremory so much, crossing her arms as she checked her surroundings, faintly wary.

Behind her, all present and accounted for, was her Peerage.

"Ara ara, it seems that while we were out looking for everyone, our kohai were here enjoying themselves. How naughty of them!" Akeno mock complained, smiling at the huff that came out of Naruto's lips.

"Hey, despite what it may look like, we were actually in the middle of some pretty serious business dattebayo." the shinobi protested, a petulant pout adorning his face.

"Of course, whatever you say foxy-kun." the sadistic girl soothed, giggling softly all the while.

Ignoring the two for a moment, Issei walked past them to look at what his _king_ was talking about, blinking rapidly at the large group of people watching them.

"Uh...who the hell are those people?" he asked the obvious question, sweat-dropping at the strange sight.

"...Troubling." Koneko muttered out, the tiniest of frowns marring her features as she stared at the audience that was...staring at all of them.

"That's one way to fairly describe the situation, I think." Yuuto noted wryly, weighing in on the unique situation that they've found themselves, yet again.

By this point, no one should really be surprised.

"Yes! Exactly! All of this very troubling! _Super_ troubling!" the succubus interjected with a high voice, wiggling out of Mio's grasp to face the group, using this conversation as a chance to get out of trouble.

The red-head immediately reaffirmed her grip on the silverette's scalp, clutching on as she glowered at the smaller figure. "Oh no you don't, you won't be getting away _that_ easily."

Rias quirked an eyebrow at the scene, but didn't comment, opting to look at Naruto instead. "So, any idea what's going on?"

"Nope." he remarked bluntly. "We're about as clueless as you, but we had the weird inclination to give out our life stories as if we were a collection of old relics that wanted to tell everyone about our 'glory days'. At least until my imouto here decided to argue about something stupid with me..."

"Hey!" Mio protested hotly, taking offense. "You _do_ sound like a chipmunk!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yeah, you do!"

"Damn it Mio! For the last time, I don't-!"

Rias said nothing as the two siblings revived their argument from before, disturbed by how unbelievably petty it was.

"So _that's_ what we were hearing when we got closer to the stage..." Yuuto realized quietly beside her, watching them go in fascination.

Koneko nodded. "...Were really loud."

"Aren't they? But then again, that's what makes them so cute I think." Maria input, her voice giddy.

The _rook_ swiveled her head slowly to look beside her, seeing the succubus make her observation right next to her, somehow managing an escape from her charge's hold.

How and when the hell did she manage to escape...?

"Should we stop them, Buchou?" Akeno questioned her friend, genuinely wondering if they should intervene.

If they let them continue, they might have to stay there for a while, longer than they'd all like.

The Gremory heiress didn't respond at first, tapping her chin idly as she considered their next option.

It took a moment, but she managed to land on a solid next step.

And that step very much involved the chibified version of her hand being aimed at the screen that depicted what the group onstage managed to go over with the audience.

As well as, literally, opening fire on it.

Naruto and Mio snapped their heads to the backstage, gaping as they watched the _Power of Destruction_ outright obliterate the screen that they were using.

"Eh...? EHHH!? What the hell!? WHY!?" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes comically turning into white circles as his jaw dropped.

"R-Rias-sempai..." Mio muttered with a sweat-drop sliding down from her forehead, unable to believe what she has just witnessed.

It wasn't just them either, as the entire room had gone quiet just so that they could look at the high-class devil, her display simply too attention grabbing to deny.

Something that she underestimated in her haste to get rid of the screen, making her somewhat uncomfortable at the hard stares.

"...Ara, you really do have a way with getting everyone's attention, don't you Buchou?" Akeno teased lightly, unable to stop the smile from splitting her face when she noticed how uncomfortable her friend was feeling.

"Be quiet." she hissed without real rancor, before facing the dual incredulous looks from the siblings, ignoring all else. "Naruto, Mio-chan, don't you think that you two are acting a little too cavalierly about this? Explaining your life stories to a bunch of strangers...doesn't that seem at least a little odd to either of you!?"

Both; Naruto and Mio blinked, sharing looks with one another, before refocusing back on the devil with long crimson hair.

""Not really."" they both answered simultaneously.

Rias swiftly concluded that they were both either both stupid, or both thoroughly brainwashed.

"Besides." Naruto continued, shrugging his shoulders. "It's nice to talk about this shit and recollect, ya know? As a matter of fact, we were just on the part where I saved Mio and Maria, until that damn loli fucked it up of course-"

"Wait, so you guys only just reached that part?" Issei questioned in disbelief. "But you guys came into this weird place about the same time as us, right? What the hell is taking so long?"

"People interrupting me." the shinobi snidely retorted, giving the perverted boy the stink eye.

"...We kinda are taking a while though." Maria commented quietly, before shutting up when the blond's glare turned towards her.

"Look...just let us finish going through memory lane for a bit so that we could bask in the shit we've done, _then_ we'll focus on getting out of this weird place. What's the harm in it dattebayo?" Naruto suggested after a moment of contemplation, providing a compromise.

"Everyone will become aware of the supernatural entities that live side-by-side with them?" Rias remarked sarcastically, crossing her arms under her bust. "Or a host of other problems that could arrive from people knowing your life story?"

Naruto paused, considering that point.

Then he turned around to face the crowd, blue eyes sparkling.

"Anyway! After I saved Mio and Maria from a whole pack of stray devils, I would take them back home so that they could rest up, out of the kindness of my heart of course! But that would accidentally piss off another good future friend of mine at the time..." the shinobi expanded, following up where the succubus from before left off.

Rias' eyebrow twitched.

He completely ignored her.

"Ufufu...our naughty foxy-kun really just wants to have fun, no matter what, hm?" Akeno observed, grinning from ear-to-ear as she studied her _king's_ expression.

To her endless amusement, she very much glowered at her, not exactly enthused.

As soon as the sadistic girl had had her fill of fun though, she leaned closer to her _king_ , a conspiratorial air surrounding her as she spoke to her ear.

Hearing what she had to say her eyes widened, before narrowing with a glint of _something_.

Mio watched with interest as the Gremory group would, essentially, huddle up and plan for whatever it was that they were planning, curious.

"-Which is how Yuki and I fought for the first time." Naruto continued on, completely ignoring the conspiring group behind him. "Where she and I...well, more her, would try and fight to the death. As for me, I wanted to make sure that this group that she was a part of wouldn't come after me later..."

The shinobi suddenly began to trail off, scowling visibly as someone grabbed the hem of his school uniform.

He was about to turn around and question who the hell was grabbing his shirt, a bit annoyed, until he heard the person speak.

"...Sorry."

Eh?

The blond couldn't question the person responsible unfortunately, as that very person would literally hook their arms under his own, pulling him close...

Then would bend their backs parallel to the ground, literally throwing him into the air and sending his head smashing into the ground.

Naruto stared forward blankly, his head stuck to the wooden floor and his legs dangling in the air uselessly.

He could only say one thing really.

"... _Ehhhh!?"_

"...Troublemaker secured, Buchou." Koneko affirmed right behind the blond, securing him in place with her arms holding it's grip under his own correctly.

Mio gaped at this, a sweat-drop forming on the crown of her head.

T-That was...

"A suplex! That was a _suuuuplex!_ " Maria screamed, her eyes shining. "Naruto-sama has been captured and subdued! He is now an official _'M'!_ An 'M' I say!"

The daughter of the Original Lucifer shook her head wearily by this point, having no idea what was going on anymore.

Was she literally the only one with common sense around here?

Meanwhile, Rias pumped her fist at her _rook's_ success, quickly taking advantage of the situation by walking up to the front of the stage, facing the crowd.

She took a deep breathe, regarding the crowd steadily as she brought an open hand out, bringing her other hand to point at her thumb finger.

"Naruto fought Yuki-san, met me and my Peerage, and we would all become allies after he rejected my invitation to become a devil. Forming the basis of the 'Kuoh Pact', where we would help improve our relations with one another by helping each other when we needed it." she claimed, moving her finger to her index as the thumb clenched to the fist.

The shinobi's eyes widened at his uncomfortable position, realizing what was going on, beginning to wiggle out of Koneko's grip.

She held strong, determined to hold on.

"Afterwards, apparently Naruto would get mixed up with fallen angels that were under the control of a veteran of the Great War between the three Christian factions while he helped me recruit Issei. Which would spiral out of control and lead to a confrontation in a abandoned church, which he won with Yuki-san's help." the red-head steadily went on, knocking her index out of the way to move onto her middle finger.

Now Naruto, much to Koneko's chagrin, _really_ began to wrestle his way out, making it more and more difficult to hold onto him.

"Damn it...! You're trying to finish my story by summarizing everything!" he wailed, glaring at the devil. "Why would you try and ruin my fun time!?"

Rias ignored him entirely, determined to finish this quickly. "Mio-chan and Maria-san would learn about Naruto's activities outside the home, we would all go on a training trip in my summer getaway, and when I was called away by Grayfia to discuss about some...personal problems, everyone left in my summer home would get attacked by a hostile devil. Of which, thankfully, would be repulsed by Naruto's and Issei's efforts."

Just as she brought down her middle finger to move to her ring finger, the high-class devil had to seriously focus on her task when she saw her _rook_ roll next to her, literally sent rolling by the teen that she was supposed to hold onto, leaving her in a daze.

"Ara ara...sorry foxy-kun, but I can't let you reach Buchou!"

"Ugh...damn it, this is gonna hurt. I can feel it...!"

"Holding back Naruto-san will definitely be one of the tougher things that we've done in a while."

Hearing Akeno, Issei, and Yuuto all do their part in keeping the blond back, the Gremory heiress pushed forward, doing her best to ignore the lightning and sounds of combat raging behind her.

But she hesitated slightly, remembering vividly what happened next.

From her Peerage's return to the summer home, besides Issei who stayed behind.

To the confusion wrought by Riser Phenex's visit, and his subsequent humiliation.

Her personal talk with the blond...

Blue-green eyes blinked, introspective, ignoring the arc of lightning that literally shot past her head, as well as the _pawn_ that was sent soaring into the ceiling of the auditorium.

Focus...she had to focus...

"...Then Naruto helped get me out of my arranged marriage, which eventually forced us to attend a party that was meant to smooth over the upper classes' ire over my cancelled wedding. Which, in turn, was ruined by Riser's attempt at revenge for his humiliating defeat."

Feeling her back grow very, _very_ warm thanks to the vicious embers being used behind her spurred her to hurry up, idly realizing that Mio probably entered the fray too.

"Damn it, Naruto! Calm down, this isn't that big of a deal! And stand still already, would ya!?"

"Fuck that noise!"

Yeah, she definitely joined in the fun behind her.

"As a result of that fight, my onii-sama would have a talk with our well-known troublemaker over there, and spur him to go to Kyoto for some reason. For what reason, I'm not sure...oh, and he also made a very, very, _very_ reckless speech too." she finished lamely, already hearing the sounds of conflict begin to die down, making her tense up in preparation for-

"Oi." the shinobi bit out, clasping his hand onto her shoulder, feeling his blue eyes bore into the back of her skull. "Ya done yet?"

The chibified Rias sighed, turning around in faint dread to see what has happened to behind her back, mentally prepping herself for the carnage.

What she saw definitely warranted her preparation.

Ignoring the gaping hole that definitely did not exist on the auditorium floor in the beginning, there was also the fact that the blond teenager in front of her was reaching out to her while dragging every single member of her Peerage with him, including Mio-chan and Maria-san.

Everyone there were literally all doing their part to pull him away from her by grabbing some part of him and pulling backwards.

Everyone except Akeno of course, who was hanging low above the tug-of-war, smirking at the scene, enjoying it immensely.

Wanting to give her _queen_ a death glare for her continued enjoyment of their suffering, she faced the blond in front of her with a quirked eyebrow. "...Not quite, do you mind waiting a little bit?"

"Oh? You want me to wait a bit? Maybe you should of thought about that before you got everyone to dog pile me." the shinobi dryly retorted, before raising his only hand that was not getting dragged backwards by everyone behind him. "Now tag me already, let me finish this."

Blue-green eyes regarded the hand coolly, as if wondering about it.

Then she raised her own hand, sighing in defeat.

Seeing this, the shinobi's lips widened in glee, eagerly moving his hand to tag with her with the absolute confidence that characterized him to begin with.

That was, until another hand, almost lazily, intercepted his own and tapped her hand before he got the chance to.

Shocked by this, he glanced upwards, seeing the sadistic glint in a pair of violet eyes that was floating right above him.

The spotlight, once focused on the stage, was now aimed slightly above the stage, focused on the female above their heads, something he didn't miss for an instant.

Though he did manage to miss the red-head's triumphant smile.

"Foxy-kun went to Kyoto, returned from Kyoto, fought someone when he got back, and then met up with us again. The end." Akeno finished with a flourish, bowing to the crowd a wide smirk.

...

...

...

" _OIIIIIII!_ What the hell!? Short! _Waaay_ too short!" Naruto roared out, protesting at the top of his lungs. "You literally cut away all of the juicy details damn it!"

"I know." Akeno replied with a beatific smile, way too happy as far as the blond was concerned.

The shinobi opened his mouth to answer, then slammed it shut, his lips quivering faintly as he glanced downwards.

"...You all suck." he grumbled, saying nothing more as he relaxed his muscles.

The group that was desperately holding him back until that point collectively let loose a sigh of relief, with a few of them plopping their butts onto the floor to let themselves recover a bit.

"C-Can we go now?" Mio questioned softly, taking in small gulps of air as she wiped away the light sheen of sweat across her face. "We can go now, right?"

"Hopefully." Yuuto replied, taking a look around. "If we figure out how to that is."

Ah, right.

They actually needed to figure that out, didn't they?

"Look at the bright side, Mio-sama!" Maria chirped, getting up from her seated position, stretching her limbs. "At least we've got each other, right?"

The red-head shrugged noncommittally, not really knowing how to answer that.

Frowning at the lack of an answer, she turned to the person to her right, hoping to get a more positive response-

"...Pervert." Koneko grumbled softly, eyeing the succubus closely as she turned to her.

Maria deflated extraordinarily quickly after that.

"Alright, alright, everyone calm down now." Rias intervened, walking to them, ignoring the despondent shinobi that was still in the same position as before. "Let's get moving, shall we?"

As if responding to her words, the spotlight that has been shining on them since the start dimmed a little, signalling the end of this little show.

Which prompted an interesting question from one among their group.

"...Hey...who's manning that spotlight anyway?" Issei asked out loud, cupping his chin with his hand, staring at the dimming light.

Frowns and shared looks were sent around, and then all eyes turned to the spotlight at the other side of the stadium, question marks appearing right above their heads.

As soon as the spotlight's lights dimmed to a fraction of what it used to be, they were able to see that there were two people manning the device behind the scenes, barely though.

That being said, those two figures looked somewhat familiar...

"...Wait, is that...Yuki-san over there?" Yuuto asked, squinting as he saw a chibi girl with light blue hair poke her head out of the small opening for the spotlight, waving at them.

"I...I think it is." Rias agreed slowly, unable to quite believe that the resident hero of Kuoh Academy was manning the spotlight.

What was she even doing there in the first place?

"Does she want us to go over there? She's waving at us..." Akeno wondered aloud, cupping her face as she examined the waving teenaged girl. "Wait, who's there with her? That other person looks like...?"

"Asia!" Issei exclaimed, brown eyes bulging comically. "Why the hell is she over there!?"

"Who knows?" Mio responded rhetorically, not surprised by this point. "Why not I guess?"

"Ok, it's obvious that we need to regroup and find a way out before we lose our sanity." Rias intervened curtly, recognizing the tell-tale signs of her kohai's annoyance beginning to set in. "First step; getting off the stage, right?"

Murmurs of agreement echoed across the small stage as everyone began to file out of the battered area, no one among them having a better idea at that point, all while ignoring the fact that the spotlight's dimmed light was still following them as a group.

But the group-wide march was halted when one of their numbers stopped in their tracks, perking up at something.

Before anyone could even ask, that _rook_ piped up in very slight concern.

"...There are more people..." Koneko stated, very sure of this, turning her hazel eyes towards the backstage.

"I think that that's our cue to leave, Buchou." Yuuto commented, ready to rush off stage any moment now.

The Gremory heiress couldn't have agreed more, gesturing for everyone to get off stage now as she waved her hand towards the large curtains hanging above.

With pinpoint accuracy, the ropes holding the curtains in place were obliterated thanks to the red-head's power, allowing them to cascade down and cover the entire stage from the audience's view.

Good thing too, as mere moments later, a rising commotion entered the ears of everyone in the audience, letting them know that interesting events were going down right beyond that curtain.

"Not you too Sona...!"

"Why do I look so ridiculous!? Where the hell are we!?"

"Riser, I need you to calm down for a moment..."

"Has anyone seen any food around here...? I was at least hoping that this strange place might have some interesting food to eat..."

"...How have I been dragged into this situation...? I just wanted to deliver a message and go back to the Underworld for crying out loud. Yet now I'm surrounded by idiots."

"Hey! I might be an idiot, but I'm still a member of the Student Council!"

"Please quiet down, Saji."

" _Riiaaaa-TAAAAN!_ "

" _Guh...!_ Onii-sama!?"

Many among the audience heard as much as felt the chaos unfold behind the curtains, the arguments and supernatural powers that were being unleashed managing to entertain them no doubt.

But it seemed that everyone there had forgotten one thing.

Well, except the hero that was manning the spotlight on the other side of the auditorium, who was aiming it at the downtrodden figure that was left behind by the supernatural group.

Uzumaki Naruto barely responded to the attention that was being drawn to him, his irises depicting the soulless quality of them.

He was obviously still sore about the fact that he wouldn't be finishing going over his story through his own terms.

Still, when he noticed that the random audience slowly shifted their attention away from the backstage to himself, he figured that it was time to step up to the unspoken challenge given to him.

Bringing the flat of his hands out, the young man cleared the dust that were inhabiting his pants as he forced his leg muscles to push himself up, standing to face the crowd with his dull eyes.

The young man stared at the crowd for a few heartbeats, not really looking at them.

More like looking through them.

But the moment passed, leaving the young man to sigh, lackadaisically crossing his arms to cushion the back of his head, an airy expression on his face.

"Alright...yeah, this ended about as explosively as I expected it too." the chibi shinobi admitted, at ease with the situation. "But, hell, that's pretty standard by this point, ain't it?"

Naruto twisted his body to look at the curtains, the smallest of smiles reaching his lips. "To be honest, I wouldn't really have it any other way. They're a crazy lot, but that's just how they are, ya know?"

He laughed then, blue eyes bright. "They remind me a lot of my friends back home actually, so the antics that sometimes erupt here...they're kinda...soothing in a way. You all kinda get what I'm saying? That's why I want to make sure that I can keep having fun with everyone, regardless of what comes our way."

Without a hint of hesitation, the blond would salute the audience, winking playfully as he backed up to the curtain, raising it's hem to go inside. "And I hope that everyone here also gets to have fun watching dattebayo!"

Ducking inside the curtain and descending into the chaos backstage, Uzumaki Naruto gleefully charged into swath of people trying to make sense of what was going on, barreling into it and completely obliterating their efforts.

An act that, in retrospect, neatly characterized his presence in their world.

But quite a few of them, even if they didn't admit it, wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **AN: Guess who's back to start writing again? :3**

 **Hey everyone! Don't mind me, just wanted to type up a little recap chapter before I actually went on with the story again. :P**

 **I hope everyone is well? I know I sure as hell am.**

 **Also, as an aside, I'd like to thank MrFoxHoundSir and blackrose177 for their attempts at writing Reading!stories for this fic, go check them out if you haven't already. :D**

 **Now, to finish my rambling, I'd like to wish every a late Happy New Year's, as it sure as hell was a good one for me. (Done with BT, yes!)**

 **So you all for the next chapter! :P**

 **-RekkingPride**


	40. Chapter 40

" _Hey...brat."_

Naruto opened up a single eye lazily, it's cerulean color making itself known to those that were watching, somewhat droopy thanks to being dragged out of the confines of sleep.

"What do you want..." the young shinobi drawled, his single eye swiveling to the older man behind him as he moved his head a bit. "...Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya growled from behind the young man, offended, as he always was when the blond used his nickname. "Listen here you...do you have any idea how lucky you are to be the student of the great Jiraiya-sama!? I can assure you that many ladies would be more than willing to take your place if you're too disrespectful!"

The blond paid no heed to his tirade, choosing instead to go back to bed rather than listen to his master's gloating, too tired to have his typical argument with him right at that second.

And he thought he was gonna stay that way, until he heard his master speak again, in sharp contrast to his earlier hysterics.

" _Naruto."_

From behind the tree that both males were leaning on, back-to-back, Naruto's eyelids snapped open, turning his head to look at the wild mane that was his master's white hair.

Not only did the Toad Sage use his serious voice, he also used his actual name rather than 'brat', as he normally did.

Whatever he wanted to talk about was pretty damn serious if this was how he started out.

So the younger man waited, eyeing his master's ridiculously long hair until he finally turned around to meet his gaze, ebony with cerulean.

They stayed like that for a moment, gauging each other almost.

Until the damned pervert finally continued.

"You're still gonna do it...aren't ya?" he asked, eyeing his student with a critical focus, studying his reactions.

Naruto knew what he was talking about immediately.

"...I can't _not_ do it." the whiskered teen responded, his tone implying that his answer was obvious. "That bastard was...no... _is_ family, so it's only natural that I go and save family, right?"

The older male frowned. "And if that so-called family member of yours doesn't recognize you to be family?"

Naruto laughed airily, waving away the possibility. "Ah, come on Ero-sennin! Even _that_ bastard admitted that we were practically like family. And it's a family's duty to protect their own from making stupid decisions, of course."

Jiraiya sighed, turning away from his student to study the treeline above, watching as leaves as numerous as the stars slowly floated down from the towering branches above. "Well, considering who the Uchiha is training under, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much...your friend may be too far gone when you two meet each other again."

"Even if that's the case, I would always be there to help that bastard whenever. I refuse to abandon my family just because they made shitty decisions in their lives." the blond maintained, ever firm with his stance on his friend lost to the shadows.

The Toad Sage said nothing for a moment, seemingly done with the conversation for now.

Unsure of this, Naruto twisted back forward, laying his head back against the solitary tree in the middle of the meadow that they managed to find, comforted by the sounds of rustling leaves as they drifted to the ground.

"Hey...Naruto."

Said young man perked up almost infintismally at his name being called, but didn't turn to face the older shinobi this time, choosing to listen.

"...Don't lose."

Though, what Naruto heard only served to confuse him.

Yet he still didn't turn around.

"What the hell are you talking about now, old man?" the shinobi snarked, though his voice held no rancor.

Jiraiya paused, as if trying to put his next thought into words, but only for a fraction of a moment. "Do you remember that conversation that we had almost two years ago? About the shinobi world?"

How could Naruto forget?

The talk that they had early on his training, where his teacher first told him about what he felt about the current state of the Elemental Nations as a whole, and the shinobi in particular.

How hatred and conflict fed into more hatred and conflict.

"...Yeah." the blond murmured, eyes hazy, seeing something far off.

Although he couldn't see it, he knew that his master nodded. "And you...?"

"I will." Naruto interrupted, tone confident. "I will help you find a way to stop this cycle...I've seen this cycle play out in front of me myself. I can't let something like that continue dattebayo."

He felt more than heard the older man chuckle behind him, the vibrations to the bark supporting his head clueing him in. "And that's why I don't want you to lose."

Before Naruto could irritably try and retort, the Toad Sage continued, finally choosing to explain himself.

"When you get back to the village." his teacher began. "You will have to face the trials that we have been training you for these past two years, possibly without my help."

Naruto nodded, eyes narrowing at the thought of those powerful ninja draped in black with blood-tinted clouds.

"And...throughout my life, I have seen plenty of shinobi break and bend because of the trials that life threw at them, changing them for the worst. Even those with willpower to spare." Jiraiya noted, shifting against the cool wood that he was resting on. "I don't want the same thing to happen to you."

"Hey, hey now...what's the matter Ero-sennin?" Naruto replied easily, not worried at all. "What brought this up?"

"Thinking about the future, it's something that geezers like myself do a lot." Jiraiya retorted blithely.

"Well, you're worried for nothing, cause I'm not gonna change. The Akatsuki isn't gonna change me, neither will-"

"I'm not just talking about the Akatsuki or the Uchiha, brat. I'm talking about everything else after them as well."

Naruto frowned, stubborn. "I'm still not going to change."

His stubborn determination managed to make the powerful sage chuckle, shaking his head. "Calm down, Naruto, I never said that all change was bad, did I?"

This time the blond blew out air explosively, exasperated by his master's vagueness. "Then what the hell are you spouting right now?"

"Just listen for a bit, would you?" Jiraiya scolded lightly, his voice light before growing serious. "People change Naruto, that much is inevitable as they grow, for better or worse. No, I'm not asking you not to change..."

This time, the older man turned his head just a bit to look at his apprentice, who he knew was listening despite the fact that he was laying his head on the tree that they were sharing.

"...Don't lose yourself."

Naruto straightened, just a bit. "Don't...lose myself?"

"Yes." the Toad Sage confirmed, every bit the wise man that sometimes emerged from his perverted exterior. "People change, Naruto, but sometimes...instead of simply change, they lose what made them that individual in the first place. Crushed by some kind of pressure that shattered them to their core. What made them...'them', simply was lost."

The young shinobi licked his lips, uncomfortable with the thought of Uzumaki Naruto no longer being Uzumaki Naruto. "And...you think that could happen to me?"

"We don't know what the future has in store for us, Naruto." the older man explained. "Even someone like Tsunade, who had an indomitable will, lost herself when she lost two of her closest loved ones. It can happen to anyone, in our line of work."

Blue eyes took in the peaceful sight of the meadow around them, a scenery that very much conflicted with the seriousness of their conversation, letting his teacher continue speaking, knowing that he wasn't finished.

"Naruto..." Jiraiya murmured, so quiet that his student almost didn't hear him. "No matter what happens in the future, no matter how dim and hopeless, I want you to retain who you are; your core. To remember all of the people that have placed their faith in you; their hope."

Although he couldn't see it, Naruto somehow knew that the wise old man was smiling faintly now, a bit of pride leaking into his voice.

"Their _legacy._ "

The younger shinobi slowly raised his arm from his side as he listened, bringing his hand to his chest, which was open thanks to the fact that his orange and black jacket was unzipped, gripping the small emerald gem that was hanging from his necklace tightly, somehow warming his palm at it's touch.

"Don't lose yourself and stay strong, Naruto..."

The wind brushed past both men, the floating leaves comforting both as Naruto began to drift off to sleep, aware of his teacher's smile as he fell to blissful rest.

" _Stay strong..."_

* * *

Light peeked through the slightly opened curtains, lighting up the dimly lit room where a certain blond was stirring.

Twisting a bit, the young man groaned as he opened an eyelid, pupils droopy as they regained focus.

It took a bit, but Uzumaki Naruto was waking up, pushing himself to sit up, dragging himself from the confines of his sleep.

However, despite how tired his body was, his mind wasn't in any such state.

To the contrary, his mind was very much going over the dream he had just awoken from.

Staring at the beam of light that illuminated his features, Naruto was silent for several moments, mulling over and making sense of what he had just experienced.

Then, inexplicably, a grin formed, genuine as it ever could be.

"You were right old man...it didn't just end with the Akatsuki at all." he admitted, raising his head towards the ceiling, as if the person he was speaking to was hanging right there. "But I swear...that I won't lose my core. Not without one hell of a fight."

As soon as he made his vow, the blond's features softened, hoping that his words would reach the great beyond somehow.

"...Ero-sennin..." the shinobi couldn't help but whisper, eyes unseeing, before a ghost of a smile graced his lips. "...Thanks, you damn perverted old man."

His words, spoken to no one, meant for a man that wasn't there, still held the teenaged boy's thorough gratitude.

Somehow, the blond couldn't help but believe that his teacher managed to reach him and give him some encouragement at just the right moment, considering all that has happened recently.

That, or Naruto simply recalled that memory from the deep recesses of his mind due to everything that has happened.

Either or, he was grateful.

He needed to hear that, then and there.

Taking a moment to bask in the warm feelings that his dreams elicited, Naruto took a second to grasp his surroundings, trying to remember the previous night's events.

He blinked, recognising where he was as soon as he saw the familiar outlines of furniture thanks to the light.

He was in his living room, for a reason that the blond couldn't recall then and there.

Not only that, but it turned out that he was sleeping on his -kinda- comfy couch.

The teenaged boy sighed as he shifted his body, idly wondering why he was on his couch in the living room and not in his-

He paused his thinking right there, registering that his hand had just touched something while he was shifting around on the couch, getting him to turn and look down.

After seeing what he had accidentally touched, the young man couldn't help but smile, unable to do otherwise when he saw the peacefully sleeping face of his practically adopted imouto.

Though why they were sharing the same couch was still a minor mystery for him.

Looking around, it seemed that they weren't the only ones in the living room either.

Scrunching his eyebrows together at the particular situation he found himself in, Naruto carefully got out of the couch without waking the slumbering red-head, intent on getting to the bottom of this.

Before he could reach the curtains and do anything to solve this mystery however, he was forced to stop all bodily movements, freezing in place.

Mio was stirring, and in the faint light, the blond could clearly see her features twist in worry as her hands stretched out, grasping for something in front of her.

And the longer that he watched, the more distressed the half-devil's features became.

At first, the shinobi was thoroughly confused as to what was going on, not sure what she was grasping for.

Then, in a click, it hit him.

She was searching for _him._

Guilt awashed the young man, knowing damn well that despite her assurances, that she was clearly more affected by her trials than she let on.

With a sigh, Naruto made a familiar hand sign, whispering something under his breath as he did so.

Without uttering a sound, a copy of the blond appeared besides him, shuffling forward to crawl back onto the couch.

As soon as the clone managed to occupy the space left by the original, he felt Mio quickly settle down as she instinctively felt his body heat, her distress washing away in her contentment.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, before finally reaching the curtains to pull them back, letting the sunlight do it's job.

What he saw was both; expected and surprising, if that made any sense.

And it also managed to trigger the memories that led to this...situation.

* * *

 _ **A few hours ago...**_

"...Wow, you lot really _did_ go through the ringer today huh?"

Sona nodded, tone dry. "I'd say so."

The sun was slowly peeking out from over the horizon, indicating that the day has arrived over Kuoh Town, and that the night was done.

And boy, what a night it was.

Following immediately after Naruto reunited with everyone in Kuoh Town, the group huddled together in order to share their experiences with one another, curious to see what has happened with them.

For now, Rias and Sona were giving the blond a summary of everything that has transpired since he was away.

And he was _not_ happy.

"Diodora...so that's the bastard's name, huh?" Naruto growled, crossing his arms in agitation. "To think that that masked guy from before was a noble. And to think that he had the balls to come back after I ripped apart his face..."

"You're telling me..." Mio agreed with a sigh, shaking her head. "He was relentless, and probably insane to boot. I barely managed to beat him back when we fought, though if it wasn't for Issei, I would have been done for."

A snort, coming from the perverted boy himself made his opinion known to all in regards to that situation, but didn't deign to comment as the nun focused on wrapping some bandages on the crown of his head, basking in her familiar fretting.

Deciding to let him do his own thing, the shinobi turned to Mio, a toothy smirk in place. "But from what everyone's been telling me, you only lost that battle thanks to the stray devils that that bastard had under his control. Which means you've just trashed a high-class devil by yourself, doesn't it?"

The half-devil continued to shake her head, ignoring the warm effects of his not-so-subtle praise. "I only won because I managed to drop two buildings on him, I didn't win with my power..."

"Wait...you dropped two _buildings_ on him!?" Rias exclaimed, her eyes wide.

She just finished giving their neighborhood troublemaker a rundown of everything that has happened while he was gone, yet she had no idea that her kohai literally smashed that horrible man with at least six floors of concrete...

Naruto, far from shocked, just bent his head back and barked a laugh. "Ha! That. Is. _Badass!"_

 _"_ Great..." Yuki couldn't help but sigh. "She's becoming as destructive as her brother..."

Mio gasped, horrified. "I'm nowhere _near_ as bad!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, amused as the red-head continued to deny their similar effects on the area around them.

He couldn't help but be proud of her destruction of public property, especially since it hurt no one in the real world and was used as a way to let her get close to her enemy.

Apparently, Yuki very much noticed his pride, as she poked him in the stomach in faint irritation, her eyes dull.

"Stop encouraging her increasingly bad habits, Naruto." she complained, blaming him.

The shinobi gaped at her, rebelling against the accusation. "Hey! I had absolutely nothing to do with that!"

In response, a certain succubus piped up, at precisely the moment where Naruto _really_ didn't need her input.

"Eh...Mio-sama was never quite this destructive until she met you, Naruto-sama." Maria pointed out.

"...Bad influence." Koneko couldn't help but mutter under her breath, believing that to be the case.

Unfortunately, both lolis got dark looks from the pair of siblings, stopping their little comments cold.

"My...what a carefree bunch."

A sarcastic comment managed to cut through both of their glares though.

Naruto swerved his head to the side to find the source of the voice, feeling like he's heard it before...

And, sure enough, the young man's eyes lit up when their focus went to the air, seeing a certain fallen float above everyone.

"Raynare!" the shinobi exclaimed, flashing a toothy grin without reserve. "Holy cow, it's been a long time! I'll admit, I almost didn't recognize you without that...'outfit' of yours, but that permanent scowl on your face did a great job at rejogging my memory."

The raven-haired female's scowl, still present after thinking about some rather unpleasant things following the blond's little speech, softened just a bit at his bright grin.

Something that did not go unnoticed by someone.

"It really has been a while...Naruto." Raynare replied, the edges of her lips twisting upwards just a bit. "And I see that you still manage to drag yourself into the most...'interesting' of situations."

Scratching the back of his head, the teen chuckled. "Yeah, somehow. If anything though, it's gotten worse since we last met dattebayo."

"I figured that when I heard about what you did at that devil party back in the Underworld."

Naruto blinked owlishly at that, surprised to hear that she knew about what happened in that party following Rias' dissolved engagement with Riser. "You...knew about that?"

Raynare snorted. "Knew about it? How could I not? The _entire_ Underworld probably knows about it by now, since the news wouldn't stop talking about you after your little stunt."

Seeing his wide-eyed look, the young woman then jabbed a finger at the two devil _kings_ on the ground. "If you don't believe me, go ahead and ask them about it. I'm sure that they've heard about it too."

Sona, who was just casually listening in, gave the fallen woman a blank stare. "...Actually, this is the first time that I've heard about that event getting such coverage. Same for Rias as well, I'm sure."

The red-head jerked at hearing her name being used, caught unawares as she continued to needle her kohai with similar colored hair about dropping buildings on people. "Eh? Ah...yes."

Raynare snorted again as Sona twitched, taking some satisfaction in knowing something that the devils didn't.

Petty? Yes. But she didn't really care.

Better than outright hostility in her book.

Clearing her throat, the Gremory heiress refocused back on the task at hand, much to Mio's relief no doubt. "Anyway, Naruto, going on a tangent for a moment; how exactly do you know Raynare-san?"

"How'd I meet her you ask?" he reiterated, tilting his head up to make a thinking pose, looking for details. "Well...I accidentally knocked her out while I was in a ramen-induced rage, then her mother tried to kill me, then I helped Issei over there try and keep Asia alive...then Raynare and I became friends."

He nodded, sure of this chain of events.

Things tended to go like that.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought so either.

"...I knew about that last bit, as a matter of fact, I half expect for something like that to happen again in the near future." Yuki stated, nary a doubt in her voice. "But I had no idea that that entire debacle started because of _you_ , Naruto."

Mio couldn't help but concur. "...What the hell, you totally seem like the bad guy in this situation..."

The blond shrugged. "Things just sorta...happened. I guess."

"Wait."

Everyone's eyes panned to the shaking figure of a certain fallen angel, taking in her outraged expression.

"You mean to tell me..." Raynare started lowly, body shaking with repressed rage. "That you knocked me unconscious, let me get interrogated by that weird pale guy, and started a literal war with your damn copies...all because you wanted some _ramen!?"_

...

"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds pretty messed up."

The fallen's mouth hung open, anger petering out at the massive balls that the shinobi must have had to act so nonchalant with the situation.

It was something that even said shinobi had noticed eventually, given the looks he was being given.

Naruto coughed, doing his best to ignore the pointed stares by everyone around him, as well as the hanging mouth of the fallen angel. "So...uh...how've you been since then, Raynare?"

While anyone with a brain was able to see through the blond's lame attempt at changing the subject, they were not able to figure out that he was also trying to stop them from figuring out who exactly that 'pale boy' was.

Maybe he was too good of an actor sometimes...

"Geez...there you go, acting as if this was just a casual afternoon day." Mio noted with a 'hmph'. "But do you realize how worried we all were about you? No one was able to contact you at all when you went to Kyoto, and we had no idea where you went after that either. It was..troubling."

She made no mention of the fact that the blond's uncanny ability to ease the frayed nerves of his allies was helping to nurture this 'casual' atmosphere, allowing everyone present to simply speak their minds for the most part.

For the _most_ part.

Oblivious to his effect on others though, the young man frowned. "Ah, sorry. Didn't mean to cheapen your recent struggles. I just thought that focusing on the shitty stuff could wait for a bit, you know? Seeing each other again shouldn't be a doom and gloom fest 'ttebayo."

Pink eyes fluttered, their owner unable to truly try and get upset at her beloved sibling.

Truth was, a part of her couldn't help but be somewhat upset at how easily the whiskered teen was able to bounce back from his distressed state when she last saw him about to face that woman with purple hair.

It was mind boggling, yet here he was; a shoulder to lean on when things got rough, a solid rock to help and weather whatever storm came by.

Again.

A part of her was envious, she knew, and she had to lightly reproach him, lest her zigzagging emotional state lead her to say something she would regret.

"No. You shouldn't have to apologize..." the red-head admitted eventually, sighing as she nudged a little closer to what she was leaning on, letting the comfortable position calm her down. "I was the one in the wrong. You're trying to make everyone ease up again, and here I am playing sabotage."

She turned away from him, downcast. "...Sorry."

It took all of about three seconds to feel the blond place his hand on her shoulder, grasping it in order to comfort her.

"Hey now, don't worry so much about it. We're all a little tense after all." he soothed, before scratching his cheek, looking a little nervous. "Uh...that being said, can I ask you something?"

The half-devil turned back to him, pink eyes curious. "What?"

Now he was just flat out giving her a strange look. "...How long are you gonna keep my arm hostage for?"

Mio inclined her head a bit to look at their crossed limbs, her arm hugging his tightly like a vice so that he could scarcely move without moving her.

I'm reality, ever since the blond had finished raising everyone's spirits, his imouto had pretty much latched onto his arm and stayed there, refusing to be dislodged.

So much so that the teen had slowly lost all feeling in it.

In response to the shinobi's question, the half-devil's features scrunched up, finding the question to be weird. "Can't I hold onto my 'nii-chan's' arm anymore? What's the problem."

Taken aback, both by her refusal to acquiesce his arm and her usage of her sibling status to justify her actions when she's _never_ been so outright affectionate before, the blond could only stare.

"Hey...are you alright, Mio?" he questioned hesitantly, meeting her gaze.

Squirming just a bit while under those blue - _too blue-_ orbs, she replied. "I...just let me stay like this, alright? I'm fine, but let me stay like this."

Naruto, who was in the middle of opening his mouth to protest, didn't get the opportunity to actually speak.

"Indulge her."

So Rias requested anyway, with her arms crossed and a serious expression donned. "She's had it the worst today, just let her do as she wishes for now."

Moving his focus in-between both red-heads, the blond hesitated for only a brief moment before nodding firmly.

So, ignoring the young woman holding onto him for a moment, he also shifted into his serious frame of mind. "So, just to be clear, why _did_ you all split into different groups?"

Sona shot Rias an interested look as her friend went rimrod straight, caught in a dilemma.

The two devils gave the blond an abridged version of the events that transpired in Kuoh Town while he was away, omitting a few things for the sake of brevity.

Except for one detail, that just so happened to be about a certain _knight._

The Sitri heiress followed along for her friend's sake, but she was aware that the omission was a rather gaping one, and hard to hide.

To be fair to the crimson haired princess, if they divulged what happened, then Kiba Yuuto's general bodily functions might be seriously in danger.

Which was probably why Rias was so desperately trying to grasp at a cover story.

Fortunately for her, someone intervened.

"It was my fault."

Naruto frowned, following the source of the voice to look at a pair of hazel eyes, burning with a quiet determination.

"Your fault?" the shinobi repeated, seeking clarification.

The _rook_ nodded. "Yes...I-I wanted to get stronger, so I ran away from Buchou so that I could fight stray devils on my own...but she came after me eventually...and-"

Koneko continued to ramble on about what she has done, laying the blame on herself for getting Mio into the terrible position that she was left in, as well as for placing everyone's lives in danger.

And it was one of the easiest lies that the blond had seen through.

Not only was the white haired teen creating a story that was obviously being made on the fly, the reactions of everyone else around her gave her away.

They ranged from disbelief, to consternation.

And for one, outright guilt.

He knew that someone would break and spill the beans, and that it would probably come from Rias, who was looking particularly perturbed.

But the one who was carrying the heavy guilt would reach that point before she even could.

"Please...stop, Koneko-chan."

That soft voice, despite how it barely reached above a whisper, somehow managed to kill the _rook's_ desperate explanation, leaving her deflated.

Naruto didn't need to be a genius to figure out just who the young devil was trying to cover for.

"...So...this is because of _your_ actions, huh...Kiba-san?" he asked the handsome blond that just emerged from the alleyway of two buildings.

Yuuto Kiba had arrived, much to the shock of his fellow Peerage members, clasping Koneko's shoulders with both of his hands, refusing to let her take the fall.

Something which earned him about thirty seconds in the shinobi's head before he began to break some bones.

"Why?" was all Naruto questioned, direct and to the point.

"For revenge against the Excalibur swords." was his fellow blond's response, following his lead.

At this, the youth's countenance darkened, recalling a moment a few days ago where both blondes had a discussion which he hoped wouldn't cause any trouble later.

Sadly, he might just be disappointed.

"...Is this your so-called _'goal'?_ " Naruto spat, making the word sound almost like a curse with the amount of venom in his voice.

Yuuto didn't make any excuses or justifications.

"It was."

"Was?"

The _knight_ nodded. "I...placed everyone in danger today, foolishly thinking that I could just make everyone forget everything that we had done together. Thinking that if I acted coldly, then they wouldn't try and help me. That they'd just leave me alone."

Rias moved up to him, nervous about how the stoic whiskered teen was taking this since she didn't want her precious family to get hurt.

But while she feared for her _knight's_ safety, she also genuinely didn't want to force Naruto's hand, getting him to hurt an ally to drive home a point that, perhaps, needed to be made, but that she was unwilling to follow through.

Like a mother that didn't want to discipline her unruly child, she didn't want the 'father' in this situation to force himself to do what had to be done.

"Yuuto..."

He shook his head with a shallow smile, regret dripping from his voice, refusing to be curtailed. "I...forgot, no, _ignored_ the fact that a true family wouldn't let one of their own push them away without a fight. And that made my actions disgustingly selfish. Truth be told, I don't think that I could apologize enough for the pain I've put everyone through."

The shinobi narrowed his eyes faintly, cold pools of freezing ice locked onto the other male.

He hadn't fully fallen to the trap.

Initially, as soon as the psuedo-avenger claimed that he wanted to destroy the legendary blades of the Church, he had half a mind to simply knock him out and wrap him in a strait jacket somewhere.

But he gave him the benefit of the doubt, and was glad that he did, since he seemed to have stepped back from the edge of the abyss that he was precariously standing on.

He grasped that those that truly gave a shit rarely just let sleeping dogs lie when their loved ones start to push others away.

Still...the blond was stuck in indecision, simultaneously proud and outraged at what the teen in from of him had done within a single day.

So, stuck in this rut, Koneko intervened.

"Naruto-sempai."

He didn't need to be a mind reader to guess what the _rook_ was about to ask of him.

"Please don't punish him, Naruto-sempai. He's learned his lesson...he won't do something like this again, I promise." she pleaded quietly, hazel irises wavering a bit as she met his cold blue.

Yet she never turned away, choosing to stand fast instead.

Seeing the dark bags under her fierce eyes, her paler than usual skintone, and numerous scratchas across her body, he had to ask, just to be sure. "Why are you going so far for him?"

He knew the answer of course, but he still needed to hear it regardless, from her mouth.

Koneko didn't dissapoint.

"Because he's family." she stated, her small body quivering, with fear or determination, or a mix I both, she had no idea.

Still, when she lowered her head, he wasn't sure what he expected.

What he did not expect to see though, was the nigh-beforeseen emotion that nearly overflowed from her hazel eyes, sticking him in place.

"But more than that..." she started, fists clenching. "I...don't want to lose another precious family member...! Not again!"

The raw emotion in her words were shocking enough, considering her stoic nature, as was the glassy complexion of her orbs.

But nothing compared to what her eyes _shifted_ into during her emotional state.

Right before his eyes, the young girl's relatively normal pupils stretched out horizontally, thinning as it did so, creating a slit that gave her a cat-like appearance.

More jarring than that was the simple disturbing fact that dominated his mind when he saw those eyes.

 _He's seen those eyes before._

But where did he...?

Then, in a flash, those hazel pools filled with heavy emotion and framed by her girlish features and snow-white hair was momentarily replaced.

For a breathe of a moment, those hazel slits were filled with a teasing glint, far more sensual, framed by the facial features of a young woman in her prime as well as her raven hair.

Opposites almost, yet...so _similar..._

' _Nya~'_

Naruto jolted, physically taking a step back as something clicked into place, making far too much sense for comfort in the limited timeframe he was given.

That young woman that was with Ophis back when they trapped him...the one that wanted to jump his bones was...

"Naruto-sempai?"

The shinobi was forced to hastily collect himself as the _rook_ in front of him gave him a concerned look, seeing him step back without warning.

He managed nicely. "...I'm beginning to think that maybe we should continue this talk later, a lot of people are going to start waking up to go to work soon, and plus...I don't think that anyone here had gotten a rest recently, right?"

Yuki, curiously chancing a quick peek around, easily saw what the blond saw. "I agree, everyone here looks like they need some rest, lest they make foolish decisions while sleep deprived."

"There's just one problem with this idea." Sona quickly interjected, idly pushing her glasses onto the bridge of her nose as it slid down. "We have class in a few hours, so if we go get some rest now then we will miss most of school."

Rias winced, forgetting for a second how much her fellow high-class devil was a stickler for going to school.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you asked, Naruto didn't particularly give a shit then and there.

"So? Let's just skip school today then." he declared bluntly, preferring to sleep on a bed rather than on a desk.

He was gonna sleep regardless anyway, so may as well choose the comfier option.

Of course, as any could have guessed, the Sitri heiress was balking at the idea.

"S-Skip class?" she repeated, such was the young woman's complete shock at the mere suggestion that they _all_ skip school. "Don't be foolish! We are students! We can't simply just-!"

The shinobi groaned, knowing what was about to come. "Oh please don't start the lecture...I have enough of a headache today. Besides, we all need to be decently rested so that we could go over some important stuff...which could put people's lives in danger. Isn't that a bigger priority?"

Sona felt her jaw unhinge, just realizing that she was put into a position where she had to compromise one of the things that she valued most to make sure innocents were kept safe.

It was a frustrating thing to come to terms with, especially considering who was giving this suggestion.

Thay feeling was only dampened a bit when Tsubaki, her _queen_ , patted her on the back in a soothing manner.

Thank you, Tsubaki.

Seeing the most troublesome of his obstacles back down from his plan to skip school, the blond fist pumped in triumph.

A decent night's rest, here he came!

* * *

 _ **Now...**_

Well, he got his rest, and now it seemed that it was time to get back to work.

Though apparently some people didn't get the memo.

When the shinobi opened the curtains to let light filter in the living room, he saw at least three people resting peacefully in various positions.

First, obviously, was the sleeping red-head that used his clone like a teddy bear, hugging it for all of it's worth.

But besides her, Maria was also resting in the same room, using his leather coffee table like a mattress as her head hanged over the edge, letting her long silver hair cascade to the floor.

She was...technically sleeping peacefully, if you ignored the occassional perverted giggle that she let loose, as well as the heavy blush.

Yeah, he wasn't gonna look into that.

And then...that left the _newest_ addition to his little band of freeloaders.

Leaning back onto his soft reclining chair, with her feet propped up, was the fallen angel; Raynare.

Before the group split up ridiculously early in the morning, Raynare requested, no, practically demanded that she stay over his home for the night.

Still smarting over how her life was flipped upside down because of a certain blond's addiction for ramen, she refused to pay for a place to sleep and instead wanted to crash with him for her remaining stay in Kuoh Town.

And...well, yeah. Looking back, even if it was for the better, his actions still essentially took the fallen woman off of the driver's seat of her own life for a bit.

...Where the blond essentially then took the wheel of the car that was her life up until that point and promptly slammed it into a brick wall.

If she was an enemy, then he would have a bit of sympathy, but as an acquaintance or friend?

He kinda felt bad.

So he flopped to her 'request', not at all seeing the mixed reactions he had elicited from the people around them.

So here she was, resting with her arms crossed, her lips parted just enough to breathe in and out.

Well...at least that 'outfit' that she wore back around a month ago was replaced by something more tolerable.

Better than black straps that barely covered the essentials anyway.

Now she donned a dark grey, nearly black corselet that framed her upper body, as well as a long skirt that stretched to her ankles with a long slit up the side that allowed anyone to sneak a peek at the band of her lacy black underwear.

It would still attract the attention of literally everyone that wasn't a supernatural being, making her the focus of attention as soon as she walked out that door.

Not exactly something that he wanted, but he doubted that he could change her mind, so he just shrugged helplessly.

Checking to make sure that they were all still deep within the confines of their own rest, the shinobi carefully turned back to the curtain to open the window, making a gaping hole for someone to crawl out of.

Someone like himself.

Naruto crawled out of the window, knowing that his clone would keep watch to make sure no unsavory characters would interrupt anyone's sleep.

As to where he was going? Well...he had to meet with someone before everyone involved in Kuoh Town would converge again in the Rias' club room.

All he had to do was find her now.

* * *

It didn't take too long to find Yuki's home.

There were multiple occassions where the shinobi and hero traveled together in Kuoh Town, whether it be for small talk or...

...Or when she dragged him off to teach him something, as a tutor.

Shivering in spite of himself, the blond gazed at the small house that he knew was probably his friend's residence from his spot on the sidewalk.

This was it, he had no doubts about it.

Many times, whenever they stuck around for a bit, Yuki would head to this area in order to get back home, leading him to this small cul-de-sack area at the edge of Kuoh Town's limits as a settlement.

And the house he was looking at just so happened to have a residue of the young woman's energy signal, kinda like how Kuoh Academy felt thanks to the devils that were taught there.

This was much more faint, I course, but a combination of...uh...'triangulating' her home's general area and a little bit of luck made it possible for him to find it.

Good thing too, since on the outside, it looked like another cardboard copy of every other house next to it.

Walking up to the front porch of the seemingly innocent home of yet another citizen of Kuoh Town, the blond lacksadaisacally knocked on the door, thankful that there was literally no one around to see him since everyone was still at work or school.

Waiting for about a minute in the entryway with no response, Naruto then figured that he was patient enough to completely throw away his conventional way inside out of the metaphoric window in favor of...his way.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, the shinobi once more was thankful that no one was around as he leaped up a story to reach the window attic, touching down on the windowsill to open it up.

With ease, the window was opened from the outside, letting Naruto slither right on in with minimal trouble.

As soon as he stood back up to survey his surroundings, he was forced to duck right back down as something literally came flying towards his head, crashing through the window that he entered in.

Without a moment's hesitation, a young woman came barreling towards the home invader with sharp eyes and an even sharper steel, prepared to-

"Heya there, Yuki!" Naruto chirped, waving to the hostile hero.

Yuki paused in her charge, eyes fluttering rapidly as she actually took in the features of her intruder.

As soon as she did so, she had to refrain from loosening her grip on her katana completely, some part of her training managing to hold fast when frozen stiff.

"...Naruto?" she sputtered out rather uncharacteristically, such was her surprise. "Is that you?"

"Yeah." the shinobi confirmed sheepishly. "Sorry for scaring you, I...kinda don't have a way to contact you. And I knocked on the door earlier too."

The hero swiftly allowed _Sakuya_ to dematerialize, releasing a sigh as she did so. "You couldn't have possibly found a better way?"

"I got impatient."

Having no way to truly respond to that line of reasoning, the swordswoman turned on her heel to return to whatever she was doing. "So, what brings you here, Naruto?"

Pleased by the fact that she didn't even bother to try and question how he found her home, the young man answered. "I was hoping that we could talk before we met with everyone else...about some stuff that I know you're not comfortable with them hearing."

Placing her hand onto the smooth wooden surface of a stool in the middle of the attic, she bit her bottom lip. "I was hoping that you have forgotten about that."

"Sorry, but I haven't." the blond retorted, crossing his arms. "But seeing as we're a little strapped for time, I'll let the... _other_ thing go for now, ok? I know that you had it pretty rough recently too."

Twisting her head, the teenager sent her blond friend a thankful look, too tired to deal with that terrifying idea that he was trying to convince her of.

Back while they were in Kyoto, Naruto had concocted an idea in order to deal with the remnants of a faction that they had severely weakened during their fight in Kyoto.

The remnants of the so-called 'Hero' faction, where her former sensei; Cao Cao, was it's faction leader.

At least he was, until Naruto dealt with him.

The young hero narrowed her eyes, uncomfortable with the idea that there was _another_ faction of heroes out there, still following her former sensei's perverted ideals of what the word 'hero' represented.

For all intents and purposes, the faction that he has built was what remained of him, still haunting her and those she cared about beyond the grave.

If it still presented a threat, and she did nothing to stop it...

"Oi, Yuki, are you listening to me!?"

Yellow met with pools of blue, marvelling at how bright and beautiful they seemed to her, full of life, despite how they were tinged with annoyance.

It was so strange that her thoughts so easily switched from the seriousness of dealing with the other faction based on her own, to marvelling at her friend's sapphire eyes, but her friend sometimes had that effect on her.

It was disconcerting, yet she didn't necessarily feel worried about it.

So when she opened her mouth to make a comment, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do in his presence.

She didn't even think about what was coming out of her mouth. "You have beautiful eyes."

Naruto, who was about to call her name again after getting no response was taken aback by her out-of-left-field comment.

He could do nothing except look at her, seeking some kind of explanation.

Yet she couldn't really provide one, as she genuinely had no clue why she did what she did.

So both parties were forced to stay quiet as they suffered together under the oppressive awkward silence.

It literally took all of about a minute, which seemed to last about an hour to them, for someone to break the silence.

"...What were you talking to me about, Naruto?"

The shinobi saw the question as a clumsy attempt to kill the silence, so it should come as no surprise that he eagerly jumped at the opportunity.

"R-Right." the blond coughed. "As I was saying before; what should we do about our story in Kyoto? I don't really want to hide what happened, but if we give everyone the full story, then we'd have to mention Cao Cao's origins in the Hero Tribe ya know?"

Plopping herself onto the sole stool in the attic, the hero considered her options, recognising her dilemma.

No matter how she looked at it, her former sensei's actions were in direct response to what he perceived as an organization that created intrinsically flawed heroes, which spurred him on to build his so-called Hero faction.

His motivations; to test the absolute limit of a human's prowress and triumph against beings that were well and truly beyond them, no matter how insane, _that_ was one of his key beliefs of what a 'hero' was.

A being that overcame the beings that used humans in the past, completely disregarding the idea that not all supernatural beings were like that.

To put it mildly, his entire reason for trying to take control of the yokai faction leader was to take on the most powerful and prevail over them; Great Red.

So she had to make a request of her friend, aware that the anonymity of the Hero Tribe was paramount for it's continued existence and future success.

"...If you can, please skip over the motivations behind his attack, Naruto." she solicited softly.

The shinobi nodded, accepting her decision without rancor.

The existence of the Hero Tribe was not his story to tell, it was her's, so he'd respect his choice to keep it a secret.

As he would with his other friends and _their_ secrets.

"Is that all you needed?" Yuki questioned, peering at him in curiosity.

"One more thing...well, actually, more like two, though that last one isn't really much of a question." Naruto claimed dryly, before switching gears. "I wanted to know if you knew anyone else that might have left the Hero Tribe besides Cao Cao dattebayo."

"Anyone else?" she repeated, wondering why the blond wanted to know something like that. "Well...I know that there are people who leave the Hero Tribe amicably compared to Cao Cao's betrayal, in order to live out their days as regular citizens, though they make a vow to never divulge any information about our faction. Outside of them, I can't think of any..."

She stopped, brows scrunching together in thought. "Well...there was _one_ incident before I even began my training that I heard about. It was about some sort of seer that left his duty post quite a few years ago...it was a big deal at the time because apparently he was pretty important to the higher up's decision making process. Allowing them to coordinate where and when heroes should intervene, or something along those lines."

The shinobi bobbed his head up and down, expression thoughtful. "...I see. Thanks, I wanted to confirm something."

Then, without another word, the young man twisted about and trudged back to the broken window.

As soon as he reached it and began to step out of the attic, he faced the curious hero with a good-natured smile.

"Hey..." he started softly. "...That friend of yours; Basara, was it? I can already tell that he'll fit right in with everyone else around here, he's gone through an entire journey unconscious after all."

This brought out a small smile out of Yuki as well, marvelling at how the blond could see through her worries. "Yes...I hope so too."

Naruto's earnest expression shifted into a sly grin as he pointed at something out the window. "By the way, before I go, do you want me to go and grab your cellphone?"

The hero felt her cheeks heat up a bit as she nodded.

She didn't have anything to throw at the intruder when they came in, so her reflexes kicked in and conspired to get her to throw her own phone as a distraction so that she may close in on her enemy.

It was somewhat embarrassing.

Offering her a thumbs up as he slipped out of her attic, he leapt out of the window and ran straight to her phone. "Make sure to tell your pops that I said hi, ok? And that his son better be a good guy when he wakes up, unless he wants a foot rammed where the sun doesn't shine!"

Yuki's cheeks grew a little bit warmer, but in return, her smile bloomed a tad brighter than before.

Leave it to her friend to make a positive spin to her less-than-stellar attempt at contacting her adopted father.

Did he know about her difficulties? Her fear of Toujou Jin's reaction to his blood son?

Her trepidation as she wondered if his two adopted children would be supplanted by his suddenly-living son?

Clenching her fists, she resolved to do it today, to stop agonizing over this call in a dark attic where she could feel pity for herself.

She would do this, no question.

As her determination was solidified, something came flying through the sole window of her attic, sailing over her head as it broke through the wall in the other side of the room.

Her deadpanned expression said it all.

She'd contact her father... _after_ she retrieved her phone.

* * *

Naruto knocked on the door of the ORC's base of operations, cautiously checking his surroundings as he did so.

It was roughly around the afternoon when everyone had decided to meet up again to continue their serious discussion, centered around what has happened to everyone throughout the last three days or so.

And it was one that needed to happen, considering how seriously they were all attacked by various groups.

Everyone needed to be on the same page here, including the shinobi himself.

So he was definitely taking this seriously.

...That being said, did they _have_ to be so close to Kuoh Academy? He didn't want any teachers to find him out here...

Still wary about his surroundings, the door eventually opened up, a pair of violet eyes lighting up as they locked onto him.

"Foxy-kun!" Akeno chirped, all smiles as she swung the door open in order to let him in. "You're looking much better than earlier this morning, had a good night's rest I hope?"

Naruto smiled in return, falling into a familiar sense of camraderie. "Yeah, I feel energized and ready to get this show on the road. I hope everyone else is also feeling better after yesterday's chaos too."

The young woman's lips lifted up a little higher. "Everyone seems to be doing much better, thanks to you."

"Eh...? Do you really think so?" the shinobi inquired, scratching the back of his head bashfully. "I don't really think so, I'm pretty sure that you're all much stronger than you all think."

And he was being honest too, as the young man felt that for the most part, everyone who had remained in Kuoh Town had handled the situation to the best of their abilities.

They just needed a little bit of time to rebound, that's all.

A tiny shake of her head, almost unnoticeable if not for the accompanying movement of her long ponytail was the response that he received. "Maybe, but if we're underestimating our strength, then you're underestimating your influence to it."

Naruto frowned, he didn't want his friends to think that their accomplishments were all thanks to him, how would they become badasses if they kept doing that?

Maybe she saw this displeased expression, because Akeno swiftly changed the subject. "You may come in if you want you know? No need to stay outside like a stranger."

The shinobi coughed into his hand, just now realizing how stupid he must look as he stayed outside. "Yeah, right. I knew that."

But before he even took his first step inside, the young man halted, stricken by a stray thought that stayed stuck in his head for a bit following his brief reunion with everyone.

It first struck him as he quietly dragged his curiously clingy imouto while he was going over his brief meeting with everyone.

There was one person in the entire group that stayed strangely quiet throughout the entire conversation.

And he meant _strangely_ quiet.

Issei and Asia were mostly quiet, but that was because the nun was focused on tending to him initially, and then they had a moment where they just sorta stared into each other's eyes, as if they were caught in a trance.

While they were acting...well...weird, they still had a decent reason to be ignoring anything and everything around them.

However, there was _one_ person that stayed quiet almost the entire time, disincluding that one time after he finished his little speech.

And that person was...

"...Say, Akeno?"

Akeno tilted her head to the side in curiosity, her violet gaze pushing him to confess to what he was thinking.

Naruto peered through his golden locks, wondering, yet serious. "...Do you hate Raynare?"

He never saw someone's good mood wiped away so quickly before.

The _queen_ shifted her gaze away from his, unable to meet his. "...Why would you ask me that?"

Raising his chin, the blond answered. "...You were acting normally when we all met up again after all of this chaos, you even teased me as you always did. But...afterwards, after we all began to talk, you suddenly clamped up."

His eyes narrowed just an iota. "...And I think I have an idea why."

His blue eyes, sometimes as warm as the ocean waves under a tropical summer day, were now more like a landlocked lake.

Steady and calm, yet carrying a great depth that could surprise the casual observer.

Akeno saw this, all of it, and a shiver shot through her body, partly from her growing apprehensive feelings that was emerging as the blond continued to probe her.

The _other_ part on the other hand...

She shivered again, the intensity that his pools of cerulean were giving out conspiring to force her to remain rooted on the spot.

Despite the fact that this was the first time that she has truly saw this part of the young man that has so thoroughly disrupted daily life in Kuoh Town, she knew that this part of him existed for a while.

How could she not? His display of power and dominance against Riser in _both_ of their confrontations more than proved that there was an experienced warrior underneath his happy-go-lucky persona.

But nothing really prepared her for the young man's transformation when it was aimed soley at _her._

Her legs grew weak when her kohai leaned forward just a bit, observing her, seeing _through_ her.

"You clamped up the second that Raynare spoke up and grabbed my attention." Naruto stated matter-of-factly, searching for anything in her facial features that gave away her true feelings.

Akeno took a deep breathe, collecting herself as she felt her cheeks grow a little red, how could she concentrate on a response when he was looking at her like _that?_

Nevertheless, she -somehow- managed to recall that moment which the blond was referring to within the depths of her mind.

It was that moment when the fallen angel received Naruto's cheeky greeting as she descended towards the ruined streets.

That moment, where she saw the ravenette's features soften from her dark scowl into something resembling an exasperated, yet... _fond_ version of that very same expression.

It was something that validated the fallen's claim that she, indeed, was their blond troublemaker's ally.

Yet, instead of feeling secure that their mysterious new acquantice was genuinely not an enemy, all it managed to do was bring out a question from the very core of her being.

 _'She's not leaving yet?'_

The _queen_ clamped down on that thought, lest her kohai - _could she still call him that with how her knees shook?-_ notice.

Naruto noticed something amiss anyway.

He took a step forward, making her heart hammer just a bit harder against her chest.

"Akeno..." he murmured, moving to take another step. "You..."

 ***Briiiiiiiing***

An annoyingly loud sound echoed across the Academy grounds, signalling the end of the school day for highschoolers.

Something that had an immediate effect on the blond.

Suddenly, the warrior in front of her grew pale, horror replacing determination and confidence.

 _"Shit!"_ the shinobi cursed vehemently under his breath, before shooting her a wild-eyed look. "Quick, hide me before anyone from school sees me!"

Akeno didn't even manage to get a word in before the teenaged boy scooted past her to rush inside, leaving her at the door's entrance.

Where she stayed.

At least until her wobbly legs finally gave out from under her, forcing her to use the frame as a support.

The young woman's breathing was just a little ragged as she tried to stand back up, a weak chuckle accompanying it.

She did _not_ expect such a start to her rather late day.

But after regaining control over herself again, a part of her wondered about the fallen woman that should have been staying in her kohai's home temporarily.

 _Did_ she hate her?

She frowned, growing contemplative as she bandied that question over in her mind.

As she did so, she completely forgot about a certain fact that she neglected to give to the blond that had rushed inside.

* * *

Naruto barged inside the main room of the ORC building, not paying attention to anything else besides the outraged screams of his teachers that likely would want his blood by this point.

He slammed the door the second that he caught his balance, before pressing his ear against the decorated wood to listen for blood-curdling screams.

None came.

The shinobi let go of the breath he was holding, happy that he wouldn't be saddled with the exorbitant amount of work that those monsters gave their hapless students for the last few days.

He knew their ways, he wasn't stupid.

"...N-Naruto...?"

Naruto perked up, recognizing that voice, getting him to turn on the spot. "Uh...sorry about that, Rias. I had to avoid the teachers that were about to flood out of the school-"

He stopped speaking the second that he met the Gremory heiress' eyes.

Or rather, the second that his eyes registered _her._

In the middle of the room, installed to the side, was a small shower that the blond genuinely never noticed before now.

Well, he most assuredly couldn't miss it now, thanks in due part to the young woman that was currently bathing in it, staring at him with wide eyes.

And she had good reason to, as she was as naked as the day she was born.

Everything about her was practically visible to him, with only a curtain to give her some modicum of protection from his roaming gaze.

Yet it still left nothing to the imagination, as the silhouette of her bare body behind the shower curtain gave him more than enough of an idea of what she looked like under her clothes.

The supple curves of her hips, her smooth porcelain legs, as well as her hypnotically large breasts were practically in full display to the blond.

And yet, as the red-head's cheeks flared to the same shade as her hair, the young man could only really say one thing.

"...You had a shower in the middle of your living room the _entire_ time?" Naruto asked, his exasperation clear. "And you actually _use_ it...?"

That comment may have just been the last push that the young devil needed to actually react to the blond's presence.

And as Rias gulped in quite a bit of air, Naruto already knew that this would be a doozy.

" _Get out!"_

* * *

"...So...what exactly happened?"

Rias glanced away, cheeks puffy.

Naruto just grunted from behind the table that he overturned as a shield, peeking out to glare at the newcomers, daring them to try and dislodge him.

Mio sighed, looking resigned if anything.

Raynare quickly decided that she was among the last sane individuals in Kuoh Town as of this moment.

The girls that were sleeping in the blond's house woke up about a half an hour ago, egged to move by the eternally energetic ball of energy that was Naruto.

Or, at least his clone.

Even now, thinking about it, the idea of a perfect copy of another person didn't really sit perfectly in the fallen's mind.

If they were a copy, then they weren't the original, right?

So could you treat a copy just like the original, or would that be kind of weird considering that the copy was literally just a vessel that held the memories and skills of the original without experiencing it themselves?

Could a friend be a friend to a copy?

Could a lover kiss a copy without it being considered 'cheating'?

The fallen angel immediately stopped her questions there, annoyed that she had adopted something of Azazel-sama's endless curiosity as her own.

Well...at least Naruse Mio had far less qualms with treating the clone just like it's creator, since she has refused to stay less than six feet away from him the entire damn time.

Even when she went to the bathroom, where she demanded that the clone stay by the door.

Did she always act like this while around the blond? If so, then the fallen had to question her sanity too.

Much like her older sibling.

...As well as her guardian for that matter.

Still, even she couldn't quite believe that everyone's sanity was so out of whack that they just casually shrugged their shoulders at the chaos that was the Gremory devil's headquarters.

Yet the succubus did just that, literally, while everyone followed her lead figuratively.

So, obviously, it was up to her to bring some much needed logic into this upcoming conversation.

Besides, Naruto's behavior needed to be...tempered, just a bit.

She remembered how the blond intervened on her behalf with Azazel-sama, and how he paved the way for a new path for her to take, away from the self-destructive one she was willingly walking into.

For the sake of a woman whom she craved affection for, she blindly followed her ambitions until that fateful day around a month ago.

And now she has learned that it all started because of the whiskered teen's reckless behavior, which was no doubt partially responsible for the mess she was currently standing on.

So her next move became obvious; help him as he helped her by tempering the flaw that was plaguing him as he once did for her.

After all, the people around him was, if anything, encouraging his behavior despite the dangers that it could lead him into.

This was her way of expressing her gratitude, even if the massive shift in her life was initially because of the crazy blond's lack of ramen.

...However, to initiate that kind of change, she would have to stay close to him for a little bit to provide an example for hik to look to.

A prospect that, if she were being honest, was nowhere near as unpleasant as she made it out to seem at times.

Actually...it was...kind of nice.

Besides, she could kill two birds with one stone this way anyway.

"Hey..." the shinobi mumbled out crossly, taking the fallen's silence as a chance to defend himself. "I have never heard of someone taking a shower in the middle of their living room before, mostly because it's a stupid idea. I'm the victim here dattebayo..."

Predictably, the red-head bristled, but surprisingly didn't retort.

Mostly because she herself was shocked by her own explosive reaction to the young man walking in on her.

Normally, the young woman would simply brush off such an accident without much rancor, as she didn't have much qualms with people seeing her body.

She was proud of her beauty, and she had no reason to hide it in her mind.

Yet...when _he_ saw her...

White-hot embarrassment seized her, preventing her from doing anything except gawk at the one who saw her birthday suit.

At least until he spoke, which knocked her from her reverie.

Then, just like that, her embarrassment transformed right into anger.

It was, simply, so foreign for her to be so embarrassed that she literally couldn't think of anything better to do than chase the source of it out.

But why him? Why was he an exception?

She had no idea.

...Except, she probably did.

She just ignored it.

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a response from the high-class devil, Raynare turned to the one person that she didn't want to turn to for a fair explanation of what happened.

Akeno was standing just inside the room, right beside the doorway as she surveyed the battered area with barely contained amusement.

The group that traveled from Naruto's place found her in a daze right at the entrance, introspective.

Right up until the moment that they reached the building, when a brief burst of the _Power of Destruction_ suddenly shattered the windows above them.

Which led to seeing this mess, of course.

So maybe the other woman knew about the circumstances that led to this situation?

Raynare was about to give it a shot when the devil turned and accidentally met her gaze, violet with violet.

For about a milisecond, the _queen_ looked somewhat perturbed by her stare.

Then the faint bit of distaste settled back in, with their momentary connection cut off when she jerked her head to the side, shunning her.

There went that idea...

"Raynare-san..." Mio started, letting go of the clone that they traveled with just long enough to speak to her. "Just let it go. Everyone else will be here shortly to talk, so don't waste your energy on this."

The raven-haired woman opened her mouth to protest, cut herself off, then slammed her mouth shut.

"Whatever." the young woman grumbled, crossing her arms.

As Maria skipped over to the blond that was still using the large coffee table as a shield, poking fun at his reluctance to leave his shelter, the psuedo-apprentice of Azazel couldn't help but note that dealing with these people would probably give her more stress than anything else she has experienced so far.

* * *

It took a little bit for both; everyone else to arrive, and for Naruto to get coaxed out of hIs happy place.

When Sona arrived, with her Peerage in tow, she merely raised a brow at the chaos of the Gremory group's headquarters, abstaining from commenting.

That didn't mean that her Peerage members stayed quiet though.

"What the hell...? Why is literally everything getting destroyed these past few days?" Sona's _pawn_ grumbled, vividly recalling the destruction that had plagued Kuoh Town recently.

As well as the hundreds of minds that they literally had to wipe clean in order to protect the anonymity of the supernatural.

Before any of his fellow devils could reassure him though, a hand clasped against his shoulder, putting an immense amount of pressure.

Saji gulped.

"Oh shi-"

"Mornin' Saji!" Naruto exclaimed, interrupting the curse that was no doubt about to leave his fellow blond's throat with a sickly sweet smile. "Nice to see you again, old friend! Hope you're doing well and...ya know... _not_ saying weird shit about people behind their backs."

Just yesterday, there was a certain conversation where the devils of Kuoh Academy were trying to figure out why Kiba Yuuto disappeared.

During this conversation, Saji mentioned that Naruto could have been a suspect considering how the handsome blond disappeared shortly after the troublemaker left.

His suspicion was dismissed easily enough, but apparently the whiskered teen heard of his supposition.

The student council member licked his lips, nervous. "I-I didn't actually accuse you of anything, Uzumaki. I only claimed that you _might_ have had something to do with Kiba's disappearance."

The shinobi regarded him for a bit, making him squirm.

"Oh? Is that all? Well then, that's alright." the shinobi allowed, taking a step back to give Saji some much needed breathing space. "Suggestions are alright, I just thought that you accused me of driving him away without proof. Now _that_ would've pissed me off."

Sona shook her head as her Peerage member was allowed to breathe again, figuring that that was bound to happen.

Saji wasn't trying to implicate the blond in the _knight's_ disappearance, he was just making a possible theory as to why he left.

And if Saji's suggestion just so happened to be true, she was more than positive that he would have considered it to be an accident rather than any kind of intentional cruelty.

...That being said, her _pawn_ had that coming, soley for the ridiculous amount of holes in his theory.

Musing over her servant's somewhat dangerous misstep however, almost left the young devil completely unaware of another individual coming up behind her.

Almost.

"Sona-kaichou." Yuki greeted cordially, walking past her to enter the main room.

She didn't even pause when she noticed the condition of said room, brushing it off as a normal occurance.

The Sitri heiress silently watched the hero pass her by, surprisingly at ease with her presence despite their groups' natural animosity.

At first, hearing of a human that claimed the name of 'hero' within Kuoh Town, Kuoh Academy no less, filled her with uneasiness.

Yet, seeing her now after all they've been collectively fighting against external forces...

Well, she wasn't so bad anymore, was she?

She supposed the phrase: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' applied here.

Shortly after the hero's entrance, the infamous pervert of Kuoh Academy rushed in with a nun in tow, sputtering an apology about being late.

Grinning, the blond prankster of Kuoh Academy returned the greeting gamely, trading pleasantries with the pair.

Until he noticed something peculiar.

"Why do you two look so...ruffled?" he wondered, leaning back against a wall in a lacksadaisacal manner.

Saji, who was still nearby, turned to check the duo, and he immediately reached a conclusion in regards to what happened to give them such a disheveled appearance.

And he obviously did _not_ like it.

"... _No..._ that's impossible. You couldn't have..." the newest member of the Sitri group began with barely a whisper, his state of denial quickly morphing into _rage._

Which Issei was obviously basking in at the moment if his shit-eating grin was to be believed. "...Maybe I did though."

Saji could only see red after hearing his fellow _pawn's_ response. "Hyoudou...! I refuse to believe it! I refuse to believe that you managed to do... _that_ before me!"

Yet, despite his fierce unwillingness to believe, the evil cackling of the wielder of the _Boosted Gear_ all but crushed his resistance.

He could only fall to his knees while crying bitter tears.

Naruto, who was giving the scene the barest bit of his attention, gave the rest of it to the blond nun who had walked up to him looking decidedly nervous.

"Um...Naruto-san? May I ask you a question?" Asia requested, staring at her feet with a troubled expression.

The other blond shrugged, figuring that something like this was going to happen eventually.

Just like Mio, he knew that someone as innocent as the nun needed to learn about the 'birds and the bees' eventually.

So it was only fitting that the shinobi, the reliable source of information that he was, give her his worldly knowledge so that she could-

"Is it wrong to sleep with somebody?" she asked innocently, tipping her head just a bit.

...

Wow, ok, they skipped level one and skipped right onto the last boss, huh?

"Issei-san's parents seemed to be very distraught when they found me in his bed..."

Those poor, poor parents of his...

"...And while Issei-san says that it was ok, I can't help but wonder whether we did something bad." she finished, her face scrunched a bit with worry. "I even had on those pyjamas that they said I looked cute in, but they were still mad at him..."

Naruto blinked, opened his mouth to answer, then thought better of it when he went over what she had said in his head.

"You were wearing pyjamas?" he requested for confirmation.

"Yeah." came the reply.

Which left the shinobi a little stumped at first, as he wasn't sure how someone could do _that_ with clothes on.

Unless...

"Hey, did either of you take off your clothes while you were sleeping together?" the shinobi tried to clarify, needing it to understand-

"...Why would we do that?" the nun inquired, her innocence shining through his doubts.

They literally just slept together, that was it.

Nothing explicit or raunchy happened, as his parents no doubt feared and Saji no doubt hated to think about.

So, with this fact in hand, he gave his answer. "Nah, you're good. Sleeping together is totally alright. Hell, I sleep with Mio sometimes too dattebayo!"

Said half-devil, who only heard the last bit of his sentence due to his emphasis of them, blushed furiously.

Much to the clone's horror, as her grip on him grew vicious thanks to her embarrassment.

Which, in turn, led to the inevitable-

 ***Poof***

Naruto blinked, an influx of memories entering his head unbidden to his whims.

With those memories, came the cherry-faced Mio that lost the blond copy, looking like she wanted nothing more than to hide her head underground somewhere.

Yet she still moved close to him, pulling at his ear with a pout.

It hurts a little, but he figured that he would let her have her way for a bit.

He was gracious like that.

"Perverted bully." he heard her say under her breathe.

A comment he took offense to. "Hey! I'm many things; a badass, a ramen-worshipper, a fighter, a decent writer of calligraphy...but I ain't a perverted bully!"

Seeing the unimpressed look he was being given only spurred him on to try and prove his point.

He turned to the entrance of the main room to face the pretty boy of Rias' Peerage. "Isn't that right, Kiba?"

Jerking just a bit at getting called out, Yuuto Kiba smiled hesitantly as he entered the room, wondering how his fellow blond knew that he had arrived without looking. "Er...I definitely wouldn't call you a pervert at the very least."

The shinobi beamed, both; at getting his backup, and because the _knight_ was genuinely trying to normalize his behavior with everyone.

He was just a bit proud.

At least until he realized what he left out. "Wait, you think I'm a bully!?"

The handsome blond turned away from him uneasily, the ends of his lips twitching, barely. "...You have your moments, sometimes."

Naruto took a step back, betrayed. "I-I would never-!"

"Naruto-sempai...can't be called a pervert." a monotone voice interjected. "...But he can sometimes be called a bully."

Koneko threw in her own opinion as she emerged from Kiba Yuuto's back, sure that she was correct.

Yuuto shot the younger girl a wry smile, as she pretty much had traveled with him to make sure that he didn't run off again.

Not that he could blame her, he had to re-earn everyone's trust again.

"So you think he can't be called a pervert?" Mio asked from behind her brother.

"...Only one person can really be called a pervert." the _rook_ claimed, pointing at a certain someone as she continued. "...And that's him."

Issei stopped lording over Saji to gape at the loli.

He hadn't even done anything yet!

Meanwhile, the shinobi was grumbling under his breath, annoyed.

She was only saying that because he blew her up that one time at Rias' summer retreat.

It happened _once_ damn it!

"Really?" the half-devil wondered, raising a hand to check her nails casually. "Because I recently just heard that he had just peeped on your _king_ while she was taking a shower."

Completely at ease with the verbal bomb she had just lobbed, Naruto now wondered why his imouto seemed to be in such a sour mood.

He had no idea that she was still nursing her embarrassment from before _and_ thoroughly unsettled with the idea that he had saw Rias-sempai naked.

It brought forth an ugly feeling, so she was letting a lot of steam out in something relatively harmless.

But the blond himself didn't feel that way when Koneko turned to him to stare.

"...Pervert."

He may just cry.

Hearing Issei's triumphant 'woop!' at not being the only one on the recieving end of the white-haired devil's frosty stare only gave him the motivation to glare at him.

Koneko thankfully shut him down quickly.

"Shut up, Pervert the Second."

"I've been given a title!?"

Hearing Issei's indignant squawk had never felt so justified.

* * *

It took a little bit for everyone to calm down after seeing each other again, but eventually everyone was gathered around to begin their little meeting.

Their game faces were officially on.

"Ok, everyone's here now." Rias affirmed as she commenced the much-needed talk. "I'm sure everyone is aware, but multiple events have taken place ever since Naruto went off to Kyoto, so it'd be prudent if we all help one another get caught back up to speed."

A series of nods were her collective answer, with the sole fallen angel of the group giving Naruto an inquisitive look.

"You went to Kyoto?"

The blond smiled and tipped his head. "Yep! With Maria and Yuki too!"

"That's right." Sona intervened, sensing that the conversation was about to be derailed. "So we were hoping that you could enlighten us on what has happened during your trip, as your two comrades came back with a cast and a series of bandages. _Something_ obviously happened."

Chancing a glance at the hero, the shinobi acceded to her request. "Well...while we were on our way to Kyoto on the train, our ride was kinda...hijacked."

"Hijacked?" the bespectacled high-class devil repeated. "By _whom_ exactly?"

Sparing one more look at Yuki, Naruto surged forward. "...By a group that called itself the 'Hero Faction'."

Inevitably, all eyes turned to the sole hero in the room.

Thankfully, none of them seemed to be hostile, just curious and interested.

"I know what you're all thinking." Yuki admitted without hesitation, expecting this. "But those...'heroes' are not aligned with me. As a matter of fact, I've never heard of them prior to this...incident."

Accepting this answer, Rias took over. A faction of...'heroes' is a dangerous prospect to think about. What could they have possibly been after?"

No one noticed the very faint wince that the teenaged girl with light blue hair exhibited following the red-head's words, hitting far too close to home to her liking. "I'm...not entirely sure what they sought in the long run. But from my limited contact with them, they seemed to have aimed their efforts on kidnapping the daughter of the yokai faction leader...in order to lure out her mother."

Those who knew of the power and importance of the yokai faction leader; Yasaka, reacted with understandable surprise and disbelief at what this new faction was aiming for.

While those such as Issei and Saji were left confused, not seeing how big of a deal it was.

"But...since you guys are here, that means you guys beat them, right?" Issei pointed out. "So what's everyone getting so worked up for?"

Raynare, recognising the importance of the yokai faction leader thanks to her studies, snorted.

Ignoring her, Rias elaborated with a new tension to her frame. "...Issei, if what Yuki-san said was true, then a head of a powerful group in Japan has been attacked by a new faction...then this will very likely affect their interactions with other factions...probably for the worse in this case."

The perverted boy scowled, grasping the basics of what his _king_ was trying to explain, but not much more than that. "Ok...but you make that sound like it's gonna be a bad thing, Buchou."

"It may not be." the Gremory heiress allowed. "But during a time when we're in the middle of something akin to a Cold War with the two other Biblical factions, something like this can very well be the spark necessary to fire up the powder keg that we've metaphorically made."

If anything, the young man's scowl deepened.

This time, it was Saji who spoke up though. "How the hell could this start a war...?"

"Because the yokai are probably gonna be very wary of outsiders now that their leader was attacked, all while searching for new allies that they could...somewhat trust. Something that could tip the delicate balance of power between the numerous supernatural factions in this country." Sona elaborated, concise as ever.

"To be blunt." Raynare decided to cut in. "If the yokai start making alliances all of a sudden, then other factions will grow paranoid that their people could be targeted by more than one group at the same time, spurring them to create an alliance themselves. Eventually leading to a bunch of alliances in a small country with tension that you could physically see between them. Does that simplify it for you?"

Issei gulped. "Y-Yeah."

Rias, newly solemn at the possible consequences of this event being bandied around, turned to face her whiskered friend. "Naruto...after, I assume, you met the leader of the yokai...how likely do you think that-"

"Time out."

The red-head blinked, seeing the blond raise both hands to make the signal of 'time out'. "...What?"

Naruto, who was staying silent throughout the exchange, looked at everyone with half-lidded eyes. "Everything...and I mean _everything_ you were just talking about is moot."

"And why, pray tell, is that?"

"Because..." Yuki stated dryly, covering for the blond. "The head and arms of the Hero Faction has been effectively cut by Naruto during our fight. They have lost their most powerful members and are now leaderless. They are currently not a major threat as far as I'm aware. Not anymore."

Rias felt her jaw slacken a bit, unable to do much else except stare at Naruto in order to get a confirmation from him.

The shinobi felt a bitter smile make it's way to his lips. "Yeah...I did do something like that."

Koneko squinted, noticing the decline of the blond's good mood as they broached the destruction of this 'Hero Faction's' elite.

Did something else happen out there?

Still, the news that an escalation of tension was now unlikely seemed to have eased both devil heiresses enough to miss this fact.

Enough at least that they forgot to ask something that the shinobi hoped they would forget.

Why he needed to speak with the yokai to begin with.

"Thank goodness..." Rias breathed out in relief, muscles relaxing. "Ok...is there anything else?"

"Found my old friend; Basara." Yuki noted, purposefully skipping over the circumstances by rolling onto the next big discussion. "And Naruto disappeared to help Azazel-san with a request."

Raynare somehow managed to choke on spit. "Wait...what the hell!?"

Sona, after taking a moment to recover from her surprise, raised an eyebrow at the fallen's response. "Judging by your reaction, you were not aware of this, I assume?"

"Like hell I knew!" she bit out. "What the hell goes through that man's mind for him to-"

"The Church sent an exorcist to Japan, a really strong one, in the hopes that he could retrieve the fragments of... _that_ sword." Naruto elaborated, making sure not to say the blade's name. "That bastard told me that he sent you to represent him, and that any meeting between the devils and fallen angels could lead the Church to believe that this was a team effort to weaken them. So...I had to convince him to turn back, that's all."

The shinobi paused, eyeing everyone in the room for a moment.

"You're all welcome by the way. I saved you lot from having to deal with exorcists dattebayo." he added as an afterthought.

Strangely enough though, the young man didn't get the accolades from his friends like he thought he would.

No, instead he got owlish stares.

"Naruto..." Rias started slowly, careful with her words. "I don't know how to tell you this, but..."

"Azazel-sama wasted your time." the sole fallen groused, irritated. "Because we, in fact, were visited by the Church's representatives in the form of exorcists...and they probably think that fallen angels and devils are in cahoots now too."

Predictably, the blond teen's eyes bulged. "Wait, wait, wait! Hold the phone. What do you...? _Oh..._ come on! Please tell me you're all just joking around here..."

Yuki shook her head, her short locks following her movements. "Sorry to say this...but they are correct. Maria and I escorted these exorcists ourselves."

Naruto went silent after that, stewing at the fact that his hard work might've literally been for nothing.

That old bastard never mentioned anything about the Church sending _multiple_ exorcists, just Dulio!

So then what the hell was this!?

Obviously someone, somewhere, fucked up in their information gathering.

Seeing that the blond wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, Yuki decided to ask some questions herself. "Rias-san, Sona-san."

Earning both of their attention, the hero continued. "When you were telling us about that twisted man...Diodora I believe his name was, you never told us why he attacked Mio in the first place. I thought that his aim was for Asia-san...?"

Asia herself shivered at the thought of being targeted by such a person, but willed her body to stop lest she worry anyone.

Meanwhile, beford either of the high-class devils could try and respond...

"I know why."

All focus was turned to Mio, sitting beside the shinobi, her cloudy pink eyes focused on her tightly knit hands placed on her lap.

She was recalling what that man had said during their clash yesterday, delving into something she'd prefer to forget.

She could still hear his taunting words...

" _I have to say...your abilities, while diverse, are pretty pathetic considering that you're the daughter of the Original Lucifer!"_

She swallowed the anger that threatened to overtake her, focusing on what was important.

He let it slip then, his knowledge of her true heritage.

So caught up in the fight was she that it didn't even occur to her to think about what he was saying.

Until now.

A fact which she interconnected with a conversation that she had with Naruto about a little more than a week ago now.

A conversation following the day where she, quite literally, openly berated the nobles of devil society that attended that stupid party after Naruto finished taking down a phoenix.

After that party, she recalled falling asleep in her brother's arms, succumbing to her mental exhaustion.

Then, when she woke up, she heard of the conversation that took place between Yuki's father and her friends.

Where she first heard about the organization that Yuki was a part of, in detail.

She didn't particularly care about it that much at the time, as she has never had any problems with 'heroes' before, nor did it affect her view of Yuki herself.

But it did explain a few things, to the succubus and to herself.

Most importantly though, was what she had gleaned from the summarized conversation.

The terrorist organization that was dedicated to recreating the old devil government and overthrowing the current one.

The _Old Maou Faction._

She had no doubt in her mind that the man that knew of her heritage; Diodora, was a part of that group.

Everyone that she knew or heard of had no love for the Original Lucifer, in fact, her life was in constant danger because of her heritage.

Yet...Diodora had claimed that she had an 'admirer'...

Only one that had respect for the old Maou could possibly know of her heritage and admire her, her friends in the room not withstanding.

But who led such a group?

Unfortunately no one would give her a straight answer on that, so she had no idea.

Regardless, her belief was just a suspicion at best, so maybe she should take back what she said.

Besides...admitting to her proof meant that she had to admit to everyone of her heritage...

Mio shivered, recoiling from the idea.

Don't think about it.

Just don't think about it.

"...Nevermind." Mio murmured, frowning. "I thought I knew, but I was wrong."

The silence following her statement was loud, far too loud.

A quiet that drowned out all noise.

Even worse was the look that her sibling was giving her with his shining and bright blue eyes.

He didn't need to say a word.

'I understand.'

"I see then..." Rias calmly said, letting her kohai go uncontested. "Then, for now, until we get more information, we should assume that Diodora was working alone, agreed?"

A chorus of nods and murmured agreements followed closely after her statement, settling the matter.

Which left one more important thing to talk about.

"I suppose...that everyone here is curious about the fight I ended up in the second I came back to Kuoh Town." Naruto dryly guessed, checking the facial expressions of everyone around him.

He was a hundred percent correct.

"That purple-haired girl." Issei remembered out loud, unable to forget. "She acted like she knew you, Naruto. What the hell is that about?"

The shinobi shrugged, genuinely not sure. "Dunno, all I know is that she has apparently been watching me for a long time and...that she wants to change me."

"Sounds kinda ominous to me, Naruto-sama." Maria claimed, getting some nods of agreement from others.

"Agreed." Yuki concurred. "But what does she want to change you into exactly? And for what purpose?"

"From what I gather..." the blond intoned through half-lidded eyes. "She essentially wants me to join her and become a bitter asshole, or something along those lines. As to the 'why'...no clue."

At least, nothing truly solid.

He only had a vague idea of what she had planned for him, he only really knew that she needed him for...something.

Until he knew what though, he wouldn't needlessly have them worry about it.

 **'Coward.'**

A groan escaped Naruto's throat, feeling a headache throb all of a sudden, not hearing the whisper at the absolute edge of his awareness.

No one noticed, too focused on the discussion at hand.

"...Counter-productive." Koneko pointed out stoically, not seeing the logic in play.

"And delusional." Raynare shook her head, almost pitying the girl in her impossible goal. "How exactly can she make this ball of sunshine into a sadsack?"

Imperceptibly, the young man winced, hoping that the fallen's words were as irrefutable as she made it out to be.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you're also not sure whether she works alone or not." Rias predicted, disgruntled with just how in the dark they were in.

Naruto's helpless shrug was his only answer.

Sona turned from the group to face her _queen_ , in the middle of taking notes as requested. "You got all of that, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki raised her head from the notepad she was scribbling on. "Yes, kaichou. We so far have a heavily weakened 'Hero Faction', a traitorous former high-class devil that may or may not have connections with an unknown yet hostile group, a purple-haired woman that carries unknown intentions towards Uzumaki-san and has the strength to face him on an even playing field, and two exorcists that may or may not be hostile roaming in Kuoh Town."

...

"Quite the summary." Raynare stated with an amused expression, impressed in spite of herself.

"Thank you." the Sitri _queen_ replied cooly.

"Yeah...it really was, wasn't it?" the Gremory heiress murmured, sagging onto the slightly table that they were using to have this discussion with. "There's just...so many enemies to contend with..."

"...Maybe. But then again, maybe not." Sona wondered, folding her hands onto her lap. "Remember, at least two groups; those so-called 'heroes' and the exorcists...they didn't want anything to do with us, and for the most part, I doubt that that has changed."

Saji shared a look with another member of his _king's_ Peerage, realizing that this was very true.

At the very least, they were all not those group's targets, they just so happened to be in close proximity to those targets.

"Actually, now that you mention it..." the other high-class devil turned towards Naruto, aiming to get specifics. "You said that that purple-haired woman was aiming to change you, right? So what exactly does that mean for the rest of us?"

Naruto scratched his cheek, looking apologetic. "Ah, well, to be honest, I couldn't help but get the impression that she very much doesn't care about any of you."

On a normal day, that'd be pretty insulting, but in this case it was something of a godsend.

Ironic that a devil felt that way though.

Because if what the blond claimed was true, then that meant that his adversary was at least predictable in her target.

With that in mind, they could now formulate plans and contingencies based on the target placed on his back.

Which, in total, left three out of the four...leaving only one more...

"Diodora...and whoever he is probably involved with." Sona finished her friend's thought for her.

Whoever Diodora was aiding, if he was working for someone anyway, it was obvious that the objective in that case revolved around Naruse Mio for whatever reason.

But unlike Naruto's case, the devil wasn't laser-focused on Mio, instead he specifically focused on her comrades around her to leave her isolated when the time came to attack.

So they were all fair game, and thus, if the threat still existed, would be the most immediate threat.

But, as was proven frustratingly clear in the discussion, they weren't sure.

They weren't sure about a lot of things.

But...at least they had an idea, something that was infinitely better than nothing at all.

"My...we have quite the conundrum on our hands, huh?" Yuuto asked rhetorically, marvelling at the sheer scope of the many groups around them.

That wasn't even getting into their lack of contact to the Underworld and the prospect of the rogue Grigori member; Kokabiel, still having a presence in Kuoh Town.

But seeing the look on everyone's faces, he figured that that could be left for later.

Perhaps noticing this introspective atmosphere, Naruto raised his limbs high above his head to stretch them, yawning loudly all the while.

"Hey now..." he drawled, giving everyone around him a critical look. "Don't go and overthink about this problem, or you'll all get grey hair early."

Ignoring the slightly scandalized look that she got from bespectacled high-class devil, the blond continued on. "Don't get me wrong, having an eye on the future is important, but letting it dominate your head to the point where it messes you up _now_ is a bad idea."

The shinobi felt himself ease up a little, his voice softening a bit without his input. "Relax, all of you, we'll deal with each of these groups when the time comes. So...just make sure to grow stronger and enjoy life, alright?"

Once more, the room fell silent, taking in the blond's words, letting the absence of noise stretch on.

"You're right." Yuki declared, certain of this. "We can't obsess over this, it won't help us any. We are all now aware of what has happened in the past few days, all that's left to do is live as we normally do and prepare for the next crisis."

"Yeah...that's probably for the best." Raynare backed up the hero, relaxed. "Getting worked up will do more harm than good, it will prove that you are all getting spooked. I mean, go ahead and let your enemies win if you want, not my problem anyway."

The human female's dull stare were trained onto the fallen angel, appreciating the support...without the abrasive words that accompanied it.

It seemed to have worked, as Rias' eyes flared with her innate competitiveness. "No. We won't allow our enemies to dictate how we feel or how we live our lives. We are better than that. Instead, we should all focus on improving ourselves in preparation...for whatever lies ahead."

Seeing determination flicker to life in those blue-green eyes of hers brought a assured smirk to Naruto's lips, pleased.

From Vretiel to Riser to Diodora, powerful enemies sprung up and posed a threat to her and those she cared for.

If she was convinced that they needed to get stronger before, she was now thoroughly won over by the idea.

Possibly seeing his positive expression, her eyes flicked to him.

Was there a light pink dusting her cheeks? Or was that just the light playing tricks on him?

"Can I- _we_ look forward to your support in our growth?" she questioned, utilizing politically correct terms.

But there was no mistaking the easy smile that made it's way to her lips.

And, honestly, she needn't have asked anyway.

"You know you do."

She did too.

But hearing it verbally still lifted her heart regardless.

"Then it seems that we've gone over everything we possibly could have gone over in regards to these last few days." Rias declared unilaterally, though she doubted anyone would object. "And if that's the case, then I see no reason for us to continue this discussion, correct?"

Varying expressions were bandied about by the numerous occupants of the room.

Raynare's part mocking, part genuine smirk.

Issei's confident grin.

Yuki's rather indulgent smile.

Maria's excited beaming.

The blink-and-you'll-miss-it upward twitch at the corners of Koneko's mouth.

Akeno's...

...

Akeno's...?

Rias blinked, realizing she has stopped to stare, and quickly returned to finish what she was going to say.

Whatever that was, she'd deal with it as soon as this meeting was adjourned.

"Then, with all we have gone over, I say that it's time to return back to daily life and work together to raise our strengths and cover our weaknesses. Meeting adjourned!"

* * *

"Hey, Naruto, may I ask you a question?"

Naruto sideglanced to look at the other blond, interested. "What's up?"

Honestly speaking, he wasn't really doing anything at the moment, since everyone was talking to everyone else at the moment.

The moment that the discussion ended, Raynare opted to leave the building and go get some shut-eye.

Rias had dragged her _queen_ off to parts unknown.

Sona was going over her own _queen's_ notes.

The pervert was animatedly going over his recent fight with Asia, regaling her with his 'badass' maneuvers.

The rest of the Sitri group was conversing with each other, probably about student council work.

And Mio was...

Sending a spare glance ahead of him, he saw his imouto getting an in-depth rundown of what happened in Kyoto by Yuki and Maria.

Then, as if sensing him, she swiveled her head to sneak a peek at him.

He waved.

She beamed and waved back.

Then she returned to the conversation.

Worrying.

That was Naruto's dominant emotion right then and there.

As he knew that she didn't predict his looking over there.

No...actually, she had been turning to him to check if he was still there every ten minutes or so.

Her strange behavior was beginning to get to him now.

"Well, you see, Naruto." Yuuto continued, not noticing the blond's split attention. "I was wondering if you...noticed something that caught my attention last night. Something hard to miss."

The whiskered teen regained his bearings quickly. "Something hard to miss, eh? Interesting. But why are you bringing this up now? Why not during the meeting?"

A small frown was his response. "After all that's happened, I don't want to worry everyone with another issue that may be baseless."

Almost as an afterthought, he halted, his expression becoming pained.

"...I've given everyone enough stress I think."

Ah, so it was like that, huh?

"Ok then, so what's this...uh...'thing' that you felt last night?" the blond pressed, facial features backing up his open nature.

Soothed, Yuuto took the plunge. "Well...last night, before I even knew that anyone was in danger, I felt a dark energy emerge all of a sudden from another part of Kuoh Town. I...I'm not too sure how to explain it, but it felt...hateful. I thought that it might've been the enemy, but it eventually disappeared during your fight. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"

The shinobi's open visage slammed shut in an instant.

Steel-grey watched the change with a feeling of dread, not understanding what he had done to warrant such an action.

But the shift, as quickly as it had come, was just as quickly undone, with the young man shrugging his shoulder with an air of ease.

The _knight_ felt like he was imagining it almost...

"Don't remember feeling something like that." Naruto claimed, sounding honest.

Nodding, Yuuto believed him, not seeing the telltale signs of a lie in sight.

And he wasn't lying. He didn't feel that hatred.

He felt something far worse.

"...Naruto-sempai?"

A haze was cleared in the blond's head, giving him the ability to lock gazes with the snow-haired teen that was one year his junior.

"What's wrong, Koneko-san?"

Koneko stared at the blond, hesitant, her small face scrunching up.

"...Nothing, never mind."

She chickened out, much to her inner frustration.

After everything that's happened, she was hoping that maybe...just _maybe_ she could-

"Hey, Koneko-san, wanna train with me?" Naruto asked, an encouraging smile on his face.

The _rook_ nearly tripped over herself, how did he-?

"Ah...sorry about that, I did kinda just ask that completely out of the blue, didn't I?" the shinobi apologized, scratching his cheek. "Well...the thing is, I wanted to ask you whether we could train together after that little devil party we attended, cause I figured you'd want to after that. And...well...I think I may be able to teach you some stuff."

Koneko was silent, heart swelling at the idea that he was already planning on helping her growth, no, more than that, actually train with her.

Back in her _king's_ summer home, he simply just fought them and pointed out some flaws in their fighting styles, he didn't actively train anyone, not really.

Yet he was willing to do it now, for her.

Taking the reincarnated devil's silence as hesitation however, the blond quickly backpedaled on the idea. "Well, of course, you don't have to do it if you don't want to..."

"Thank you."

It was clear and concise, true and emotive.

He understood.

After being spooked by the feeling of senjutsu at least a week ago, and after getting thrown into a fight that no one could have possibly imagined even could have happened...she was raring to go.

"We'll start tomorrow, alright?"

Her hazel eyes shined with determination.

"Yes!"

* * *

It was a little dark outside again.

A few hours have passed since they had their little meeting, where almost everyone was spending time just chatting, catching up with one another now that they've collectively caught their breath.

But, after a while, the blond decided to slip out of the festivities, needing some time to get ready for his first training session with Koneko and to make sure that Raynare was alright.

She was a guest after all.

So, aware that Mio was checking to make sure he was there every now and again, he made sure to leave a clone behind when he slipped out.

Now he was casually walking back home, checking out the empty streets, figuring that mostly everyone was back at their homes, preparing to eat dinner soon.

Just like him.

Which was why he was a bit surprised to see someone he recognized come out of a small market stall as he entered the commercial district.

Said person, as if sensing his presence, turned to meet his blue with their violet.

"...Akeno!" he breathed.

Akeno's eyes lit up in recognition as well, but before she could say anything...

"Akeno-san! Don't tell me that that's all you're getting!" a voice rang out from the stall.

An easy smile made it's way to her lips. "Ara, but if I doubt I could finish everything if I got anymore groceries."

From the stall emerged an eldery woman, her wrinkled face stretched into a smile as she walked up to the younger woman with aid from her cane.

"Nonesense!" she dismissed, her grey eyes critical despite the smile decorating her features. "You're a budding young lady! You need more protein in your diet!"

The _queen_ of the Gremory group shook her head wryly, having had this discussion with the elderly woman. "Can we please not have this discussion in front of my friend here?"

"Your friend?" the old lady echoed, before turning and noticing the blond teen watching them.

She stared back at him for a few seconds, turning back to her young patron again.

Then looked at him once more.

Until finally landing on Akeno, a cheesy grin on her face. "Oh ho! _Now_ I understand!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes when the elderly woman waved for him to come closer, wary.

When he reached her, he was able to see Akeno's apologetic features through the side of his eyes.

"Here, take this young man." The weird lady said, grabbing his arm so that she could bring his hand up to her, then place something into his palm.

Raising his hand to inspect what he had just received, his eyebrow twitched.

It was a small square plastic package with a slight bulge in the center, belonging to something circular within.

He knew exactly what he was holding.

"Stay 'safe' Akeno-san!" the woman chirped, chuckling as she backed up into the stall, probably to get back home.

Both teens stood there, watching her go.

Until Naruto swung his arm to the ground, flinging his 'gift' to the ground with a red face.

That perverted old bat...!

* * *

"Apologies, although she's...a bit eccentric, she does mean well."

Naruto grunted, but didn't really say anything else.

Both teens were roughly going in a similar direction, so they began walking together following that...'event'

He still had no idea what the hell happened there.

"She seemed _awfully_ nosy, don'tcha think?" he commented, not really expecting an answer.

He got one anyway in the form of a chuckle.. "Ufufu...she's like that to everyone she's taken a liking to. Please forgive her."

Naruto kept walking as he tilted his head to peer at his companion through the side of his eye. "She's taken a liking to you?"

"Yep!" Akeno chirped. "As a matter of fact, I know most of the vendors in the commercial area since I act as the de-facto cook in Buchou's Peerage. Especially when it comes to making Koneko-chan's sweets and, of course, brewing tea."

"Seriously?"

"Ara ara, do you not believe me?"

The shinobi raised his hands up in surrender, marvelling at the idea that someone like Akeno would be friends with vendors from these local market stalls.

It was something so small and mundane that...well, it never crossed his mind as being in the realm of possibility.

A small snippet into a person that he really didn't know all that well yet.

...Maybe that should change.

Starting with something besides her weird aversion to Raynare, since she obviously wasn't willing to part with that information yet.

As the blond was reaching that conclusion, the voluptuous woman beside him was in her own little world herself.

Having only recently left from the small talk that her _king_ had dragged her into, the young woman was initially looking forward to some time alone to her thoughts.

But then the blond showed up, and she suddenly felt more inclined to talk.

So the both of them were, unbeknownst to each other, ready and willing to have have heart-to-heart, maybe.

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, since the duo had continued to move forward, where they eventually wandered past an abandoned alleyway.

An alleyway that had an occupant.

"Shit, shit, _shit!"_

A hunched form deep in the shadows was vehemently screaming expletives without a care in the world, earning the attention of anyone within hearing distance.

Like the two supernatural-aware young adults passing by.

"That shitty geezer promised me blood if I gave his toys a few test runs...but there's been no blood!" the insane man clothed in priestly clothing roared, furiously slicing apart an innocent garbage can with a wicked-looking sword. "'Don't kill any normal humans' he said, 'it would cause too much of a commotion' he said!"

Viciously kicking a fallen can, the 'priest' bellowed. "Well, _fuck you_ old man! I'm here for some blood! Whether it's shitty devil blood or heathen human blood doesn't matter anymore! I'm gonna get my decapitated teddy bear with fresh blood to help me get some sleep if it's the last thing I do!"

He paused there, an exaggerated scowl on his face, deeply considering... _something._

"...Maybe two decapitated bodies, and any children or pets I come across will get some too. That will teach those shitty devils to hide from me!" he declared arbitrarily, haughty.

Decision reached, the psychotic turned on the spot, his red eyes gleaming with ill intent.

Which was wiped away as soon as he noticed the two figures who had witnessed everything.

"...Ara, this is rather awkward." Akeno noted playfully. "We have heard everything just now."

"Yeah, we did." Naruto agreed readily, rolling up his sleeves. "So, you wanna do this or should I?"

A considering hum was what he received as an initial response. "Hmmm...instead of doing this separately...why not do this together?"

The dark grin that emerged on both of their faces gave the 'priest' the shivers.

Made even worse when, out of nowhere, the blond produced a small knife and electricity began to dance around the ravenette's body.

Her dark giggling didn't help.

"Well, if it's any comfort, there is at least one thing that all three of us can all agree on." the blond claimed, twirling his kunai as his glare sharpened. "...And that's that you came to the _wrong_ neighborhood."

The insane 'priest', even with his limited logical facilities, knew a lost battle when he saw one.

Which is why he; Freed Sellzen, only had one thing to say.

"... _Fuck._ "

* * *

"You seem to be kind of anxious there, Yuki."

Yuki jerked a bit, a little dusting of pink lighting up her cheeks in embarrassment.

She didn't realize that she was so distracted that the succubus could sneak up on her.

"Do you think so, Maria?" the hero couldn't help but wonder.

Maria, playful to a fault, frowned. "Well...you were up here instead of inside, then I see you stare blankly at the sky. I even managed to sneak up on you. You kinda have a habit of internalizing everything to boot, so..."

The hero marked everything she said as factual in a mental checklist, but didn't reply immediately.

Maria was impatient though. "Did I guess right?"

That was a guess? "Maybe."

"I got it, didn't I?"

Yuki stayed silent.

The succubus watched her for a moment, then idly balanced herself on the balls of her feet, twirling around in place. "Is this about the guy that you had me lug when we were going back to everyone else?"

Basara.

While, yes, she was worried about his comatose state, she knew that he'd be alright in the end.

Especially since he was secure in one of the guest rooms within Rias' base of operations, monitored.

That wasn't what was occupying her mind.

"Heh, bet that you're anxious whether they'll fight for your love or something like that."

No, she wasn't.

"Oh! Maybe you want that though! Ohhhhh...if that's the case then you should have me as an advisor before it blows up in your face, you're too fresh to handle such delicious drama by yourself. Unless, you also want that to happen..."

"I finally did it." Yuki interrupted.

Maria tilted her head to the side once she stopped twirling. "You finally had your first time? Well I hoped that you recorded it at the very least..."

"No." the hero sighed, why was she even telling her this? "I...I finally contacted otou-sama."

It took a moment for her to receive a response, but when she did, it was in the form of a proud smile.

"And? How'd he take it?" the silverette prompted, curious.

"About as well as you'd expect a father to take it." was the hero's vague response. "It...will take him a while for him to sort through his emotions."

She pulled her legs closer to her chest in her seated position, daring to hope that she could say 'otou-sama' after all was said and done.

* * *

What was wrong with the Great Hero?

Ever since the surprise kidnapping of a key member of the Hero Tribe, the entire base was on lockdown, with the higher ups of the faction immediately convening in an emergency session to figure out what to do.

The base had been compromised by an unknown group, several heroes laid dead, and an important member was kidnapped.

This was precisly the time that leadership and focus was needed, as well as decisive action.

Yet when Takashi, the only witness to the identities of the perpetrators, identified the ringleader of the group, his response was lackluster at best.

Instead of immediate reprisals, he cautioned against it, unwilling to rush right into hostile action.

At first, even with the emotions of many heightened, they listened to their Great Leader, their respect for his achievements and power obvious.

Until another higher up angrily wondered whether his caution had far more to do with keeping his adopted daughter's 'friend', who matched Takashi's description of the attacker, safe, rather than wisdom.

The Hero Tribe leader was no doubt regretting giving the elders a description of his daughter's newest ally.

Still, the damage has been done, and many heroes couldn't help but question Toujou Jin' s motives now that the charge was out there.

The Hero Tribe quickly became split between those that advised caution and those that advised immediate action.

Then, to make matters worse, during another heated discussion with the Hero Tribe's elders, the Great Hero's phone rang.

It wasn't so much the fact that his phone rang that was the issue, it was his response to it when he irritably picked it up and listened.

It was a slow change, but Toujou Jin's features grew deathly pale, his cigarette falling out of limp lips, the whites of his eyes going red.

He was forced to excuse himself for a moment, but as he went, so did the elders' confidence in him.

Which has led to Takashi's curent situation, his newest mission, given to him behind their leader's back.

To retrieve Nonaka Yuki from Kuoh Town, whether she wants to or not.

A mission to gather intelligence on her erstwhile 'ally'.

But he doubted that he could do it alone, he was going to need some help.

And he knew exactly who to go to.

* * *

 **AN: Uh...hi.**

 **Ok, first, I apologize for this taking so long, I ran into a big problem when I came back home for a little bit.**

 **My computer wasn't working, so I wrote everything here with my phone.**

 **I can't tell you how much that sucks, but I managed it.**

 **Now, just so you know, the grammer might have suffered a bit as a consequence, sorry.**

 **Also, the next few chapters will have more to do with character rather than fighting, a break from the chaos for a bit.**

 **But that doesn't mean that I'm not preparing for chaos down the line of course. :P**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoyed yourselves, cya next time!**

 **-RekkingPride**


	41. Chapter 41

Raynare has had an interesting few days.

Or, at least, an annoying few days, to an extent.

Back at the Grigori institution that she was stationed in the Underworld, she had lived a life where everything was regimented by Azazel-sama, a predictable timetable to everything.

It wasn't necessarily bad, and it was kind of necessary in order to bring out whatever her de-facto guardian was trying to coax out of her.

A task that, if she were honest, he was too successful with.

Regardless, even before she began to serve directly under Azazel-sama, she had always been somewhat...regimented.

Yet, the moment that she stepped out of the Underworld, the moment that she had entered Kuoh Town, was the same moment that the order that was her life was completely obliterated.

...For the second time.

It ground against her, the thought of unforseen circumstances, the unknown.

So, obviously, from the time where Gremory's _knight_ attacked her, to the time where she took part in a large discussion about the numerous events that plagued the supernatural residents of Kuoh Town, everything grinded on her.

One day to actually have a normal day without some random event throwing her off her feet would be appreciated, thank you very much.

She didn't want to end up like the supernatural residents of Kuoh Town, where they acted with borderline nonchalance to the unpredictable.

The 'unpredictable', in that case, being the young man that was partially responsible for her life's topsy-turvy trajectory.

Which was part of the reason why she left that grouping early, so that she could take some time to absorb everything and get away from the stifling atmosphere of the overrepresented devils.

Say what you will, but she couldn't be thoroughly comfortable with the idea of being surrounded by devils, even if they were nominally allies.

It would take a bit of time to get used to them.

So when the fallen angel returned to the house that she was staying in, she went to get some rest after she did some cleaning, feeling a little awkward sleeping there without doing some work to contribute.

But when she woke up...

"Mmph! Mmmmm! _Mmmmrgh!"_

She woke up to the sight of a strangely familiar man with priestly clothing and insane red eyes, screaming his head off and struggling against the bonds that held him down.

As well as the ball gag that was no doubt preventing him from yelling the obscenities that he so wanted to give voice to.

Though why someone would use a ball gag instead of a piece of cloth was beyond her.

Remaining still on the reclining chair that she has taken as her makeshift bed until she took in this, once again, completely out-of-left-field situation, she came to a realization.

It seemed that by the end of this, she'd be forced to adapt like the resident devils.

Damn it, that was a depressing thought.

Getting up from her 'bed', the young woman studied the man closely, scowl deepening as she could _swear_ that she has seen him before.

Perhaps she was having trouble because of how thoroughly trashed he looked?

Ignoring the severe burns he was sporting, as well as his frayed clothing, his face looked like it was recently used as someone's punching bag.

Black and blue all over, with his cheeks puffed up like some sort of horrific chipmunk, the man that was practicing bondage was unrecognizable to a normal human, so she was probably fighting a losing battle in trying to remember him.

Shrugging her shoulders, she stretched her limbs in place in order to get the kinks out of her joints, then walked off to find the only one who could answer her questions.

She couldn't find him.

All she found was the small form of the silver-haired girl that claimed to be Mio's guardian, busy cleaning up some dishes in the kitchen.

"Good morning!" the silverette chirped, aware of her presence without having to turn away from the sink.

Raynare raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "Morning. Hey, do you know that you have a brutalized man tied up in your living room?"

Maria finally turned away from the sink, eyes wide. "...Oh yeah, we do, don't we?"

She then chuckled nervously, scratching her cheek. "Oops...I guess I forgot to give you a warning about that, didn't I? I hope it wasn't too surprising."

It was. She really could have used that warning.

Not that she verbalized her disgruntlement or anything. "And...he's there because...?"

"Not sure." was her reply, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders. "Naruto-sama dragged him into the house sometime last night, all tied up. He never explained where that weird guy came from when I talked to him this morning...so I'm as clueless as you."

The fallen sighed, pushing her bangs back in frustration. "And where is Naruto right now...?"

"In school." Maria claimed as if it was obvious. "He went with Mio-sama after he woke up and had breakfast."

Oh, is that where he went? Well then, she could easily-

...

"He goes to school?" Raynare had to make doubly sure that she heard that right. " _Naruto_ goes to school?"

There was no mistaking the incredulity in the young woman's voice, unable to reconcile with the fact that the tirelessly energetic blond would willingly go to an institution of learning.

It just didn't fit with what she knew about him.

"Yeah...apparently he was tricked into going to Kuoh Academy, but he hasn't tried to get out of there yet." Maria admitted, going back to continue with the dishes. "It's kinda weird, but then again, knowing him, he might've forgotten about that. Who knows with him?"

Yeah, the silverette really couldn't tell anyone why the blond does what he does, just that he does it.

She'd like to figure out how his head worked someday though.

...As well as how to make him blush like a pre-pubescent boy.

She hadn't forgotten about that, it had much to do with her pride as a succubus after all.

Well...kinda.

She mostly just wanted to see his adorably red face.

"Ok..." Raynare was beginning to look more than a little exasperated with the situation. "Fine, then I'll just go to this school of his to ask him myself. There's just...something about that guy that..."

She halted there, shaking her head in frustration at the identity of the tied up man, something ringing at the back of her head when she looked at him.

And she hated the feeling of not knowing something that she should.

"E-Eh? You're going over there? Right now?" Maria stuttered, her memories harking back to the _last_ time that she went to Kuoh Academy for a friendly visit.

If she remembered correctly, that was the day that an apple and a frog fought to the death.

She was understandably skittish about going back there, especially when one considered the fact that Mio-sama didn't want her there at all.

The fallen was undeterred though. "Yeah, I'm going. You don't have to come along, I know the way there."

Even as she made her intention known, the supernatural woman was already moving past the small girl to make her way out of the house, determined for some answers.

Maria watched her go, wide eyed, wavering.

She broke quickly. "Wait!"

Raynare stopped her forward gait and twisted her head to look at the silver-haired girl, wondering what she wanted.

She wouldn't get the chance to ask, as Maria had already ripped her apron off and ran off to the entrance that the fallen had entered through initially, disappearing to the next room.

A violet gaze was left with nothing to focus on as it stared at the kitchen entrance, their owner left confused.

At first anyway.

Raynare quickly caught an inkling of what the smaller female was up to however, when she heard a distinctly muffled ' _Guh!_ ' emerge from the living room.

This suspicion was somewhat confirmed when Maria trotted back in, all smiles, completely ignoring the bit of blood staining her cheek.

"Had to knock him out, just in case he tried anything weird while we are gone." she reasoned, wiping the blood of off her face. "So I hit him. Hard."

The other female in the room quirked an eyebrow. "How hard?"

"As in; 'I have no idea whether he's going to get up today' hard."

Raynare nodded, her dark satisfaction revealed due to her crooked smirk. "Good. Lead the way."

She could grow to like these people yet.

* * *

Sona blew out some air once again, holding her head up with her right hand as she massaged her forehead.

Another headache was rolling in.

Although she had recently skipped school not once, but _twice_ , in order to deal with serious issues that affected the peace and stability of Kuoh Town...it seemed that her position as student council president refused to be curtailed.

Case in point; there was literally a huge stack of paperwork on her desk to fill out, ranging from requests for more club funding to questions about the Ball Tournament.

...

Oh, that's right, the Ball Tournament.

She forgot about that little schoolwide event...

Prior to Uzumaki-san's adventure to Kyoto, as well as before the school became vandalized by a frog and a...what was it...?

A 'Bapple', if she remembered correctly.

Yes. Before the school became vandalized due to the efforts of 'Gama-tan' and 'Bapple', she was in the middle of going through the paperwork that would allow for this club spanning event to occur.

She was forced to move that work to the side however, for obvious reasons.

Thankfully, the date for the event was never announced, so as long as she got to work immediately, she should be able to revive this school event.

More than anything else...she genuinely did want the students of Kuoh Academy to enjoy their high school lives, so working a little harder than usual wasn't going to be much of a bother for her.

At least the funds were secured prior to the series of debacles that forced her attention away from her work, all that really needed to be done now was to finalize the date with the faculty and coordinate which clubs would participate.

All she needed to do now was get started on the paperwork, which shouldn't take too long as long as there were no distractions-

"Yo, Sona-kaichou!"

And, of course, the king of distractions would barge into her office right at that moment.

Sona cautiously raised her head from her work to look at the duo that entered the student council room, lips thinning as she met with the dancing blue eyes of a troublemaker.

"Uzumaki-san." her _queen_ thankfully intervened. "Kaichou is currently in the middle of catching up on her work, unfortunately she doesn't have the time to be speaking to you right now. Perhaps you could come back later?"

Her statement was perfectly concise as to explain the situation without being outright insulting, giving an air of finality to her words while dangling the possibility of a second meeting later.

Really, most people would have taken the hint.

"Eh...this is pretty important though. Sorry, this can't wait dattebayo."

Too bad the blond wasn't like most people.

Before Sona could irritably tell the whiskered boy that she really was too busy to deal with his usual shenanigans, she noticed someone pop up from behind said male.

A shock of red hair gave her a clue as to who it was.

"Mio-san." the Sitri heiress called out, raising a brow when the mop of hair flinched from behind the troublemaker. "What are you doing here?"

Indeed, Naruse Mio slowly peeked out of her hiding spot behind Naruto, allowing herself to be fully visible to the high-class devil.

Shuffling nervously in place, the red-head waved at her. "H-Hey. Good morning, kaichou."

"...I hope that you're not skipping class like your older sibling, Mio-san." Sona frowned, hoping that the young woman wasn't following her brother's footsteps in his lackluster performance as a student.

The half-devil glanced away from her, biting her bottom lip. "Well..."

"She is." Naruto cut in dryly, earning a sputtered reaction from his sister. "But she wants to keep me out of trouble today, apparently."

Seeing the dubious look that was passed between the _king_ and _queen_ of the Sitri group, Mio recovered enough to explain herself. "W-Well, Naruto's professors are probably really annoyed with him because of how many classes he's skipped, right? So I just thought that, at least for his first day back, that someone could keep him out of trouble...you know?"

The shinobi in question glanced at the red-head, expression dry, clearly not seeing the need for her to tag along.

A sentiment that Sona seemed to agree with, if her dull eyes were to be believed.

Before she could even begin to voice such an opinion though, the blond in the room saw fit to speak again.

"Ok, yeah, this conversation is cool and all, but I really, _really_ do need to talk to you about something, Sona-kaichou!" Naruto declared, forcing their talk to go back to where he needed it to be.

The Sitri devil could only blow out some air, feeling her headache throb harder.

So much so that she was ready to punt the issue of the blond to someone else.

"Considering how busy I am, wouldn't it be better for you to go speak to Rias about whatever...'problem' you're having?" the devil tried to push the young man to her erstwhile rival, internally thanking her for her sacrifice in the name of the greater good.

Her sacrifice would be remembered.

"I tried that already."

Damn it.

"She was in the middle of class when I found her, and when I got her attention by knocking...well, she shooed me away." he continued, idly remembering how the red-head waved him away with a panicked expression on her face, strangely flushed.

Her reaction to his presence was a little rude though, and all he really did was grab everyone in the classroom's attention by knocking loudly.

What was she so embarrassed for exactly?

Shrugging it off, he took in the dull look that the student council president was giving him.

"...What?"

Sona shook her head, apologizing to her friend in her head for trying to pawn the blond off to her. "Nothing...really. But what exactly is so important that you _have_ to interrupt my work for?"

Naruto didn't verbally respond to her query.

Rather, he dug his hand into his pants pocket to pull out a slip of paper and held it out in front of him, so that everyone in the room could see it.

He then channeled just a bit of chakra into it.

Sona stared at the piece of paper, puzzled. "What are you-?"

 ***Clang***

Her words died in her throat the moment that a wicked looking sword popped out of the paper in the blond's hand, clattering on the floor of her office.

More alarming than the fact that a sword just popped out of a piece of paper however, was the _aura_ that it released.

An aura that immediately raised her hackles and made her skin crawl, instinctively making her shy away from the weapon.

One that she recognized as poisonous for her and any of her kind.

A holy aura.

Which meant that _that_ was a holy sword.

"This..." Naruto drawled. "Is what I needed to talk to you and Rias about."

As soon as he made that statement though, the youth quickly huffed, his features belaying his newly displeased state of mind.

"But I'm positive that I could've gotten Rias' attention earlier if a certain sadist actually told her about what happened last night." the shinobi complained, crossing his arms as he completely missed the overall reaction of the holy sword's entrance.

Even Mio's reaction, who's hybrid status helped lessen her instinctual fear of the sword, was obviously negative, if the constant chills down her spine was to be believed.

Thankfully, everyone of devil blood within the room soon pulled themselves together to calm themselves down.

Which was why Sona took a deep breath, prepared to actually question why the young man had something so dangerous with him in the first place.

Yet, alas.

She forgot that she had sent Saji out to make photocopies of the entry forms that the clubs would need to fill out in order to join the Ball Tournament.

And, to her dismay, the Secratery of the student council chose that moment to walk through the door, a large stack of papers held close to his chest.

As soon as he did so, the aura of holiness that emanated from the downed sword immediately locked his body into place, throwing his balance thoroughly off it's kilter.

And with that balance came the stack of papers.

Papers were thrown up into the air, making the office snow paper as the forms slowly descended into a haphazard mess on the floor.

Naruto and Mio looked on with interest as all the forms drifted back down to earth.

Saji cursed under his breath.

Tsubaki sighed.

Sona slowly took off her glasses and massaged her temples.

A student council president's job was never done.

* * *

"Ara ara, you seem to be somewhat disgruntled, Buchou. Did our kohai's little stunt throw you off that much?"

Rias really didn't want to answer that question.

It was early in the school day, the first relatively normal day since the highway of problems that bombarded them during the past few days.

Honestly, she was looking forward to simply going to class and enjoying the stability that high school life provided.

It went without saying that she would continue to utilize the training center underneath the old school building, but enjoying the lax atmosphere was definitely something she wanted to savor.

The first clue that this day may not go her way however, came as soon as her _queen_ informed her that she had subdued a man wearing clothing befitting of a priest with Naruto, and that he had secured a weapon that she thought she should see.

While slightly disturbed by this piece of news, she quickly determined that she could look at the weapon as soon as classes were done for the day.

Naruto, obviously, had other ideas.

It happened during her second period class, where the young devil was focused on jotting down notes, as a capable student should.

Until she heard the loud rapping of someone knocking on glass.

Knocked out of her state of concentration, the young woman hesitantly turned to look at the source of the noise.

She didn't look at the door to the classroom however.

No...she looked at the window.

The window that just so happened to be placed on the third floor of the Academy building.

Through that window, she met the annoyed blue gaze of a boy that completely lacked common sense.

She may or may not have squeaked out like a little girl at his surprise appearance.

Maybe.

So class eventually ended, with her fellow students still in an uproar at seeing someone push their face on the third story window.

And Rias was now storming her way towards the student council room, her pleasantly smiling _queen_ trailing behind her.

She was going to see this damn weapon. Then she was going to pull the blond's ear off for scaring her half to death.

Reaching the doorway that led to her fellow high-class devil's office, Rias pushed the door open, striding in with a firm resolve.

A resolve that nearly broke as soon as she took her first step.

The sheer weight of poisonous light halted her unstoppable march forward, leaving her frozen at the door frame.

A fact that someone obviously didn't appreciate.

"Rias!" she heard Sona hiss, her alarm obvious. "Close that door right now!"

A bit dazed, the devil hesitated in enacting that order, leaving Akeno to close the door behind her instead, already prepared for the sickening feeling of overwhelming light.

As soon as Rias did recover though, she had to take a moment to blink at the sight that was presented before her.

Naruto and Mio were present first of all, flanking the student council president as they were peering over her shoulder as her fingers worked on her laptop's keyboard, glaring at the screen.

Tsubaki and Saji, on the other hand, were busy picking up papers that were strewn across the floor.

At least, that's what they were doing, until they focused their attention onto the two who barged into the room.

More eye-catching than the occupants though, was the singular object that occupied the middle of the room.

Held in a sphere of water that was kept suspended above the floor, no doubt thanks to Sona's power, a jagged sword was kept safe from everyone's bodies.

A blade that was, without a doubt, the source of the alarm bells that were going off in Rias' head.

Impatiently almost, the Sitri heiress waved them in, beckoning them to her.

The duo couldn't help but notice the wary look that she had sent the suspended blade.

With an air of caution, Rias indeed moved to join the group huddled around her friend's laptop, making sure to give the weapon a wide berth.

"Akeno..." she whispered. "Is that the...?"

Akeno merely nodded, expression turning serious.

The Sitri heiress' next words didn't help her deteriorating good mood. "Unfortunately, if my research is correct, then your fear is rather valid, Rias."

Not saying another word, the young woman leaned in to gleam at what everyone was looking at, her heart falling like a stone.

"Overwhelming holy aura, incredible durability, unable to be wielded by any random swordsman off the streets, and an ability to significantly enhance the speed of it's user. Those are the perimeters that Nar...I mean, Uzumaki-san told me." Sona explained, the light catching the lens of her glasses. "And only one blade...or should I say...blade fragment, could fit all of those categories."

No one there needed to go further than that.

"So...it's really here then." Mio started slowly, raising her head to regard the dangerous weapon. "Then...does that mean that...?"

"It could." Sona allowed, biting her bottom lip, considering the possibility. "At the very least, Kokabiel has a minor presence in Kuoh Town still, but I wouldn't go far enough to say that he's still here."

"Yes..." Rias spoke softly, glancing at the sword fragment that held so many had implications for all of them. "Perhaps we should try and contact the Underworld again, if only so that we could keep the Maous on notice with what's going on..."

At the mention of the leaders of the Underworld, the Sitri heiress' eyes narrowed. "I agree with the belief that we should try and reach the Underworld again, but involving the Maous? If anything, they could make the situation even more volatile, and you know it."

Gnashing her jaw, the red-head quickly retracted her idea, recognizing her fellow devil's point.

A point that she herself had noted before, but that she had allowed to slip from her mind due to her fatigue.

There had to be something else they could do...

"Buchou, Kaichou." Akeno intervened, butting in a bit. "Before you continue on with this discussion, it would, perhaps, be prudent to keep the holy sword out of sight and out of mind for now, hm?"

And she was very much correct.

Just having the fragment of the legendary blade would be considered to be damning evidence to anyone looking for it.

Like a pair of exorcists for example.

Not to mention that having it around Yuuto was not exactly the best of ideas, all things considered.

Agreeing to the plan, Naruto resealed the blade without uttering a word, slipping it back onto his pocket.

Watching the blond utilize his extraordinarily useful ability, Sona forged on with their previous talk, seeking to bring it to a close. "I think that, in light of this incident, we should keep everyone on alert for any suspicious activity. But beyond that, informing the Maous won't be necessary unless we have absolute confirmation that Kokabiel is in the area."

She closed her violet eyes then, looking tired. "...I don't wish to start a war. Not if I can help it."

Rias nodded at that, she was pretty sure that that was the last thing anyone wanted.

The room fell into an introspective silence, allowing the occupants to quietly consider their situation.

A few of them didn't bother to do so.

"...I'm not sure what's going on right now." Saji admitted readily, before pointedly looking at the stack of paper he has collected. "But, for now, we should just focus on getting these to the clubs around school, right?"

Bless the young man's simplistic mind.

"I like this idea." Naruto proclaimed, having made no secret of his opinion about needlessly worrying about things.

Beside him, Mio leaned closer to the student council secretary, peering at the stacks of paper. "What's that say? A...'Ball Tournament'?"

Thankful for the switch to a far more pleasant topic, the Sitri heiress answered. "It's an event that's meant to pit the various clubs across the school against each other through a sport that uses a ball. Tennis, football, baseball, and others like it are all fair game."

The red-head's eyes shined with enthusiasm as her elder explained what the tournament was, relishing in the thought of participating in something so unbelievably normal and mundane.

It sounded like a fun time that was just waiting to happen!

Naruto looked interested himself. "Oooh! That sounds like a great idea! I definitely wanna join this thing dattebayo!"

"Yeah!" his imouto cheered with equal intensity, raising her fist in the air.

Chuckling at their dual excitement, Akeno smiled. "Yep! It's definitely a nice change of pace from everything. All thanks to our indulgent student council president."

Said student elect coughed into her hand, just a little embarrassed.

Unfortunately, someone had to bring both siblings back to reality. "That being said; unless you're part of a club, you can't participate in the tournament...which means you two can't join."

Obviously, this brought a negative reaction from both younger teens.

For the most part anyway.

Naruto quickly switched from his obviously vexed disposition to a more considering one, thinking about something.

Mio on the other hand...

"Huh...? Oh...but there's no way that we could join a club in such short notice." she complained, disappointed.

It was by that point that the blond close to her nudged her, stopping her from continuing and getting her to look at him curiously.

His enigmatic smile was his only response.

"No worries." he assured, ignoring the suspicious looks he was receiving from both high-class devils. "We may have missed our chance this time, but maybe we could join in and have fun in the next event, eh?"

Mio stared at him owlishly.

Akeno grinned, expecting something outrageous.

Rias and Sona shared looks, expecting trouble.

"He's totally up to something." Saji grumbled from under his breath, saying out loud what everyone else was thinking.

Without warning, an eraser slammed into the blond's forehead, knocking him off of his feet and onto his ass, leaving an irritated red mark there.

The Sitri heiress slowly panned her head to regard her desk, noting the disappearance of her eraser that was placed near her pencil holder.

Then she turned to the blond that looked about as innocent as a new borne baby.

Yeah, right.

"Agh! Damn you, you blond delinquent!" the student council secretary cursed, glaring daggers at his suspect.

Still looking like a proverbial angel, the shinobi tilted his head in a confused manner. "Huh? What are you talking about? I would _never_ hurt you, Saji! You're a member of the _super_ student council, right? It's practically my duty as a scrub to have some respect for you guys."

Anyone with eyes could clearly see the light sarcasm that glinted in his eyes.

Before anyone could call it out though, the young man caught his sister's hand and made his way out, grinning like a fox while he ignored her sputtered protests.

"I'll see you guys later!" he chirped with that same foxy look, his eyes closed as he shut the door behind him.

Rias mutely watched this all play out, dull blue-green locked on the shut door, tapping her finger on her friend's desk.

"He's up to something." she declared the obvious. "And it probably has something to do with the Ball Tournament."

"I think so too, Rias." her _queen_ chirped with a beatific smile. "Isn't it exciting?"

A grimace made it's way to the Gremory heiress' lips.

Considering how she was probably going to have to deal with the fallout of the blond's schemes...she'd say no.

But then again, even she had to admit that there was something...attractive about this spontaneous element in her normal high school life.

That being said, she was never going to admit as such to her _queen_. Ever.

By this point, Sona cleared her throat to gather everyone's attention. "Ignoring the troublemaker's exit for a moment...have you decided whether the Occult Research Club would take part in the Ball Tournament?"

As the young devil said this, her eyes sharpened imperceptibly, waiting for an answer.

A confident smirk was what she received. "Sona...you know perfectly well that I can't let the Student Council reign supreme completely uncontested without a challenge, don't you?"

The red-head received a smaller, yet rarer smirk in return. "I'm looking forward to it."

If one were to look at the two high-class devils now, they'd see the sparks lighting up in-between them in their rivalry, chuckling darkly in challenge.

Akeno and Tsubaki both shared looks with one another, amused and dry looks respectively.

Their _kings_ were at it again.

* * *

"H-Hey! What's going on, Naruto!?" Mio cried out, stammering just a bit as she was dragged through Kuoh Academy's hallways.

She had a perfectly legitimate reason to be frazzled though!

How would a normal person react when their part-time delinquent and part-time warrior of a sibling drags you out of a conversation without any explanation?

Like she was, at least that's how she felt.

...Well, the feeling of Naruto's calloused hand tightly holding her own didn't do much to soothe her nerves either.

She couldn't ponder her own feelings any further however, thanks to the sudden stop that the blond had enacted.

Stuffing her face into the young man's back, the half-devil took a step back as she sniffed, glaring at him even when he couldn't see her.

Willing him to turn around without a word, the shinobi eventually complied and turned on the spot, apologetic. "Heh, sorry about that, but I had to get out of there quickly so that I could tell you what's going on."

The half-devil tapped her foot on the tiled floor, unimpressed. "Tell me what exactly?"

"I'm glad you asked!" the shinobi proclaimed with a fox-like grin, making his audience more wary no doubt. "We, as in; you and me, are gonna make a new club!"

Mio blinked minutely, processing and computing this information, before it finally clicked.

"We are?"

"We are."

"How?"

"By finding and forc- er...I meant 'persuading'. Yeah. Persuading others to join."

"You let your true intentions slip for a second there."

"...No I didn't."

Deadpanning, Mio poked his chest. "Naruto. We're not going to force people to join a club, ok? No blackmailing or arm twisting."

Taking a step back, the blond clicked his tongue, irritated. "Tch. Fine. Then we'll just do things the boring way and ask random students. And since the bell is about to go off, that means that we'll get our chance in a sec..."

Turning on the spot, he finished his unanimous declaration. "We'll split up and muster as many people as we can for our club! Let's do this!"

The young man was obviously ready to roll, as he bent down to a crouch in order to sprint to the stairs that numerous students would no doubt flood in a few moments.

He wouldn't really get the chance though.

" _W-Wait!"_

Naruto nearly slammed face-first into the pavement when Mio glomped his waist, stopping him short and ruining his balance.

Swinging his arms wildly in a futile attempt to right himself, the teen tipped over and crashed his chin onto the floor, rattling his jaw.

Needing a moment to grit his teeth to make them quit their shaking, the blond finally addressed his persistent hanger on. "...Yes, Mio?"

Peeking through red locks, her pink eyes wavered. "Don't...uh, let's not split up, ok? So that we don't lose each other in the rush to class and all?"

Naruto, with merely a tilt of the head, locked his eyes with her's, giving her the feeling that he was seeing through her, peeling away her uncertainty through those pools of azure...

"Alright then!" he chirped, breaking their locked gaze and nodding readily. "We'll do that then. You ready to go now?"

Mio's eyes fluttered, a smile blossoming at his easy acceptance, thankful that he didn't look deeper. "Yeah! Definitely!"

And she was. Without a doubt.

Whenever she was with him, she always felt like she was ready for anything.

His presence strengthened her like nothing else could.

And she was drawing on that feeling of security now.

She had to.

It was the only thing that kept her anxiety away.

* * *

As soon as the bells rang, students, who were already in the midst of gathering their things, escaped from their respective classrooms to leisurely make their way to their next class.

All while making sure to chat it up with friends along the way, of course.

Yuki wasn't one of those students, choosing to focus first and foremost on gathering the necessary materials that she needed for her next class and making it there in time.

She had quite a bit of work to catch up on, since she was absent from her classes for almost an entire school week.

More than that...she had no illusions about the likelihood of a certain classmate of hers attending class was.

Which meant that she, in reality, was probably going to have to show the stubborn blond what he missed instead of their teacher.

And she had no intention of giving him false information.

Nodding to herself in determination, the young woman navigated through the gaggle of lively students, expertly ducking under a bag of school supplies that one of the rowdier students lobbed to his friend.

Hearing the muffled cry of; 'Hey!' brought a small smile to the girl with light blue hair.

So did hearing the squeals of a group of teenaged girls discussing what one of their member's crush said to them during class.

Or the constant one-upmanship that a trio of fit teenaged boys were undergoing with one another, leading to rambunctious laughter among those that heard them.

It was all so chaotic.

Yet...so peaceful.

A strange, yet fitting dichotomy.

It was nice, seeing something so thoroughly normal and mundane.

Seeing it helped remind her that such a thing could so very easily be taken for granted...

Taking a deep breath, Yuki stepped forward again after stopping for a moment, her heightened mood infectious.

"Oiiiii! Yuki!"

And it only improved from there, thanks to the shout that rose above the conundrum around her.

Through the crowd in front of her, she saw a familiar head of spiky golden hair rush towards her, bobbing above the numerous sets of heads that covered his visage from her.

But she knew who called her.

Only one person could so thoroughly fit in, and yet, stand out at the same time.

"Naruto." she answered, her smile growing an inch wider when he finally pushed through everyone to reach her.

The blond student that she was already planning to see in her next class grinned cheekily as he shimmied up next to her, nudging her playfully. "Yo. What's with you? You're in a good mood and it's scaring me, ya know?"

"Is it that obvious?" the hero asked, more to herself than anyone, before lightly shaking her head. "Well...just look around you, Naruto. Isn't it nice? Watching and taking part in this environment?"

"What? Uh...are you taking about the lack of explosions everywhere?"

"That's one of them." Yuki replied dryly, her small smile growing a little more knowingly. "But I'm sure that you appreciate this peace too...even if it's happening at a school."

The shinobi scratched his cheek, swiveling his head away from her stubbornly. "I dunno what you're talking about..."

Really, considering his headstrong nature, she shouldn't expect him to admit that something that he commonly complained about actually had any positives to it.

Which was definitely highlighted by an exasperated sigh that rang out behind him.

"Really...you can't just be honest, can you?" Mio wondered, looking more vexed by his behavior than actually irritated, before shooting an apologetic smile at the other girl. "Sorry if he's troubling you, Yuki."

Ignoring the betrayed expression that flitted across the blond's face, Yuki answered with a polite nod. "Good morning, Mio. And you don't have to worry about your brother, he's not troubling me at all."

"Yeah!" the shinobi cried out, throwing a triumphant grin at the red-head that scooted up next to him. "I ain't causing trouble! You should have more faith in me, like Yuki here."

"Oh please..." the half-devil snorted, deadpanning. "Yuki has a super high tolerance of your antics...I don't really know why. Please stop abusing your friend's kindness."

"I'm not! I'm totally innocent dattebayo!"

"You say that...but didn't you literally just harass a random student earlier to join your little-?"

Naruto swiftly cupped her mouth with the palm of his hand, shutting her up before she could spill the beans.

Nervously, the blond turned back to the hero while he ignored the unperturbed stare that Mio was drilling into his skull, gauging her reaction.

What he got wasn't exactly what he was expecting.

A low chuckle rumbled in her throat, making the young woman look like a completely regular student as her yellow eyes shined.

Looking every bit like the teenager that she _actually_ was.

Naruto beamed at this, infinitely preferring to see her like this instead of her borderline stoic persona that she took on in dangerous situations.

Or, for that matter, that side of her that was ridiculously obstinate in getting her way.

It gave him that nice and warm feeling in his heart, seeing her relax and act her age.

They should really treasure these moments more often.

...Speaking of which.

"Hey, Yuki."

The hero snapped away from the dwindling mass of students in the hallway, laying all of her attention upon him. "Yes?"

Beside him, Mio sighed via body language, since it was impossible to do so in the usual way with the borderline delinquent's hand stopping her.

Here came the pitch...

Nervously rubbing the back of his head, a habit that he had to knock himself out of, he made the pitch that his companion was expecting. "Care to join a club with me?"

Yuki blinked, staring at him, looking lost in how she should respond.

Then she gave him the only response that she could have possibly given as her brain grasped the concept that he was verbalizing.

"...Excuse me?"

* * *

"Woah...look at _her_..."

"I know, right? She's definitely daring, that's for sure."

"Psht. Desperate is probably the better word."

She should've expected these comments, should've known they were coming.

Honestly though, she tended to forget about the God of the Bible's least impressive creation, especially in light of recent events.

Azazel-sama consistently drilled her to be mindful of her surroundings, even with a race that she discounted on principle.

A habit that she has gained through the influence of her flesh and blood no doubt.

And one that she needed to break out of.

She has _literally_ seen her own mother underestimate a human being, only to see her arrogance come back to haunt her with a beat down.

There was no need for time to repeat itself with her offspring.

...

All that being said...

"Kaa-chan! Kaa-chan! Why is that lady wearing so little clothing?"

"...Um...well...-Hey! Why don't we get some yakisoba for lunch today?"

A mother that just so happened to be passing by tried to steer her innocent daughter's focus away from the fallen angel, shooting the supernatural being a dirty look as a parting shot.

Raynare felt a vein bulge on her forehead.

...Why did humans have to be so annoying?

"...Huh. Strange. I'm getting a weird sense of deja vu."

Beside the annoyed supernatural being, her small silver-haired companion made such a comment, looking almost comically perturbed.

Maria shrugged her shoulders, chalking up the feeling as just a coincidence as she grinned at the ravenette next to her. "So? How's it feel to be around the ordinary again?"

Raynare dourly looked ahead, declining to answer.

Pouting, the loli tried again. "Oh, come on. There's no need to be sad! I'm sure that no one really means what they're saying about your clothes."

"...I'm _not_ sad. Just annoyed is all." the fallen retorted bluntly, scowling at the other female's assumption.

Her scowl only got deeper when she saw the victorious grin spreading across Maria's face, only just figuring out that she got a kick out of riling people up.

That belief was only solidified when she heard her poor attempt at hiding her giggles.

So poorly hidden that she began to wiggle a little while walking, earning more than a few strange looks from the regular people around them.

Her mood souring further, Raynare was just about ready to scold the silverette.

Until she noticed something poking out of her gothic-style dress, probably thanks to her excitement.

Feeling only a little vindictive, the young woman quickly punted her foot onto the lower backside of her acquaintance's body, eliciting an 'Eep!' out of her.

Spinning on the spot, Maria gave her a petulant glare whilst rubbing the area right above her bottom.

Raynare could only shrug, a self-satisfied smirk tugging at her lips. "What? Your tail was threatening to pop out. Had to stop it somehow, right?"

The loli didn't look particularly soothed by this logic, judging by her flaring nostrils.

So instead of arguing, Maria just huffed and flicked her head away, keeping her nose in the air as she walked.

Grinning gamely, the fallen followed, assuming that they were getting close to Kuoh Academy grounds now, still ignoring the looks she was getting from the humans around her.

As a fallen angel, it wasn't exactly strange for a woman to wear a corset out in the open.

...Hell, it wasn't even that uncommon for some men to do it.

So she really wished that they'd quit staring now.

But seeing as they weren't going to stop anytime soon, the angel with two pairs of black wings decided to focus on something else to distract herself with.

And her focus just so happened to land on the 'little girl's' lower back.

Or, to be specific, on her hidden tail, and what it's existence entailed.

She could already feel her curiosity soar, and feel her interest pique.

Which was exactly how she was able to ask what she was about to ask so abruptly.

"Hey, how did someone like you get involved in all of this?"

Maria stamped her foot lightly to stop and twist about, facing the fallen angel, her features plainly curious. "What do you mean 'someone like me'?"

Raynare rolled her shoulders in a facsimile of a shrug, walking beside the smaller female since she stopped to look at her. "I just didn't think that your people would let you stay around in this dimension. Wouldn't they want you to stay close to the Maous or something?"

It was a minor shift.

The succubus, who up until now held her heart in her sleeve, suddenly became more...

...Guarded.

The crinkles next to her eyes deepened and the edges of her mouth tightened, just a bit.

It was hardly noticeable, really.

But, then again, when you're the technical apprentice of someone like Azazel, you tend to catch onto some things.

There were a few times her life depended on it.

"...I...I don't really know what you're talking about!" Maria suddenly shouted out, looking more than a little panicky as she unnecessarily raised her voice.

Well, she obviously wasn't too good at lying under pressure.

Which did nothing except increase her interest even more, making her pupils glint like a predator.

Now _this_ was interesting...

"Oh! Look! We're almost at Kuoh Academy!" Maria proclaimed, jabbing her digit ahead as a sprawling group of buildings became visible to their gaze.

Shifting her focus to those buildings, the fallen angel gracefully let herself be distracted, thinking about her companion's strange reaction.

As well as how to respond to it.

...She supposed that she had more questions to ask Naruto than she initially thought.

* * *

"You want to make a club...? _You?_ "

Naruto's lips curved, his sharp canines visible to his friend's line of sight. "Is it that out of character?"

Yuki didn't deign to actually answer that question, only opting to give him a level stare, yellow eyes unblinking.

Even with the blond's nearly limitless confidence, the young man was clearly feeling the weight of the expectant stare that was being lodged at him, making him squirm.

...Only a bit though.

He refused to admit that he squirmed more than a little.

"...Mow dat I hink ahot it..." Mio mumbled out, her words hard to understand thanks to the hand still covering her mouth.

Predictably, the shinobi couldn't help but needle her about it. "Heh...sorry. It's kinda hard to understand you right now, maybe you should again? Or, better yet, try to-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, since he was too busy whipping his hand back, gawking at the red-head that had a wide grin plastered on her face.

Expression switching from wide-eyed surprise to disgust, the young man waved his hand around in the air, trying to get rid of the saliva that coated his palm.

Satisfied, Mio repeated herself. "Now that I think about it, it does seem a little suspicious, doesn't it? But don't worry, Yuki, he's not making a club so that he could enjoy school life, or anything like that."

Not in the least affected by the completely typical back-and-forth between the duo, the hero quirked an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? Then why does he want to make one exactly?"

The half-devil expected such a question, as well as the other female's suspicion in regards to such an...out-of-left-field request.

This _was_ the guy that had the unnatural ability to make messes out of the littlest of things; to create chaos from nothing.

Was that his special ability? To thoroughly mess with someone else's perfectly good day?

"...I feel like you're thinking about something incredibly rude about me right now." Naruto accused dourly, still occupied with getting rid of the spit on his hand.

Mio simply gave him a beatific smile. "Nope."

"See? Now I _know_ you are..." he retorted dryly.

Taken aback, the younger teen placed her hands on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that whenever you try and be cute, you give yourself away. Duh."

"I wasn't trying to-!" the red-head stopped. Breathed. Turned back to Yuki. "He's totally up to no good."

" _Oi!"_

Yuki looked at both teens, idly noting that the bell was ringing as she sighed. "...Naruto. Are you up to no good?"

Both; Naruto and Mio, stared at her with stupefied expressions, unable to believe that she'd let someone like the blond give her an answer.

Hell, if anything, said blond was even more surprised than she was!

So the shinobi, blinking, decided to give her an honest answer.

"Absolutely."

Mio twitched.

Yuki nodded reasonably.

But the spiky-haired troublemaker wasn't quite done. "...That being said, this time around..."

His lips spread apart, flashing sharp canines as he exhibited a wickedly mischievous grin, blue eyes dancing with barely held anticipation.

"I'm planning for something that we'll _all_ enjoy dattebayo."

The resident half-devil tried to keep her suspicious disposition, she really did.

But whatever magic that he just pulled to make such an expression temporarily made her catch her breath, forcing her to turn away lest she embarrass herself.

Yuki, for her part...

"Ok. I'll do it."

...Was totally convinced.

Seeing the whiskered teen light up with glee, the hero made sure to add one more thing before he got carried away.

"On one condition."

Naruto's glee fell flat, his features becoming vaguely huffy.

He still held hope though. "Alright...what is it?"

Yuki, always taciturn and reserved, tilted her head towards the floor, the faintest dusting of pink staining her cheeks.

"...Can you come by my house tomorrow, so that we can decide a name for it? I'd like to name it." she spoke quietly, her head angled downwards, her bangs covering her eyes as she fidgeted slightly.

Naruto blinked, never seeing the young woman look so... _small_ before.

But if all she wanted was to have a say in the name of the club...then that was simple enough of a condition to fulfill for her help.

Beside him, Mio was scrunching her brows together in consternation. "Er...Naruto? I don't think-"

"Deal!" Naruto agreed readily, flashing a thumbs up.

Yuki raised her head, her small smile gracing her features. "Tomorrow morning then. Before class?"

With a mock salute, the blond accepted the given time, grinning from ear-to-ear.

Glancing at a nearby clock that was suspended high on the wall next to them, the human female took in the time and turned back to the blond with that same smile. "I need to get to class...so...see you later?"

Despite the fact that they literally just made a set time to meet up, the young woman almost seemed to be unsure whether or not he would actually show up.

She almost seemed as nervous as one of those schoolgirls that was going to ask their crush out on a date.

The ludicrous idea of Yuki acting like a schoolgirl nearly made him scoff rudely, unable to take the idea seriously.

Regardless, the shinobi would ease her nerves. "Yeah...see ya later."

Satisfied with that answer, Yuki spun on her heel and jogged to her next class, her short light blue hair bouncing as she moved further and further away from him.

Watching her go, the young man pumped his fist in triumph, eager that he was finally getting the numbers necessary for his new club to form.

He would definitely make this Tournament a hell of a lot more interesting, or his name wasn't Uzumaki Naruto!

Seeking to share his excitement, the blond twisted his body to face his imouto, his lips parting to speak-

And those words died before they even left his throat, along with his jubilant expression.

Mio, instead of sharing his excitement, dourly glared out the window, a prevalent scowl messing up her pretty face.

Er...

"I-Is something wrong, Mio?"

No response.

Hesitantly, the shinobi tried again. "Well...uh...I'm not sure what's got you down, but if you need to talk to me, you can do that, ya know? Don't hesitate to-"

"You're a jerk."

Naruto was very quickly left without a voice to utilize, trying to formulate some kind of response as his suddenly moody family member refused to look him in the eye.

What the hell did he do!?

As the blond began to rattle his head on how he should fix this crisis, the source of his worries was crossing her arms, clenching her teeth in frustration.

Frustration that wasn't even aimed at the young man behind her. Not really.

If anything, it was aimed solely at _herself_.

She knew that she was a bit...'sensitive' with the blond, no matter what she claimed verbally.

Or rather, she was sensitive with who he interacted with.

While she liked and trusted Yuki, she just couldn't quite help but be irritated when the two of them met up privately, going out and conversing or doing who-knew-what.

And her disgruntled response to their meet-ups were only getting worse, if her declining mood was any indication.

She didn't want to lash out, but it was seriously beginning to get harder to suppress these feelings.

It wasn't fair to Naruto if she allowed her self-control to slip, but she couldn't help it...

She was...selfish, she could admit. As she very much didn't like the idea of the blond's attention being so thoroughly dominated by someone else.

This was her family now, and she knew that some part of her, deep inside, felt insecure with keeping it together.

That was all that was motivating her bad attitude; her phobia of her new family disconnecting, that was all.

That was _all_.

"...Hey, Mio?" she heard Naruto call out, pressing his hand against her shoulder from behind, nudging her a bit.

He sounded worried.

Sighing lowly, the red-head wondered whether she should go to class and cool her head, if only so that she wouldn't worry him some more.

Ah...

Right.

That wasn't an option.

The half-devil wanted to, but it wasn't an option for her right now.

Because...

 _"It's all your fault!"_

Words that haunted her whenever her thoughts were inevitably drawn back to _that_ battle.

 _"How would he look at you...?"_

Goosebumps racked her body, the image of a dying man lurching forward, his flaming body melting and falling apart as he rasped his poison.

She shivered again, trying to quell the rising fear that was beginning to clog up her throat-

"Mio?"

His voice was like a lifeboat for her drowning self, giving her the chance to drag herself out of her fit, calming her down.

His presence soothed her, kept the words away.

Mio had to be near him, until she was confident that her sanity wasn't in stake.

...Hopefully that would be soon.

She finally turned around, swallowing her misgivings in order to give him some kind of reassurance.

It would be hollow, but at least it would be something.

That was until, in the midst of turning, something caught her attention.

A shock of silver.

"What the hell!?"

A growl unintentionally left her throat as she snapped her attention back out the window, locking onto the 'silver' with a frightening intensity.

What she saw removed the cloud that had descended upon her, but simultaneously made her irritable all over again.

Just for entirely different reasons this time.

Shuffling next to her, Naruto followed her line of sight, deadpanning at what his crystal-blue found.

Mio didn't even bother to wait for his exasperated comment, she just twisted her body on the spot and began storming down the hallway to reach the stairs, feeling a vein throb on her forehead.

When she got down to the courtyard...she was obviously going to have to go all disciplinarian on a certain _non-student_.

...Again.

* * *

"This is it; Kuoh Academy!"

Even if there was no introduction given to the large western-style buildings that confronted them, the fallen angel would have already made the connection.

Still, Maria being Maria, wanted to give a dramatic introduction to the institution of learning.

Which was why Raynare was casually ignoring her, choosing to skim over the series of buildings, studying them.

If nothing else, it was a pleasant sight to behold.

But, of course, she wasn't here to sight-see. "Do you know where he is?"

The succubus, who was in the midst of another flourish, halted mid-action to answer. "Eh...all I'm sure about is that he's in the center building somewhere."

Warily sizing up said center building, the angel with black wings sighed. There was no way that they'd find him quickly at all if they were walking around blind.

And they weren't even technically supposed to even be on school grounds, she was sure.

 _Especially_ if the students looked at her like the regular civilians outside did.

"Heh. I know what you're thinking."

Violet eyes swiveled onto purple ones, looking about as dry as the Sahara Desert itself. "Do you?"

"Yep!" Maria declared, her confidence strangely firm. "Because, thanks to my personal experience, I can definitely guarantee that Naruto-sama will find us in within...oh...I'd give it five minutes?"

She frowned at that piece of information, a suspicion gnawing at her because of it. "...And why exactly would Naruto seek you out within such a small time frame?"

The silverette tilted her head to the side, scratching the back of her head with a chuckle.

"Probably because...I came here because I was bored. When I was told specifically not to."

Ah.

So...she was in trouble then.

That explained it.

...

"Wait..." Raynare scrunched her face, catching onto something.

" _Maria!"_

But, unfortunately for her, it would have to wait since a -very- irate scream echoed from across the courtyard.

Beaming, Maria waved at the origin of the scream.

She either completely ignored the scream and the accompanied high voltage glare, or was completely oblivious to it.

Whichever the case, Naruse Mio stormed up to the two of them with a heavy scowl, looking like she may actually try and blow someone up. "Maria...do you remember what happened the _last_ time you came here?"

The succubus hummed, tapping her chin with an air of playfulness, pissing off her charge even more. "Eh...I don't really remember to be honest."

Trudging up from behind the red-head, Naruto arched a brow as he noticed his imouto's face twitch in excess anger, before turning to the fallen with a grin. "Mornin'. What brings _you_ here of all places, Raynare?"

Raynare, who was watching both of the half-devils' bickering become increasingly charged, turned to the blond with a blank look. "...Well, I was going to come and find you so that I could ask you about that tied up man in your house...but then..."

She waved her hand in the direction of the continuously bickering family members, just in time for her to see the red-head grind her fists against the loli's cheeks as a malefic aura overtook her. "...Your crazy family happened."

If the shinobi's grin could grow any wider, it would split his face apart.

She didn't know why she expected anything else from him.

Just as quickly as that grin grew though, it was wiped away almost as fast. "Wait. A tied up man?"

His eyes widened, his mouth forming a perfect 'o' as slammed his fist onto the palm of his hand.

"I completely forgot about that guy!" he exclaimed.

The fallen angel face-palmed, groaning.

Part of her wanted to just stay there, marveling how he could forget about the guy that he probably personally beat to a pulp, or the fact that he was left tied up in his own home.

But, if nothing else, she has gotten some experience with dealing with eccentric personalities. "...Right. Anyway; do you know who that guy is? At all?"

"Not really." came the casual reply, Naruto's blue eyes turning to spare a glance at his imouto, who was busy verbally lashing at her guardian, before returning back to the fallen. "All I really know about him is that he's insane, he seems to have a habit of talking to himself, is kill-happy, and that he has...well...'had' a pretty badass sword."

Raynare's lips thinned, a spark of familiarity lighting in her head at this description, painting a picture of an individual that she'd prefer to never hear of again.

But she had to be sure. "Is there anything else? Anything that stands out?"

Scratching the crown of his head, the blond hummed in deep thought, scouring through his limited memories of the man when he was actually conscious.

He quickly hit the jackpot when one specific memory spoke out to him.

"He liked to say 'shitty' a lot."

Bingo.

Raynare's shoulders sagged, trying and failing to stop the tired sigh from leaving her lips.

Of _all_ of the people she has known...it just had to be that freak, didn't it?

She didn't even care about the 'badass' sword he had, she just wanted to know _why_ the hell he was still in Kuoh Town.

...Just thinking about the man that she had known as Freed Sellzen was giving her a headache...

Taking a moment to rub her temples with her fingers in order to nurse her headache, the blond that she was speaking to took a moment to size her up, a certain... _something_ glinting in his pools of blue.

Yet it wasn't until said young man made his request verbally that Raynare actually noticed that glint. "Hey, you wanna help me out with something?"

The fallen paused in her ministrations to look up at her acquaintance, instantly becoming wary once she looked into his eyes. "...Depends."

Her feeling of uneasiness was not soothed when he seemed to outright _sparkle_ in eagerness.

"...Can you join my team in the Ball Tournament?" he asked of her, clasping his hands together, like a prayer.

Everyone around him turned to him, taken aback by his request which seemed to have defied all reason and good sense.

Mio, who was in the midst of stretching the succubus' cheeks painfully, nearly let go when her grip slackened in her shock.

Maria for her part, with teary eyes, turned her head as much as she could towards the blond, giving him a look that resembled that of a kicked puppy.

Sparing them a look, the shinobi amended his statement. "And Maria too, if she wants to."

Now the red-head among them finally lost her grip against her guardian's cheeks, a chance that Maria seized without hesitation by falling backwards and rolling away frantically from her.

"I accept!" the silverette declared while rolling away like a ball, finishing her roll by ending up in a shrub nearby in the school's small garden.

Clicking her tongue, Mio glared at the shrub that Maria was hiding in, annoyed that she escaped from her clutches.

It was only after she tried to will the shrub to cough up her troublesome guardian with her gaze alone that she turned to Naruto. "You _do_ realize that that's impossible, right?"

His response was about as typical as she could have expected. "There's no such thing as 'impossible' dattebayo!"

Raynare crossed her arms under her bust, unamused. "Oh? So you're telling me that I can just join this..."

She stopped there without warning, lips tightening.

Seeing the fallen flex her jaw, looking for the name to describe what the blond invited her to, Mio decided to help her out. "...School event?"

The raven-haired woman inclined her head towards her. "Yes. That. How exactly can an outsider just waltz in and join this...school event?"

Naruto raised his nose in the air, his confidence not diminishing at all under this line of questioning. "Heh...look at you. Doubting my ability to get you in on the action! Shouldn't you realize by now that I wouldn't make this kind of request if I didn't have something to back it up first?"

Mio paled a bit, recognizing that he wasn't bluffing in his words.

He really wouldn't make such a request if he didn't already have a way for that request to actually come to fruition.

And, looking at the fallen angel, she must have understood that too.

"You're up to something again. Something big." she declared with nary a doubt.

"Yep!" he affirmed positively, his features fox-like when his smile grew so wide as to turn into slits. "Come on! This is gonna be super fun! I promise! Besides, I bet that you never actually joined something like this before, right?"

Raynare wrinkled her nose. "Excuse me?"

For the first time in this conversation, the blond's confidence was cracked, leaving a bit of uncertainty in it's wake. "Uhh...sorry, but I thought that you never joined something like an organized festival before. My bad."

"Wh-" the fallen took a step back, scandalized. "Why would you think that!?"

Naruto shrugged helplessly, displaying a sheepish grin. "Eh...well...that's because you sounded kind of...uncertain about what this Ball Tournament actually was. So...I just guessed that you never did something like that before, ya know?"

Her silence following his explanation spoke volumes, at least to Mio, who was watching the two of them, uncomfortable by the void of quiet.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable with it.

"W-Well, ya know...facing others in a tournament for fun and without any high stakes seemed pretty cool to me...I'm sure that you know about that though." he apologetically murmured, staring at the floor awkwardly.

Once more, he didn't receive any response, prompting him to continue babbling without any clear direction.

"Yeah, I know, a stupid assumption. It's just...something that I wanted everyone to enjoy, ya know? Something normal and mundane, where we can just be _young_. For once in our crazy lives. I mean- that'd be nice, right?"

Pink eyes aimed at the young man that was unintentionally letting his true thoughts filter through, without any of the usual hubris that usually protected his intentions.

Was this how he truly felt? What he truly wanted?

Looking back, the blond didn't try too hard to invite regular students in his little 'club' of his...no, instead, he focused specifically on those who were involved in the supernatural.

Those who were involved in the tidal wave of trouble that rocked all of them just two days ago.

Feeling her breath hitch in her throat, a stray fear entered her mind.

...Did he know?

Did he sense the anxiety that she built up whenever he wasn't near? Did he notice her strange behavior that she exhibited recently?

Because she couldn't deal with it yet. Not yet.

She needed time, just a little bit...just a _little_...

"Fine."

To her gratitude, her rising apprehension cooled down when the incredibly unbelievable prospect of what she had just heard had entered her ears.

It was so surprising that even the babbling youth beside her fell quiet in wonder, unable to quite believe what he's heard himself. "...Really? Seriously?"

Raynare turned away from both pairs of incredulous eyes, cheeks heating up. "...What? Can't I change my mind about things? This Tournament, as you're making it out to be sounds...interesting. Taking a break from our hectic lives...that's an appealing concept."

Understatements abounded.

Their lives _were_ pretty insane.

She chuckled then, quietly and bitterly. "Who knows? Since I'll probably be returning to the Underworld soon enough, this may be my last chance to do something 'normal'. When will I ever have such an opportunity like this again?"

And, indeed, this would be her first time doing something 'normal'.

Despite her claims earlier, she...really hasn't done something like this before, since her life was consumed with everything _besides_ the mundane.

Her prior silence wasn't of incredulity of a stupid assumption.

It was of surprise that he was correct, even when she didn't want to admit it.

"So...you're really gonna...?" Naruto started, lips bending upwards with widening eyes.

"Yeah..." Raynare admitted with a huff. "You'd better not be lying about this Tournament of yours, Naruto. I want to have a good time."

The blond was practically hopping in place, such was his excitement at the prospect of his plans coming into fruition. "You won't regret this! Promise! Without a doubt!"

A wry chuckle unintentionally left the fallen angel without her permission, shaking her head at his obvious excitement.

It was almost frustrating how easily this guy could draw a chuckle out of her.

Mio, who was watching said blond 'whooping', was inclined to agree with her.

For practically everyone, the fallen angel was either rude or just incredibly snarky, preventing most from really talking to her without sometimes getting put-off by her attitude.

Yet, in regards to anyone that was connected to him, her demeanor became more...softer.

"...My, it seems Mio-sama has more 'rivals' than I thought."

So spoke up the bush beside her, sounding contemplative.

It was kind of impressive for a shrub, honestly.

"Puh! I see her game. Trying to act all stubborn and hardheaded when she's actually just putty! She's playing hard-to-get! Don't let her get away with it, Mio-sama!" the shrub declared unilaterally, urging the fifteen-year old to take action.

And maybe if she had more energy to spare, she would do _something_ , but, as it stood...

Well. She didn't.

As a matter of fact, the red-head didn't even bother to look at the talking bush next to her, only managing to stop the tired look that nearly overtook her features.

Sometimes she wondered about the life she led...

* * *

Argento Asia never really liked fighting.

Never had, really, as fighting anyone for any reason always left someone hurt.

For as long as she could remember, she never liked the idea of anyone getting hurt.

And yet...

"Come on! Don't let up! Keep coming at me with all you've got!"

"Yes...!"

...She didn't mind this too much.

The nun winced slightly of course, when the spiky-haired boy's opponent was sent flat on her back after getting her legs scooped out from under her. But didn't do much else.

Once upon a time, she would have been horrified of the concept; of friends harming each other, even if it was a consensual affair.

But outside of her latest wince, the human girl only really took a mental note as to where either of the combatants were getting cuts and bruises on their bodies.

...Well, combatant, really.

The fight seemed to be a bit one-sided.

"Huh... really is giving it her all, isn't she, Buchou?"

"Indeed. As a matter of fact, I'm kind of hoping that she manages to knock that arrogant head of his. Just once."

Asia also didn't respond negatively to Yuuto and Rias' comments in regards to the training session in front of them, it was their way of having fun she knew.

Or letting off steam.

Both really.

"Yeesh...that blond bastard really isn't holding back too many punches here, huh?" her beloved perverted boy muttered beside her, scowling at the mismatch. "I kinda wanna join in and even the odds here. Either way; kick his ass, Koneko-chan!"

Koneko grunted as she blocked the kick that impacted against her crossed arms, sliding her feet against the ground, releasing a ***screech*** from the harsh friction.

Through the momentum she has obtained, she had hoped that she would gain some distance in-between them, seeking a moment to consider her options.

The fist that whipped past her right cheek told her that that option wasn't available unfortunately.

To the _rook's_ eyes, her opponent's fists were barely visible to her, fading in and out of her sight, blurring, giving her the barest of time frames to properly block whatever was threw at her.

Even then, the blows that rained against her began to leave rather nasty bruises in their wake, forcing a hefty wince out of her.

Her momentum was slowly diminishing as another fist rocked against her crossed arms, this time managing to break them apart from each other, leaving the younger girl wide open to a single punch straight to the stomach.

Coughing harshly, a fist embedded itself into her and nearly made her bend like a pretzel, the angle of the blow leading her spread feet to dig itself into the ground, finally killing all of her momentum.

Naruto was bent in front of her now, his fist making the snow-haired girl bend over as she coughed, her features shadowed from him thanks to her bangs.

Figuring that she was done, the blond moved to straighten himself, retracting his arm in order to give his assessment.

Blue eyes crinkled however, when he tried to take back his arm.

"I..."

The shinobi regarded the shorter form in front of him, hazel eyes regarding him with the tiniest of smiles gracing her features.

"...I've got you." Koneko declared, clutching the captive fist with both of her own, keeping him in place.

Quirking a golden eyebrow, the blond didn't verbally respond.

No, all he did was raise his _other_ fist up, preparing to knock down the devil into the ground without remorse.

Koneko didn't respond verbally to this latest threat either, and instead raised her foot and ruthlessly brought it down to the ground.

No. _Through_ the ground.

Naruto frowned as his foothold from under him became unstable, the eruption of earth forcing him to back up lest he find himself in a bad spot.

That being said, feeling the younger girl clutch his arm even tighter and jerk it back to her gave him the idea that she wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

She had him where she wanted him; unable to move.

Too bad she was a hundred years too early to try and outmaneuver him.

Pushing off from the ground, the blond allowed the younger girl to pull him back to her, watching as she raised her unoccupied hand and balled it into a fist.

Before it could release it's deadly payload, Naruto thrust his legs out, squarely slamming them into Koneko's chest, knocking the air right out of her in the process.

Using her like a springboard, the blond then somersaulted away from her, landing softly on a piece of the floor that wasn't destroyed and immediately hopped back into the air, soaring over the wheezing devil as she tried to get off of her back.

As soon as she brought oxygen into her lungs again, the young girl tucked herself up and rolled to the side, barely avoiding an axe kick that blew apart the ground that she was once resting on.

Getting out of the roll into a crouched position, the young _rook_ locked her gaze onto the cloud of dust, looking for the familiar shock of gold.

Her ear twitched.

Spinning on her heel, Koneko swung her right foot around in a sure-to-hit strike.

That very foot stopped mere inches from it's intended target.

"Hoh...? You heard me coming, eh? Those ears of yours are ridiculously sensitive, ya know that?" Naruto asked rhetorically, his good cheer not diminishing as his right hand clasped his opponent's right ankle.

The smaller girl, stuck in an awkward position, responded blandly as if there was nothing amiss. "...Yeah. I can't see you...but I can _hear_ you."

She paused there, reconsidering.

"...Most of the time. When you give me time to."

The shinobi grinned ferally. "Let's keep going. I'm gonna take this up a notch, alright?"

Hazel eyes blinked.

That probably wasn't good-

"Ah."

Koneko couldn't ponder her friend's words any more than that, since the blond's grip on her ankle was tightened...

" _Ah._ "

Then, with only a bit of exertion, he swung around her body over his shoulder and flung her into the air spinning, sending her world in a tizzy.

Even when she spread out her bat-like wings in an attempt to regain her bearing, she knew that she wouldn't be able to right herself before the knee that would come to lodge itself into her body arrived.

She was expecting it, along with a quip of 'You're not fast enough~' from the prankster.

Yet, with her wings aiding her, she was able to plop her feet onto the wall that she was initially swung at, hanging sideways like some sort of ninja.

Raising her head, she looked up to find out why exactly her sempai didn't take advantage of the situation, not sure whether to be thankful for the reprieve or cautious.

What she saw was a waving blond, beckoning her to him.

Nodding from her spot on the wall, she righted herself and began to float down to meet with her sempai.

Muscles loosened up as she fell back to the ground, letting her shoulders slump as soon as she was _absolutely_ sure...

Sure that their practice was done, that is.

"Alright!" declared the blond with a clap, grinning like the idiot that he sometimes acted like. "That was _much_ better than how you were in Rias' summer home, Koneko-san! You've obviously been practicing on improving what you've got; your strength and basic senses, and bringing them to new levels. That's always a good thing to aim for, at least to me."

She nodded, vividly remembering the strength and endurance training that she subjected herself to prior to the entire debacle with the _knight's_ disappearance.

Looked like it paid off for her in the end.

Though, a part of her couldn't help but wonder about his words, seeing as their difference in power seemed to be roughly similar to how they fought last time...

It just didn't feel like she has gotten anywhere, really.

Naruto must have seen such an expression on her face though, since he patted her on the shoulder. "Hey now, I know how it feels when you don't think that you're getting as strong as you need to...but don't worry, you're getting there. And in the end, it'll be worth it."

His kohai met his eyes, hazel joining with cerulean, then flicked away from them. "...Yes."

Blue stayed on her, silent, disengaging as soon as he figured out that she had nothing more to say.

Roughly about a fourth of a kilometer away, their audience watched the blond pat the younger girl in a comforting manner, not at all aware of what was transpiring between them.

All they really knew was that their initial training was over.

Figuring this, Asia hopped off of her seat on the bleachers and began jogging towards the two, prepared to act out her primary duty as a healer.

Issei, who was sitting next to her, leaned back in his seat, grunting. "Well...that went well. Damn it, I was hoping that she'd knock him down once at least. She almost had him when she did that spinning kick too..."

A rude snort interrupted him, earning a growl from the perverted boy as it's owner grinned at his irritation.

"I seriously doubt either you, or anyone here for that matter, could actually score a decent hit on him. Let alone 'knock him down'." Raynare scathingly rebuked, her violet eyes hooded as she challenged him.

The _Boosted Gear_ wielder glared at her sharply. "I know I can't beat him yet, but I'd like to think that I could at least touch him now. With the strength that I've got now at least!"

She simply snorted again, much to his rising aggravation.

She's seen that man face off against beings that would easily brush off the reincarnated devil like he was nothing.

What hope did he have against someone who could face against fallen angels with five pairs of wings and a _genuine_ phoenix?

Frankly, it was downright insulting that he could assume to be anywhere near that level yet, at least to her.

Unfortunately, between these two strong personalities, Mio was tensely resting her chin on her two hands, which were in turn propped by her knees, staring ahead with narrowed eyes.

She chose the absolute worst spot to relax on, obviously.

"Alright you two..." Rias spoke up, noticing her kohai's predicament, preparing to throw her a lifeline. "There's no need to argue about something so silly. It's all in good fun, since we're all on the same side."

Issei, chastised, turned away from the fallen angel and swallowed his aggravated feelings.

The fallen also turned away from him, casually placing an elbow onto her knee so that she could properly prop up her head, which was resting on her palm.

Her eyes were drawn to the two fighters in the distance, inspecting them with something akin to how a scientist would inspect something under a microscope.

Rias watched all of this with a sigh, a little regretful that she allowed the rival supernatural being to watch Koneko's training after school ended.

It was truly interesting, seeing the fallen angel touring the school grounds while being accompanied by Naruto's little family.

So, she thought that it'd be far too rude to exclude the other supernatural woman from the happenings that she was about to remind the blond of.

Of course, she was now cursing her thoroughly drilled lessons about common courtesy.

"Food's here, everyone~"

Her blue-green gaze snapped to what was in front of her, getting intensely mixed feelings all the while.

And how could she not?

She was getting better.

For a little bit, she was back to normal.

But with _her_ here...

Well...the young devil could only hope that her friend could keep it together.

Cheerfully humming a tune, Himejima Akeno was casually walking towards them after having exited the elevator, carrying a large tray of delicious-looking goodies with her hands.

Beside her, Maria was also helping out by carrying an assortment of beverages, as well as some finely brewed tea to boot, looking far too pleased with herself.

Completely missing the tension in his _king's_ frame, Issei beamed as he saw the trays of food. "Oh...! _Ouh!_ Food made by Akeno-sempai! Hell yes!"

Unbeknownst to him, he had just blew off the hard work of his sempai's partner, who had just puffed up her cheeks in agitation.

"Hey." Maria interrupted, tapping her foot against the ground when she stopped in front of him. "She wasn't the only one who worked hard on making all of this, I'll have you know."

The _pawn_ blinked, looking at her oddly. "...You can cook?"

" _Someone_ has to." she replied with a long-suffering sigh. "Neither Naruto-sama or Mio-sama are decent cooks. At all. It really makes me wonder how Naruto-sama has managed to survive by himself for so long..."

Actually, now that she thought about it, the blond probably just survived off of ramen cups.

Knowing him, that's probably all he ate too.

Stepping in front of the group with a relaxed air, completely unaffected by the bickering of the two beside her, she offered the tray that she was holding with an upturn of her lips. "I figured that everyone would be rather hungry after class, so I took the liberty to make some food and beverages. I actually finished faster than expected thanks to Maria-san over here too, so please thank her properly, Issei-kun."

Flashing a nervous grin, the perverted boy chuckled and scratched the back of his head, bowing his head a little in acquiescence.

Mollified, the succubus' bloated cheeks returned back to their normal sizes. "Ok! What's everyone waiting for? Dig in!"

Permission given, Issei jumped at the chance, feeling starving as far as he was concerned.

Yuuto, the more measured of the two, just took one of the tasty biscuits and began munching on it quietly, gaze focused on the two that were currently training.

Rias on the other hand, didn't move, watching warily as the encounter that she couldn't predict went underway in front of her.

Because while the _pawn_ had no qualms with grabbing a delicious pastry from the tray, Raynare looked at the assortment of food and beverages like with barely held suspicion.

Still, despite this, she cautiously leaned closer to the tray, expectant.

Which kick-started the interaction that the Gremory heiress really didn't want to occur.

Akeno, probably having seen the slight movement through the side of her eye, turned to the sole fallen, her pleasant smile still on.

Unconsciously, Rias held her breath, preparing herself for the fallout.

Somehow, she felt that Raynare followed her lead.

"Ara? Would you like some snacks as well?" the young woman asked with a tilt of the head. "Well then, it can't be helped can it? This is all meant for everyone after all. Help yourself."

Raynare blinked.

So did Rias for that matter.

Whereas Issei just began chomping on a muffin, breathing out in absolute bliss, ignorant of the proceedings around him.

"S-Seriously?" the fallen questioned dubiously, looking shaken. "Are you sure?"

Akeno nodded cheerfully, swiveling the tray towards the other woman, no trace of any prior hostility.

Her _king_ watched this with baited breath, daring to hope against hope that their private 'talk' actually produced _something_.

Just yesterday, Rias had dragged Akeno with her to one of the other rooms after the group meeting that they all had had adjourned, seeking privacy.

She had to speak to her, that was all there was to it.

Because right when the meeting was going to end, a conclusion that left everyone feeling almost universally better about their situation, she noticed that there was an exception.

A single grim exception.

And it seemed that Akeno herself realized how much her adverse feelings to the sole fallen angel was raising everyone's tension unnecessarily as well, since she bemoaned that very fact as soon as they were by themselves.

Back then, Rias didn't even have to say a word, she just had to listen to her friend release her true feelings about the subject, and then watch her reach a new resolve.

All without her input.

Honestly, she was rather impressed.

Then, to make matters more interesting, her _queen_ unilaterally decided to work harder in holding her distaste for the fallen woman back _and_ to make it up to her comrades for the unnecessary trouble she's caused.

Which meant, obviously, a full-blown delicious feast for everyone, filled with food that would probably take them all at least a week to burn.

In fact, Akeno was so dead-set on this idea of her's, that immediately afterwards she left to go get the necessary ingredients.

To put it bluntly; Rias expected Akeno to follow through with her attempt at making up with her friends, but she only held a dim hope of seeing herself hold herself back with Raynare.

She was shocked, really.

And so was Raynare, if her unhinged jaw was any indication.

Apparently done interacting with the other ravenette, her _queen_ turned to her, then turned to the two figures that were off in the distance, still talking. "How's Koneko-chan's training going so far?"

Relieved by the ease that her friend held herself in, Rias answered. "Honestly, she held out longer than I thought. She even nearly managed to score a clean hit on him despite his speed advantage. That being said, Naruto apparently just wanted to gauge her current abilities...so I can't say for sure how seriously he took the sparring match."

"Not too seriously I think..." Yuuto murmured off to the side absently, eyes still glued to Naruto and Koneko. "But seriously enough to press her hard enough. At least, I think."

Neither of the 'Great Ladies' had an answer to that, opting to join the _knight_ as their friends continued their discussion.

Meanwhile, one of the objects of their discussions twitched as a certain aroma hit her senses, causing her eyes to glaze over at the sweet smell...

"Oi, don't lose focus here. This is something important that you've gotta hear." Naruto criticized, lightly bopping Koneko on the crown of her head, bringing her back to earth.

Pouting just a bit, she turned her full focus back to her sparring partner, waiting to hear his verdict.

He gave it to her alright. "Like I said before; you've improved quite a bit. Faster than I thought you would, honestly. Really, all you've really got to improve on is your ability to get up-close-and-personal to your enemy, as well as your overall speed."

He stopped there, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, delving deeper in thought.

The _rook_ tilted her head, feeling like her sempai wasn't quite done with whatever he had to say, feeling just a little bit of trepidation fill her as she waited.

She didn't know why but...

"Hey...Koneko."

But this felt...important.

"I need you to focus on me. Don't split your attention to anything or anyone else." the blond continued, looking at her with a mix of seriousness and apprehensiveness that she couldn't help but reciprocate.

Yet she could feel how important this was, despite how strange the request seemed at first glance.

So she nodded, and did as she was asked.

Smiling a bit in gratitude before it was washed away, Naruto studied her features intensely, doing nothing except standing there for a few sparse moments.

The two of them stayed like that, motionless, waiting for a reaction from the other as a light wind drifted past both of their bodies.

Koneko frowned, trying to ignore the brush that tickled her skin and focus on the boy in front of her, confused as to what they were doing and why.

Whatever the young man wanted her to see, feel, or hear obviously wasn't reaching her however, if his scrunched brows exemplified his state of mind.

"...I knew it was weird...but still, this close she should be able to..." the blond muttered, more to himself than anyone else, even though Koneko was able to hear him without trouble.

Then his eyes refocused on her, as sharp as knives. "...Stop thinking."

Feeling her confusion grow by the second, the devil opened her mouth to ask what he could have possibly meant by that-

" _Stop thinking_." he reiterated in no uncertain terms. "Don't try and control what you're feeling, just...let go. Let your instincts take control, and _feel_."

The wind brushed against her again, tickling her, shifting her pure white hair as she struggled to accommodate her friend's demand, unsure of how to go about it.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She closed her eyes.

This time, when the strange breeze tickled her skin again, begging for her to listen to it's whispers, she...very simply...

...Listened.

It was a strange thing to do, to just be quiet and pay attention to the environment around you, especially considering the sheer amount of things that one could pay attention to in this day and age.

For a moment though, she placed all of those distractions into the back of her mind, focusing on nothing.

Nothing except the breeze brushing her hair.

Or the light sound of rustling that whistled against her ears.

Or the clean air that rushed into her nose.

Or...the azure light that lit up in front of her closed eyelids.

Then, just like that, her eyes snapped open.

And that's when the reincarnated devil finally began to _feel_ it.

It was subtle, and barely noticeable, but the feeling that tingled her senses and re-energized her couldn't be denied, or ignored.

Nor could the blue wisps of energy that simmered near her, acting like a wind that rushed around both of them, entangling them in it's warm embrace.

Her eyes stopped following the energy that surrounded her and focused on the blond again, a question at the tip of her tongue, begging to be asked.

She needn't have to.

His smile said it all.

"...You see it now, don't ya?" he muttered, his smile stretching to the edge of his face.

Koneko didn't move, as still as a stone. "...This..."

"Do you recognize it?" the shinobi questioned softly, peering at her with that calm air of his. "You should."

She did.

Except...she also didn't.

Koneko admitted as much when she raised her hands to look at them, feeling the 'wind' brush through her fingers, so intimately familiar...yet so foreign.

That was just it though, it felt familiar, but she...couldn't grasp what it was.

Fingers bents back to their palms, turning into fists once she closed her eyes, daring to wonder whether this 'feeling', which felt about as native to her as breathing could really be...

Could _actually_ be...

"It's chakra."

The _rook_ stiffened, raising her bowed head to look her sempai in the eye, growing wider than he honestly ever thought possible.

"...How?" was all she could ask.

What else could she ask?

How was it possible for a human being to have chakra? Let alone wield it with such ease and confidence?

But, at the same time, how could she have _missed_ this?

Just looking at the young man in front of her, she could practically feel the chakra that was leaking out of him, all without much reserve, with plenty left to spare.

Simply put; it was _obvious_.

Naruto wasn't hiding this power from her or anything, to the contrary, he was exhibiting it for her to see in plain sight.

So why couldn't she-?

"Man...I have to admit, I was pretty worried there for a minute. I was starting to think that you completely threw away your instincts in regards to chakra." the blond admitted, filling in the gap in the conversation. "Seriously, I've used my chakra near you before, yet you've never sensed it. Despite the fact that you've also got chakra...I just thought that that was weird when I figured out that you had that power within ya."

Nudging her a bit with his shoulder, he continued. "...Until I figured that you were kinda like me, that is."

Koneko looked up at the taller boy, squinting at him. "...Like you? How?"

Scratching the back of his neck in a bashful gesture, he decided to elaborate. "Well...I know what it's like to do everything that I can to avoid using a power that I don't trust. Kinda like senjutsu for you, right?"

Hazel eyes hardened as soon as the word 'senjutsu' emerged from his sentence, raising her hackles like nothing else could. "...Are you going to begin lecturing me, Naruto-sempai...? Are you going to tell me that...it's selfish for me to not use... _that_ power?"

Blinking in momentary surprise, Naruto propped his chin between his fingers, humming.

"Nah. Can't do that." he eventually claimed.

Nearly tripping over herself in her surprise, the young devil had to genuinely try and _not_ gape at the other teen, which was really saying something for her. " _What?"_

"You heard me." Naruto reaffirmed. "I can't do that. The only way I would have any right to lecture you about something would be if I actually...ya know...followed my own advice. The thing is; I still haven't overcome the obstacle that you yourself are dealing with, so what right do I have to lecture you?"

While Koneko refused to touch the natural energy of this world, and possibly for good reason, Naruto himself was very skittish about using the kyuubi's chakra, even more so when it felt like a darker persona of himself took control in that state.

It was all so strange to him, but that only proved his point; he had no right to criticize her.

That being said... "I get why you don't want to use senjutsu, but I'll have you know that chakra and senjutsu, while connected to one another, are _not_ the same. You have nothing to fear from not using it dattebayo."

He then patted his own chest, the azure fire around him becoming just a tad brighter at his action. "After all, I'm living proof of it, aren't I?"

The _rook_ nervously watched the energy with all of the enthusiasm of a brick wall. "...Your chakra...it's different though. It's more...'alive' than any I've ever felt. What if-?"

"No 'What ifs'!" the blond cut her off, glaring sternly. "Are you gonna live life by pondering the 'what ifs'? Or are you actually gonna give it a try when you have no reason to believe that it will hurt you? I mean, senjutsu, yeah, I get that. But chakra? C'mon, I'm literally using it right in front of you!"

Going off on a mini tirade seemed to have at least given his 'apprentice' enough of a shake to actually consider what was, until that point at least, a forbidden venue of power.

But the way she bit her bottom lip and clenched her small fists by her side suggested that she was, putting it mildly, pretty conflicted about utilizing that power within her. Without a doubt because of it's association with senjutsu.

So, taking a breath of air, the blond decided to take a different tact. "Hey...you're frustrated by your slow growth, right? Well, to be brutally honest, unless you access that chakra within you, your growth will remain slow, since the only thing we can improve would be your basic strength, endurance, and speed. No, in my opinion, you need access to new powers to compliment your fighting."

Thumping his fist against his chest, the young man grinned now, supportive. "And I have just the techniques for it, but you could only use them _if_ you have chakra."

Koneko stared at him, her face a mask of neutrality, keeping her thoughts well hidden now.

But her eyes showed him the truth; her conflict.

And she would stay like that, wavering in what she wanted to achieve in comparison to what she wanted to disassociate herself from.

Then she raised her head to lock her gaze with the young man, seeing the cool ocean-blue and the confidence that simmered within their depths.

And with that, made a decision. "I...I'll try."

Naruto's grin exploded into a full-blown smile. "Let's get started then, shall we?"

Swallowing her misgivings, the young devil got back into a fighting stance, prepared to restart their training.

"W-Wait!"

A squeak made the _rook_ blink, slowly turning to the side to see a panting nun reach them with a brave attempt at looking stern crossing her features, which failed miserably. "K-Koneko-san! Naruto-san! Please stop! Koneko-san's body should be repaired first before you fight again, so please be patient!"

Both combatants looked at her, both prepared to inform her that her worries were unfounded and that they could keep going-

"Ah."

Until Asia poked the nasty bruise that formed on her stomach.

The _rook_ bent forward a bit, her eye twitching as she did her best to hide how much that actually hurt her.

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't miss her reaction. "...Ah crap, sorry, I should've noticed that you were hurt. Let's stop our session for now, alright?"

"No, wait." Koneko protested softly, carefully straightening herself. "I can keep going, so let's-"

"We accomplished what I hoped we would for this session, don't worry." the shinobi raised his hands up in a calming gesture. "We'll continue this tomorrow, besides, you probably want to think about using...that energy, right?"

A small frown made it's way to his kohai's lips, seemingly to continue the argument.

Until she was shut down by a surprising source.

"Stop it."

This time Koneko did let out a yelp, snapping her head to look at the perpetrator of the hard poke that dug into her stomach a second time.

She met with a stern set of emerald eyes.

...Which very quickly morphed into panicked and worried comical swirls.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I-I just wanted to stop you from hurting yourself even more! Please forgive me!" Asia sputtered out in a near panic, waving her arms around frantically as she went on meltdown.

Looking at the nun with wide eyes, the devil's brain didn't catch up to current events until a roaring laughter echoed right next to her.

"Ha! Will you look at that? If even Asia is giving you this much trouble to take a break for the day, then I'd suggest doing it." Naruto advised, not bothering to hide his amusement.

Shooting him a glare, the reincarnated devil finally relented and nodded towards the human girl, giving her the go ahead to heal the admittedly painful wounds.

It seems that this was the signal that their audience needed to finally get off their butts and move towards them, no doubt with many questions.

The first to reach their little group was Mio, who had instantly seized his arm as she breathed out in relief, the tension that made her body rigid petering out as soon as she physically connected with him.

Seeing her like this, stressing about the fact that she wasn't within a certain distance to him, really made the blond question whether there was something more to her behavior than he thought.

For now though... "See? I told you that our session wouldn't be that long. That's why you need to trust my judgement more, it'd make life easier for both of us."

Mio raised her nose to the air, giving him a borderline imperious look. "Don't give me that, I didn't hear the words, but if Asia-san's actions are anything to go by, she had to _really_ try to stop you two from going at it again. You'd probably be at it until it got dark out!"

Chuckling nervously, the shinobi couldn't really dismiss such a belief.

It probably would have happened if the young nun didn't intervene if he were honest.

Not that he'd admit it, since it felt nice to rub it in his sibling's face that he wouldn't take all day to finish this training session, _especially_ since it took forever to convince her to let go of him and sit by the bleachers until he was done.

He managed to convince her in the end, as long as he didn't go further than a half kilometer away from the bleachers and she always maintained visual contact with him, she'd let go of him for a limited time.

Strange how he had to bargain for his own limb back...

"So! How is she, Naruto?" Rias called out with interest, approaching the duo with all of the grace of a noble woman.

Which...well...she was.

"Better than I thought." was the easy reply. "Her basic stats have definitely gone up since the last time we went at it, but I'm thinking of teaching her some new tricks that could definitely help flesh out her fighting style...for the most part."

"I see." the red-head murmured, rubbing her chin in thought. "Well then, it looks like you've got an idea of what to train her in. Good, then we can focus on our own training from here on in, right everyone?"

Practically everyone that were watching the clash between Koneko and Naruto nodded along with her, even Mio and Maria.

A fact that made the shinobi go rigid. "W-Wait...does that mean that..."

He raised a finger to shakily point at everyone around him, his tone accusatory. "...That you lot thought that I would screw up her training!?"

Rias turned away innocently.

Akeno giggled into the palm of her hand.

Yuuto flashed a nervous smile.

Issei became intensely interested in the ceiling all of a sudden.

Maria was in the middle of stuffing her face in with the leftover snacks.

Mio was still in the midst of trying to meld their bodies into some sort of fused state.

Asia was focused on healing Koneko.

Which...altogether, only really left one person to give him a blunt and straight answer.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did." Raynare claimed, no fuck's given. "I would do the same if I actually cared about that loli."

Damn the lot of them.

"Oi! What the hell!? I'm super trustworthy, aren't I!?" the blond complained loudly, petulantly folding his arms together as he glared at everyone around him.

Rias didn't say a word.

She merely shoved her hand into her pocket, picked something out, and then offered it to him.

Naruto regarded the item in her hand with a blank expression.

It was another phone.

"...Yeah." she deadpanned, wiggling the device in front of him. " _Suuuuuper_ trustworthy."

...

...

"Shut up." was all the shinobi could counter with, snatching the phone from her hand and stuffing it into his pocket.

He refused to look at her smug grin.

Instead, with as much dignity as he could muster, the young man walked towards the elevator to get back upstairs in a brisk pace, unilaterally deciding that he was done for the day.

Watching him go, the red-head clapped her hands together. "Alright everyone, after watching Koneko-chan give it her all, I say that we all push ourselves today as well! Is everyone ready?"

Cheers erupted from those that were ready to get back to work after witnessing the _rook's_ improvements, getting a fond smirk from the shinobi as he made his way to the elevator.

Now _that_ was the spirit that he wanted to see.

* * *

"Ouch."

Koneko made the sound with such a flat voice that Mio wondered whether Asia's cursory poke actually hurt at all.

Whether it was or not to her was beside the point though, since she wasn't the designated healer here.

As soon as she made such a sound, green light raged back to life, brighter than before, making sure to engulf the area that the devil was trying to hide from the nun.

The _rook_ obviously wanted to get out of the blond's grasp as soon as possible, but trying to hide her injuries was, ironically, making the process move slower than it could have if she was just honest.

There was a lesson in there somewhere, she was sure.

Mio, who was curiously watching the proceedings, jerked a bit as the ground underneath her shook almost infinitesimally.

"Yeesh..." she couldn't help but marvel. "They're really going at it today, huh?"

"Yep!" her brother agreed heartily beside her. "Isn't it awesome?"

Pink pupils shifted to send a sidelong glance to the blond next to her, noting the self-satisfied smile that was firmly plastered on his face.

Not that she could blame him for it, really.

"It is." she assented readily, crossing her arms under her bust as a contemplative air took hold of her. "Then again, considering the circumstances...I'd think that everyone would be motivated to reach new heights. Even me, even though I'm not a fan of training to be honest."

Could you blame her for that sentiment?

Training was hard, always left you tired, and only really helped reach new heights if you consistently pushed yourself to your absolute limit.

Doing something like that every day was exhausting to her, who was merely an ordinary teenaged girl just a few months ago.

She did it still, of course, but only because she had to.

Yet another difference that she could attribute between herself and the blond she casually called her 'brother', who practically loved to train.

"Hoh? Is that so?" Naruto wondered aloud, turning to her with a glint in his oceanic eyes. "If you believe that, then why aren't you going back down there to join them? You still haven't managed to accomplish that little task that I left for you, right?"

 _Because I don't want to leave you_.

Her true thoughts almost leaked out to the forefront, but she managed to rally. "I'll get back into it as soon as I'm sure that you won't thoroughly destroy the ORC's living room again."

Let it be known to all that her sass was an excellent way to cover up her feelings.

Especially when it elicited such over-the-top reactions from a very expressive knucklehead. "Hah!? Oh come on! That wasn't even my fault!"

Unable to stop the grin that grew on her features, the teenaged girl refused to back down. "Didn't you instigate it though?"

"She had a damn shower in the _middle_ of the living room!"

Ah yes, if he had the right to tease her relentlessly, then she bared the right to return the favor.

Too bad that it had to stop though. "...Can you not talk about that incident right now?"

By that point, Rias had stepped out of the elevator that led to the training center underground with a healthy hue of pink staining her cheeks, looking positively frazzled.

Both; literally and figuratively.

Her long crimson hair, usually her pride and joy, was currently jutting out everywhere, standing out on end.

Something that the blond couldn't help but point out. "What the hell is wrong with your hair?"

Mio elbowed her tactless sibling, which was expertly intercepted by one of his hands. "Naruto..."

"It's alright, Mio-chan." the Gremory heiress mumbled, combing her hair with her hand as a jolt of self-consciousness hit her, helping her ease her nerves. "As for what happened? Well...as you can see, I've gotten jolted by electricity. A lot of it, actually."

Naruto's eyes dully looked past the red-head to look at the pleasantly smiling offender of the act that was described. "...That was you, wasn't it, Akeno?"

"Ara, you know me so well." Akeno daintily covered her mouth with her hand, far too amused.

"She caught me in that new technique of hers." Rias grumbled, glaring at her _queen_ irritably. "Even if it was a mock fight, couldn't you have dialed your power back a little bit more than _that_ , Akeno?"

The raven-haired beauty nodded reasonably. "I could have."

She paused there, her beatific smile widening.

"But I didn't."

Huffing, the red-head turned away from her and strode towards the stall that was installed in the living room, preparing to strip and wash herself in a refreshing shower.

Before she could even take off her school vest, her eyes flashed towards curious blue orbs and the accompanying flash of golden spiky hair.

That shock of self-consciousness returned to full force then and there. "...If it's possible, can you guys go to a different room while I shower? I'll be quick."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, an imaginary question mark no doubt floating above his head.

His questions would have to wait however, as her _queen_ seems to have understand the situation better than the blond ever could and began to push him lightly towards one of the guests rooms. "Ara, are you all going to make a lady spell it out for you? Come, let's take this to another room so that we can give Buchou some privacy."

"Ah...wait." Koneko spoke up, shuffling away from the nun as her _queen_ began to herd all of them to another room. "I wanna go back downstairs."

Asia tried to protest the _rook's_ decision, but the younger girl ducked under Akeno's arms and reached the elevator, determined to continue working until she knocked herself unconscious.

Seeing the nun's pleading eyes train themselves on her, Akeno could only shrug airily. "If she's that determined to continue, who are we to stop her? Don't worry, the three that decided to stay down there won't go too far. As a matter of fact...why don't you check up on our...'other' guest instead?"

Scrunching her brows together and puffing her cheeks out cutely, the human girl relented reluctantly and allowed herself to be shuffled into one of the many guest rooms along with Naruto and Mio.

The shinobi in question perked up as soon as they entered the room, interested. "Guest...you mean...Yuki's old friend, right?"

Instead of answering, the blond-haired girl led the way, heading straight to the door on the other side of the room.

Mio, aware that Naruto was going, and was curious about seeing this mysterious young man anyway, trailed after her.

Naruto made to follow as well, until a hand that gripped his shoulder halted his advance.

Turning his head to the side, he saw Akeno stare at him, her mouth partially opened, as if searching for words.

She found them eventually. "...Can we talk?"

The blond raised an eyebrow.

He wasn't gonna say no...so...

Might as well, huh?

* * *

Mio tilted her head, gazing upon the sleeping face of the resting young man in front of her.

So this was the guy, huh?

"How long do you think he'll stay like this? Unconscious I mean." the red-head questioned the nun who was skimming her glowing green hands over his body, checking for damages.

Asia, focused on her task, didn't falter at all in her response. "I'm not sure. Yuki-san said that the ones who tended to him before claimed that he should be waking up any day now. So I make sure to check up on him every no and again, just to be sure."

Mio inclined her head, seeing the logic in that sentence. "Got it. So I guess that means that we will be making a new acquaintance soon, huh, Naruto?"

The red-head expected either a hearty agreement or a random exclamatory remark from her beloved fool.

What she didn't expect to hear was silence.

Frowning, the half-devil swiveled on the spot, seeking a sunny and lopsided smirk in the room.

A sudden tension gripped her.

 _He's not here._

She did another three-sixty, eyes dilating as her heart beat faster.

 _He's not here._

"M-Mio-san?" Asia cut through her trepidation.

Going quiet, the red-head spun around one more time, the sinking belief that was overtaking her preventing her from answering.

In a delirious part of her mind, she wondered whether the blond young man that she was looking for was actually just playing a prank on her right now.

Grasping that slim hope, the teenaged girl convinced herself that Naruto would jump out any time now and terrify her, shouting; 'Ha! Got you, Mio~! You should've seen your face dattebayo!'.

Holding onto the idea, Mio finally stopped spinning, waiting, feeling that very slim hope begin to drift away within her.

Not getting any response and forced to watch the other female act strangely, the human girl tried to get through to her again. "Um..."

She wasn't able to go any further once wild pink eyes seized the nun and froze her in place.

There was a desperate quality that were held within those orbs, one that spoke of a genuine fear that Asia never saw in her eyes before.

...But she _has_ seen that desperation before.

Staying eerily silent, the red-head turned right back around to the door she entered from, needing to be near _him_ again, lest she face the prospect she has been avoiding for all of this time.

She couldn't bear the thought...of those blue eyes looking at her differently.

Of looking at her with _disgust_ instead of warmth...

"Mio-san...I don't think that Naruto-san would hate you for whatever you've done."

The half-devil grabbed the door handle, knuckles going white as a dangerous amount of pressure pressed against it. "...Where do you go off saying that, exactly?"

The simple fact was, the nun had no idea what she was talking about.

Acting as if she knew what she was talking about...kind of pissed off the daughter of Lucifer.

But Asia, innocent to her thoughts, merely blinked. "Because Issei-san didn't."

Mio faltered there, turning around to look at the nun, her earlier stress and anger momentarily forgotten in her incredulity.

The blond girl smiled. "Mio-san...did you know that, once upon a time, I was an official part of the Church?"

Unwittingly, the taller girl let her hand slip off of the handle to fully face the other female, instinctively feeling that it was important.

Or, maybe, she was hoping that she truly had some personal experience with this...

"Well..." she trailed off, glancing at the ground nervously. "Do you know _why_ I was sent to Japan in the first place?"

This time the half-devil shook her head, eyes remaining trained on her.

Now Asia smiled. "Well...I was exiled. For saving the life of a devil that was on the verge of death."

Mio stared at her, unable to fathom how she could possibly smile at such a memory when such a decision was obviously a blatant miscarriage of justice by any stretch of the imagination.

But the human girl wasn't done, her smile becoming sad. "At the time, I couldn't remember what he looked like, but something clicked in me after that attack in Rias-san's summer home...something that helped me jog my memory."

Finally, her smile faltered. "It took me a while...but now I can say for sure that the devil that I saved back then...was the same evil devil that tried to capture you."

All at once, the breath was knocked out of the young woman's lungs, unable to even contemplate what she had just heard, let alone process it. "You...wait, what?"

"I saved his life." the innocent young girl repeated, wording it as if she couldn't quite believe it herself. "I don't know whether it was planned, or if it was just coincidence...but I'm positive."

Taking a second to take a breath, the nun steadied herself and met Mio's eyes again. "I...I was afraid that Issei-san would be angry with me if he learned that I saved the man that brought him pain. I was afraid of how he would look at me. Whether it would change the way he looked at me now to something...else."

For a moment, the blond girl's unease with the prospect became obvious to her, exemplified by her small dainty hands clenching tightly into fists and how she bit her bottom lip.

Then, in a flash, it was gone.

Asia brought her hands together, the relief palpable in her form as her feelings uplifted, a sense of comfort replacing her angst.

All of which was explained in her next statement.

"I was wrong."

Mio stared at her, confounded to see the girl's confidence in her statement.

She could still remember how timid the nun was when she first met her, how fretful and full of uncertainty, about both; her place and her future.

And yet here she was, filled with a certainty and determination that she could've only seen reflected in herself through a life and death situation.

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't stop the feeling of pride leak into her heart.

"And if I'm wrong, then I'm positive that you're wrong too." Asia claimed without apology, nodding firmly, resolute.

The red-head stared at her, stuck in a daze, having nothing except the even breathing of Yuki's unconscious friend to remind her that she was not in some strange dream.

But still, Mio's uncertainty was by no means quelled. "...Your actions are less damning than mine though...and I'm just not sure..."

"If Issei-san can look past my mistake, then Naruto-san can look past yours." the blond insisted, her big green eyes beseeching her. "Trust him."

 _Trust him_.

Was that what this was about?

Did she, deep inside, not trust him as much as she should?

She trusted him with her life, but...

 _'...I'm willing to bet that you don't even know your 'onii-chan' that well anyway.'_

"...What if he...?" she questioned, whispering to herself in her confusion, wondering if those words, so casually thrown out, were more true than she cared to admit.

Did she _actually_ know him that well?

She knew that he was loyal and protective over those he cared about, as well as some of his strange quirks, but...that was about it.

She truly had no idea how he'd react to the fact that her presence placed everyone in great danger.

Why did he go so far to protect those he cared about?

How did he reconcile the conflicts between those that he cared about?

What _drove_ him to do what he does?

Never mind his motivations, she didn't even know where or when he was _born_.

So how could she tell...?

"...How _could_ I tell...when I don't even know you as well as I thought I did?" she whispered solemnly, inexplicably sad that she had to make such an admission.

He seemed so open, but now that she thought about it...he never did tell her anything about his origins.

Maybe if she knew him better, then she'd be more willing to tell him everything...but as it was now...

"Why not talk to him then?"

Mio blinked, eyes regaining focus and locking onto the nun in front of her. "Huh?"

Asia tilted her head, having heard everything that the red-head was whispering to herself. "If you don't know him as well as you thought, then maybe you two can go and eat somewhere and...talk. That's what Issei-san and I do sometimes too!"

Pink eyes fluttered, just a bit, taken out-of-left-field by the sound reasoning provided to her.

Talk to him. Over a meal. Just the two of them.

"You know..." Mio spoke up, scratching her chin. "I think that's a great idea, actually."

Peering down at the shorter female, she had to offer her a small appreciative smile. "...Thank you for your words, they've...made me think about some things."

Asia beamed. "I'm glad that I helped! I hope that you're not as stressed as before now!"

She wasn't, strangely enough.

Maybe it was the prospect that she was, hopefully, going to venture to learn more about the mysterious blond that she called her 'brother' that cooled her off, or Asia's insistence that he wouldn't turn on her, but the end result was the same.

While still uncomfortable with the young man not being around her physically, it was brought down to...manageable levels.

Her fear of that possible future coming to pass remained in the back of her mind, but now it had taken a back burner, hopefully where it could disappear.

Now, all she really had to do was invite Naruto to eat dinner with her privately somewhere...

...

...

...

"Wait...isn't that a _date!?"_

* * *

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Akeno, a woman that prided herself on her 'onee-sama' behavior and demeanor, was currently looking at anywhere that was _not_ the blond's eyes.

Instead of pushing her, as he was apt to do when he was impatient, he decided to wait it out, letting her gather her thoughts.

It wasn't like he forgot that they were in the midst of a bonding moment before a foul-mouthed bastard interrupted them.

Not that he was really complaining, beating the shit out of a piece of shit like that was actually a good stress reliever.

"I wanted to apologize. To you." the young woman finally managed to get out, aiming for an apologetic expression that came out as a tiny grimace. "I'm sure that everyone's getting a bit...tired of my attitude recently. I've heard as much from Buchou, at least."

Raising his arm to scratch the back of his head, the shinobi seemed to be more embarrassed than serious about her apology. "Uh...ya know, you don't have to apologize to me, right? As long as you _try_ to stay cordial, it's all good. And...you _have_ been trying., so..."

Unbidden, Akeno's lips stretched into a smirk. "You've noticed that, have you?"

And here she thought that she was being discreet about her...'new' attitude towards the sole fallen angel.

"I didn't hear any screaming or shouting, so I'm assuming that that's the case." the blond admitted bluntly. "And if I've got you pegged right, then that must've been quite the pill to swallow, eh?"

Understatements abound. "You could say that. Which is why I wanted to...apologize, actually. Not just for the distress that I might've caused, but also..."

She trailed off there, frowning, visibly uncomfortable.

It took a moment for her to recollect herself, until she spoke again. "...Because I _can't_ apologize to the fall- 'person' that I _should_ be."

Naruto, more bemused than anything else, tilted his head to the side. "...Now that I think about it, you never did tell me why you had such a problem with Raynare."

Not that it was her fault though, since a certain insane stab-happy priest was responsible for the interruption.

Possibly following his lead in recalling who had interrupted their talk last time, Akeno chuckled. "Ah, I didn't, did I? Well...I suppose you're due an answer, hm? But before I do so, may I ask you a question?"

Raising a brow while staying silent, the shinobi inclined his head in allowance, ready for whatever she had to say.

He wasn't really prepared for it. "Have you ever...hated someone before? And I don't mean hated, as in; severely disliked. No...I mean _hated_."

The young woman who asked such a thing to the whiskered teen wasn't sure what she expected as an answer, but she did know _one_ thing.

And that was; there was no way that this happy and positive teen could've ever hated someone in the way that she was referring to.

Not him.

To hate someone in the way that she was referring to...one had to absolutely loathe the very fact that they were standing before you, perfectly alright.

Or, if someone really had it bad, then it was possible for someone to truly loathe the idea of their enemy's continued existence.

And, once upon a time, she had contained such a dangerous emotion within the depths of her heat, but that feeling had later simmered down into a cool hate; one of incredible disdain and barely contained anger.

That being said; that feeling was burned into her now, and it wouldn't be going away any time soon.

So how did one explain such an emotion to someone that hasn't experienced it?

It couldn't really, like all other powerful emotions.

Which was why Akeno wasn't really expecting anything out of her question.

Really, it was only asked on a whim.

So she'd be excused, if the answer she received had actually managed to catch her completely off guard.

"...Yeah. Yeah, I have."

If Naruto was paying attention to Akeno, he might've found her completely broken composure to be hilarious.

Except, he wasn't.

No. All he was paying attention to was the flash of steel-grey eyes that held a trio of concentric circles within it.

As well as the accompanying words that came with that memory that still sometimes haunted him.

 _'Know pain.'_

 **You should have killed him _._**

"Maybe..." Naruto murmured without realizing it, his eyes clouded over.

"Maybe what?"

The clouds were blown away by the question that grounded him again, leading him to curious violet orbs. "Huh?"

Akeno, intrigued, leaned closer. "Maybe what?"

The shinobi, rubbing his head as he nursed his headache, answered. "Maybe...no, wait. Uh...what was I saying again?"

He stopped rubbing his skull and pondered the question, looking adorable, at least in Akeno's opinion, as he closed his eyelids and seriously tried to remember.

Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to stop the fond look that entered her features.

"So...you've hated someone before?" she prompted quizzically, interested.

"Ah!" Naruto snapped his fingers in a 'Eureka!' moment, then grew serious. "Yeah, I've definitely hated someone before. Hell...back then, there was definitely a second where, when I saw _that_ guy face-to-face, I lost it and almost ripped him to shreds."

Just thinking back on it made the young man a little uncomfortable, vividly remembering all of the events of that day.

The day he saw his home in ruins.

The day he learned that his sensei was dead.

The day that he met the man who killed his godfather.

The day that he nearly lost control of the kyuubi.

The day that he met his father for the first time, and learned of Uchiha Madara.

...The day that he left the Elemental Nations.

That day...was the day that changed a lot, and challenged him like no other.

He was _still_ dealing with the ramifications of that day.

"That's...hard to believe. To think that even someone like you have hated before..." Akeno marveled at the thought, breaking him from his thoughts once more. "What could someone have possibly done to make you feel such an emotion?"

Naruto rubbed his arm, glancing at the floor. "W-Well...back then...he-"

 **Don't let her in.**

The blond then raised his arm up to scratch the back of his head, flashing her a nervous smile. "Well, anyway, that was a long time ago. So it's not like it matters anymore, right?"

Scrunching her brows as her kohai changed the subject, the _queen_ decided to let the matter drop for now, albeit with some reluctance. "...I see. Anyway, since you've felt this ugly emotion before, then you'd be able to understand my...problem."

Akeno took a deep breath, allowing herself a chance to gather her thoughts, then forged ahead. "...When I was a little girl, there were only a few people that I knew personally, since I lived in a small shrine in the countryside. Of those people, there was one person that I trusted among all others to keep us safe..."

She smiled softly then, eyes glazing a bit as she delved into memory lane. "...He was someone that I admired above all else, and...trusted, among all else. I knew he was strong, I knew he was brave, and...I knew that he wanted to protect our small family."

That smile fell apart, her expression darkening as she continued. "I trusted him...and yet...when I needed him the most..."

Naruto watched the devil's expression twist, switching from sadness, moving to anger, until settling into a cool apathy.

He didn't push or prod, he just waited patiently, literally seeing the difficulty she was having in sharing this with him, in forcing her to _remember_.

"He failed." she stated flatly, gazing up at him with a blank expression. "When we needed him most, when I called for him the most, when he promised that he'd be there when danger called...he was nowhere to be seen."

She chuckled bitterly, shaking her head slowly in her disbelief as she met the blond's eyes again.

"My mother paid the price."

Naruto kept up their connection for a little longer, before glancing uneasily away. "...This person...is he-?"

"I loved him." she interrupted simply. "As of right now? I couldn't care less whether he's dead or alive. If he had just done as he claimed he would then..."

She trailed off, shaking her head suddenly, her dark demeanor wiped away when she looked at the blond again.

"...Maybe if he was more like you..." Akeno muttered out, giving him a strange look.

At least to Naruto it was. "Huh? Did you say something?"

Taking a step back, pursing her lips, the _queen_ considered the young man before her. "...Naruto-kun, just out of curiosity, why do you fight?"

Blue eyes squinted in uncertainty at what he had just heard, but then widened comically as their owner's mouth slammed to the floor.

Did she just-?

"Naruto-kun?"

She _did_.

"Uh..." dumbfounded, the blond had to drag his mind back to the serious matter at hand. "Well...it's kinda obvious, isn't it? I cherish those that I have befriended and come to care for, so...I do all I can to defend them. That's all."

Akeno nodded, seemingly expecting as much. "I see, but _why_ do you cherish those people? I mean, it sounds obvious, but not many go so far to protect others, even if they are loved ones, you know?"

Accepting this logic, Naruto didn't need to think of his answer, since he was well aware of why he went so far.

No, all he needed to do was put it into words.

"Because my life doesn't have meaning if I don't have those people." he claimed simply, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Watching the reincarnated devil's eyes slowly widen, the blond quickly backpedaled on his previous statement, cursing internally at his poor choice of words. "That's not to say that I _don't_ value my own life, not at all! It's just that...well...when I was younger, I didn't really...have anyone, ya know? I didn't know what it was like to have someone to care for me, so...when I grew older, and gained such people, I cherished those bonds with everything I had. You get it?"

Calming down from her rather dark assumption about her kohai, she scrunched her eyebrows when she actually acknowledged what he had just said. "You didn't have any-? But what about your parents?"

Akeno instantly regretted asking the question when she saw the blond's face fall.

 _Oh._

"I...didn't have any of those." Naruto murmured, glancing down uncomfortably.

Both teens fell silent after that, neither sure of what to say next following such a revelation.

One that definitely came to shock the young woman, since, judging by his general attitude, she just assumed that the blond wasn't wanting for anything in his young life.

That he had lived a comfortable and enjoyable life.

How wrong she was.

There was obviously more to the spiky-haired youth than just bright smiles, a habit of pranking, and incredible strength.

He had a past that, now that she was thinking about it, no one was really aware of.

Akeno couldn't help but find herself intrigued, wondering what else her kohai had shrouded up in his past.

Moving back from that thought, the _queen_ tapped her chin, studying the blond before her.

A fond smile eventually made it's way to her lips, nodding confidently for some reason or another.

Before he could even ask, the beautiful ravenette finally decided to speak up again. "As I thought. You're seriously determined to keep everyone safe where you can, right?"

"Of course!" the shinobi retorted, his tone implying that it was obvious.

Akeno bobbed her head once, a contemplative air about her as she continued to study him. "...Yes...as I thought. If _he_ had that kind of determination, then I'm positive that he would've..."

"Akeno?"

Blowing out a small sigh, Akeno flashed him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm just thinking that...you're nothing like _he_ was. Your determination to keep your loved ones safe, regardless of circumstance, marks you as the exact opposite of him. It marks you as someone who keeps his promises."

She drifted closer to him, her smile becoming brighter, and slightly mischievous when those blue orbs of his grew slightly wary at her approach.

With good reason too, since the very second that she moved close enough to the blond, she reached out and pulled his head towards her, comfortably nesting it onto her bosom while she soothingly combed his spiky mane.

She noticed with some satisfaction that the young man's ears began light up red.

Still, even if it was funny seeing the younger man fall over himself, she had finish what she had to say. "Naruto-kun...maybe it doesn't mean much to you, but looking at you, I see you to be the man that _he_ wasn't and couldn't be. It's...soothing, having you be among the people that I could call a 'friend'. Please don't change that part of you, ok?"

Naruto tilted his head upwards as she kept her hold onto him, doing his best to ignore the soft feeling that he was pressing against. "Oi, oi...don't sound so sappy, alright? You're making this melodramatic dattebayo..."

"Ara." Akeno daintily placed her hand onto her mouth, looking amused if anything. "Sorry, but when a woman opens up a little bit, she retains the right to be a little inconsistent."

Watching her kohai proceed to complain loudly brought a grin to her face, any negative energy within her dispelled by the borderline-childish pout that he was throwing at her.

It only grew when he tried to wiggle a bit so that he could get some room, only managing to dig in deeper into the crevice he found himself in, making his cheeks grow hotter than before.

Truly, this young man had the uncanny ability to bring someone out of their funk, whether it be because of his bright personality or because of his silly antics.

Either way, she was grateful for it.

Letting go of his head, allowing the blond to take a step back and reclaim his dignity, the young devil twirled on the spot, facing away from him. "Thank you. For this."

Behind her, the shinobi quirked a single eyebrow. "For the talk?"

"Yep." she replied, her features content, even though he couldn't see it. "It was nice...getting that off my chest."

Nothing was really resolved or anything, but now that she actually told someone about something that she has been keeping close to her heart, she felt like she could redouble her efforts with the fallen woman.

Simply put, he has helped lift some of the weight that was holding her down.

In the spur of the moment, with this nice atmosphere, the young woman ventured to ask the blond a question that she hoped he would seriously consider. "Hey...do you think that, maybe, we could...do this again sometime? I mean, if you want to, of course."

Gone was the confident young woman that always went 'Ara ara' like a proper lady should, instead, in her place, was the teenager that had trouble dealing with her emotions, seeking help from someone she trusted.

And Naruto wasn't about to let her down. "Of course! Whenever you need a little pep talk, just find me. I've got your back!"

Still facing away from him, Akeno giggled at the enthusiastic response, taking a step to exit the room and enter the living room, sure that Buchou was done by now.

As she placed her hand onto the knob, she paused, another thought crossing her mind, one that could...possibly give her a new perspective.

It didn't hurt to try. "Hey...Naruto-kun."

Not waiting for a response, the young woman forged ahead without pausing. "That person you hated...you said that you met him face-to-face, right? But judging by what you told me, you didn't seem to have killed him even when you wanted to. So...why didn't you do it?"

At first, she didn't get an answer, leaving her words hanging loosely, leaving them to scrutiny.

It took quite a bit more waiting before she finally got something out of the recalcitrant blond. "...Because killing him out of hate would've restarted a cycle that I promised someone important that I would try my best to finish."

She turned around, eyeing him curiously as he smirked. "Besides, you should never let hate control you...it ends up badly, usually."

Akeno continued staring at him, even more interested in those small snippets that he lets slip about the life he led.

Chuckling into the palm of her hand, she smiled again.

Warmly.

"Naruto-kun..." she remarked with that same expression on her face, which refused to be wiped away. "I think I've said it before, but I'm pretty sure that you underestimate your influence on others. Which is why I'd like to give you...something of a warning."

She raised her other hand as she twisted the knob to the door, shaping it into a gun which was aimed at the bemused teenaged boy.

"If you keep doing what you're doing, then I can't be held responsible for the emotions that you'll unintentionally bring out from me...and from _others_ for that matter."

Akeno then pressed the trigger, imitating it's recoil as she brought her 'gun' back, her features shifting into a slightly predatory one. "Be careful now...otherwise I might just come gunning for you."

With a giggle, the young woman then opened the door and stepped out of the room, leaving Naruto in a befuddled state.

"...Well, that sounded kinda ominous." he concluded under his breath, crossing his arms as he watched the door close.

He wasn't even sure where that 'warning' came from either.

More or less, he was just flat out confused to say the least.

Still wondering about the words that Akeno imparted him with, another stray thought wormed it's way into his skull, causing a frown to form.

"What the hell does this guy, that she hates so much, have to do with fallen angels?" he wondered aloud, scrunching his face in deep thought as he tried to form a connection that wasn't there.

Like a statue, he stayed there, attempting and failing to solve a puzzle that should've been solved when he got the damn package.

If it was a real puzzle, he would've asked for a damn refund by now.

...He really should've clarified with Akeno about the connection.

Blowing out air, the shinobi ruffled his spiky mane and made to followed the ravenette to the living room.

"W-Wait."

Pausing mid-action, Naruto turned around and witnessed a strange sight.

Mio was standing right outside the doorway to the next room, back rimrod straight, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights.

Huh.

"Yo, what's up, Mio?" he questioned, trying for the 'harmless' look, seeing as she seemed kinda tense in his eyes.

It didn't seem to work, since she still had the wide-eyed 'please don't hurt me' vibe going, in his professional opinion. "Well...I-I was just wondering whether I, no, wait, I meant _you_ could...you know..."

Mio looked like she was about to blow up, her face was bright as a star and her eyes were turning into swirls, proving that she was on her last legs...for whatever reason.

Her stuttering wasn't improving that image either.

Then there was...the _other_ person that may or may not have any idea what was going on.

"Go get him, Mio-san!" Asia whispered to the mess of a red-head, just loud enough that the blond could hear her as well. "I know you could do it!"

Now why was the nun providing her support like some kind of personal cheerleader?

So many questions he had right now...

" _Um!"_ Mio squeaked out loudly, albeit with great difficulty. "You wanna...?"

She trailed off from there, clamping her mouth shut, a look of frustration crossing her features.

She then turned away from him, mood turning surly. "...Never mind."

Not saying another word, the half-devil trudged past the blond and went through the doorway to the living room with the air of a defeated samurai warrior.

Naruto watched her go silently, more and more baffled by the situation he found himself in.

"...Uhuuu..."

Deadpanning by this point, he turned to look at the teary-eyed Asia, who had her hands clasped together in front of her. "D-Don't give up...Mio-san..."

Yeah.

He had no idea what the hell was going on around him anymore.

* * *

"Rias-sempai."

Rias ceased wiping her long crimson hair down with the towel for a moment, focusing on the younger red-head that had just stormed into the room.

"I need some advice."

"Do you now?" the Gremory heiress asked rhetorically, placing the towel onto one of the intact couches in the room. "With what exactly? It must be quite the big deal since you've never actually come to me for advice before yourself."

Mio's lips thinned as she pressed them together, deadly serious, absolute in her resolve.

Her earlier embarrassment probably had something to do with it.

"I want advice on how to ask someone out to eat." she stated simply, leaving no room for interpretation.

Rias blinked, her brain malfunctioning at the request, forcing a reboot to take in this new information.

It was pretty quick, all things considered.

The next thing that the resident half-devil knew then, was feeling Rias' hands clasp her shoulders tightly, her face uncomfortably close to hers, with stars shining in her blue-green eyes.

"You have a crush!" she practically squealed, delighting at the concept of her adorable kohai crushing on someone. "This...! Ok, I'll help! I'll _definitely_ help! Ask this onee-sama anything!"

Not even letting her get in a word edgewise, Rias leaned closer to Mio's face, the stars in her eyes somehow glowing brighter as her excitement grew. "So? Who is it? Come on, you can tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone."

Groaning, Mio shuffled backwards, trying to make some space. "Sempai..."

"Ok, that's fine. You want to keep it a secret, totally understandable." the high-class devil backpedaled on her earlier behavior, seeing that she was making the younger girl uncomfortable. "But man...to think that my cute kohai has her first crush...at the tender age of fifteen! And soon, if I have anything to say about it, she'll have her first date!"

Completely thrown off by her sempai's thoroughly girlish behavior, the daughter of Lucifer really had no idea what to say about this situation.

Nothing except nod pleasantly.

Turning around, she spotted Naruto walking out of the room that she left him in, no doubt after having checked up on the unconscious friend of Yuki's, since he took a while to leave the room.

He barely even acknowledged anyone as he entered the room, too busy grumbling about 'troublesome women'.

Unbeknownst to Mio, Rias tensed a bit at Naruto's entrance, but quickly recovered from it before anyone noticed. "Going somewhere, Naruto?"

Knocked out of his stupor, the shinobi looked at her as he continued on his way out. "Ah, yo. Sorry, but I think I'm gonna leave a little early today. Too many weird things have happened to me today...besides, I forgot that I need to pick up groceries anyway."

Next to the older red-head, the younger red-head scowled. "Oh...right. Naruto, can you make sure to grab some paper towels and some, wait, no, a _lot_ of bleach, please?"

Still making his way to the exit of the building, the shinobi sent the red-head a deadpanned look. "...Maria? Again?"

Mimicking his expression, the half-devil nodded. "She wanted to try out this weird aphrodisiac that she found somewhere...so she splattered the stuff all over my room. I can't tell you how many noogies she still has to go through for that."

When the hell did she even find the time for that kind of stuff?

Newly exasperated, waved her as she opened the door to the exit. "Don't stay out too late, alright? And give Maria a couple of extra noogies for me."

Nodding at the reasonable request as Naruto closed the door behind him, Mio jolted a bit when the ground under her rumbled faintly, so much so that she barely noticed it.

"It wasn't me!" she heard her brother's muffled voice call out, declining all involvement with the latest strange event.

"Well..." Rias drawled lightly, grinning at the other red-head. "That rules out one possibility."

It really did too.

It wouldn't surprise her at all if Naruto really was the one responsible for the earth's sudden shake.

"Do you think that it has something to do with the people training downstairs?" Mio suggested, scratching her chin in thought.

* * *

 _ **One minute ago...**_

Koneko grit her teeth as her surge forward was halted mid-air.

Her hands were clasped against another pair of hands as small as hers, her hazel eyes locking with amused purple in the form of the scantily dressed loli known as; Naruse Maria.

"Hah!" she cackled with a competitive grin. "Did you think that you'd out-strength _me!?_ Not in a million years will I let you! There's already too many super strong lolis as it is!"

The _rook_ , focusing on overpowering her opponent, nodded briskly. "There can only be one."

Just like that, the two small girls stayed deadlocked with each other, unable to budge as the two of them refused to give up against the other.

While this conflict continued overhead, Yuuto was swiftly backing up as gauntlet slammed into the ground where he once stood, it's owner smirking.

"I'll catch you eventually, Kiba!" Issei declared, ripping his arm out of the ground in the process. "It's only a matter of time, ya know!?"

The _knight,_ sweating a bit as he chanced a glance at the rather deep hole that his comrade made, couldn't help but wonder. "Uh...Issei-san? Aren't you a little... _too_ eager to finish this fight?"

Slamming his gauntlet-covered fist onto his other hand, the _pawn_ looked at the other devil with a look that suggested that he thought that that was a stupid question. "Of course! Do you have any idea what's coming out today!?"

Seeing the owlish expression on the handsome devil's face, the perverted boy growled. "...Today is the day that the next installment of my favorite hentai doujinshi comes out! I pre-ordered it about a week ago, and I want to get my hands on it! If I don't hurry up, then I know for a fact that some bastard is gonna sweet talk the vendor into selling my copy! I won't let it happen, damn it!"

Unfortunately for the brown-haired teen, a certain pervert-hating girl had just overheard what he had said from up above, earning a twitch on her usually stoic face.

Maria, noticing this, felt an absolutely _evil_ smile make it's way to her lips.

She just had an idea.

An idea that could get her just a bit of innocent fun during this training session.

"Hey."

Koneko met with Maria's eyes, noting her dark grin.

"...Wanna take out the pervert first?"

The _rook_ stared at her blankly for all of about two seconds.

Then she nodded firmly. "Truce."

As if through an unspoken signal, both girls let go of each other at the same time, seperating a bit as their devil wings were spread wide.

Then, as one, both girls descended towards the ground rapidly, gunning straight for-

"Ehehe...I can just imagine the erotic goodness that awaits my eyes when I get home~"

The completely spaced out perverted _pawn_ on the ground.

Unlike Issei though, Yuuto had noticed the two small power types soar to the ground like twin comets, wisely coming to the conclusion that he'd better beat if before he was turned into a handsome pancake.

Said perverted boy would not notice the danger until it was too late...

* * *

 _ **Present...**_

"Very possible." Rias replied, switching gears immediately after her statement. "Anyway! Back to the topic at hand; your future date! Tomorrow, immediately after school, we're going to go over how to _successfully_ ask someone out on a date! Be ready for it, ok?"

Mio, still unused to this energetic side of her sempai, nodded, feeling that maybe she had made a mistake in asking her of all people...

Still, her support had also managed to imbue her confidence with a much needed boost, especially after her complete failure earlier.

She'd get this down right, of that she would bet on.

* * *

Naruto had left the ORC's base of operations just as a minor earthquake shook the building.

Having no doubt that the two red-heads inside suspected his involvement, he quickly made sure to declare that he had no part in that whatsoever.

...Even though, if he were honest, they had justifiable reasons to suspect his involvement when things go weird.

Weird followed him around. All the time.

They may as well be best buddies by this point.

...Well, that and 'chaos' anyway.

Still, now that he had washed his hands of whatever new development had emerged, he could now focus on groceries.

At least, he could, if someone wasn't sitting casually on one of the trees, waiting for him.

"Yo, Raynare." Naruto called out blandly, not surprised to see her resting on one of the many tree branches up above as he passed through the small woodlands.

Obviously expecting him and waiting for him, the fallen angel didn't beat around the bush. "Naruto. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Altering his course slightly so that he could lean onto the tree that the young woman was resting on, he crossed his arms behind his head and did just that. "Sure. It seems that everyone wants to ask me something today anyway."

She wasn't deterred in the slightest by his sarcastic remark. "...Do you know that that silver-haired girl that you live with; Maria, is a succubus?"

Naruto, jerking only a little bit by her knowledge, only hesitated a little bit. "...Yeah."

Feeling the fallen's gaze bore onto the crown of his head, she continued. "...Do you know what a succubus _is?_ "

The shinobi shrugged. "I know that they are seducers or something, and that they're not well liked in the Underworld for some reason."

Yeah, he figured that last bit out back when they were about to go and take part in that party in the Underworld following Rias' cancelled arranged marriage.

He could remember Maria's reluctance to go, claiming that she wouldn't be well received because of her race.

Even now, it infuriated him to hear such a thing.

"Yes, both are true, especially that last one." she answered him bluntly, her eyes hard. "But why do you think that succubi are reviled in the Underworld, Naruto?"

The shinobi finally looked up, meeting violet pupils, frowning. "Where are you going with this, Raynare? What's going on?"

"I just want to make sure that you're aware of who you're keeping under your roof, that's all." the fallen woman replied easily, crossing her legs as she dangled them from her position on the branch. "So; do you know why?"

Staying quiet for about a few moments, simply staring up at the dangling feet that were hanging above him, he would finally answer. "...No, why?"

Those feet didn't stop dangling, even when she told him this next piece of information. "It's because succubi are known in the Underworld to be one of the races that served the Original Maous, and for Lucifer and his line in particular."

Naruto stiffened from his position at the base of the giant plant, his mind racing.

Of course, the first person that popped in his skull was the one he _knew_ had the blood of the Original Lucifer running through her veins.

Mio.

Somehow sensing his state of mind perhaps, the fallen above explained herself. "Being the psuedo-apprentice of someone like Azazel-sama, I was pretty much forced to learn more about the world around me...especially in regards to the other Biblical factions."

Her face became wistful as she reminisced of her time in Grigori, recalling the numerous mishaps and hijinks that went on thanks to the seriously dysfunctional personalities there. "Yeah...they really had to drive those history lessons into me. I don't remember everything though, but from what I do remember...it's that the Original Lucifer had a powerful mistress by his side as he ruled the Underworld against Heaven, one who's name has been used to grace the devil's Capital as a matter of fact."

Raynare stopped swinging her feet and looked down at Naruto, looking grim. "Lilith. The first succubus in recorded history. As well as the one who made a decree that all succubi born of her lineage were made to serve Lucifer and his descendants...no matter the cost."

Then she leaned back onto the tree trunk, turning away from him as she looked into the sky. "...Or so the story goes. No one really knows apparently, so for all I know, some stuffy historian could have fabricated it, who knows?"

She had finished saying her piece by then, content with waiting for the answer that the blond would give her following this information.

That being said, knowing him, he'd probably say something that could land anyone else besides him in a mental hospital.

She wasn't too far off. "Don't worry about."

Raynare turned on her spot to look at the teenager down below once again, her incredulous look saying it all.

Naruto himself, while slightly disturbed at this information that he wasn't aware of, swiftly crushed any doubts that he had over the resident succubus.

She's had plenty of time to do bad shit throughout their time together, there was just no way that she was intentionally working to harm either himself, or Mio.

...That being said, it wasn't exactly unreasonable to believe that maybe, just maybe...Maria was helping Mio purely because of her lineage?

The shinobi shook his head, wiping such damning thoughts about his friend away.

He had no doubt that she had a past, a story, of her own's to tell. One that could clear everything up.

So, just as others have been patient with him, he'd be patient with her.

It was only right, as her friend.

"...If you say so." Raynare pushed herself off of the tree trunk and flared her two pairs of wings, taking flight. "That's all I wanted to tell you about, just in case you weren't aware. I'll see you back at the house later...I think I'm gonna grab a drink or something."

She mumbled out that last part of her statement, drifting off to the sky to do just that.

Naruto watched her go, all at once perturbed and enthused by two things respectively; the new information, and Raynare's behavior.

In her own painfully clumsy way, she proved that she gave a shit.

The shinobi scratched the crown of his head once more, not sure what to do from there, before figuring that he may as well just...do what he was going to do anyway.

Buy some damn groceries.

So, with even more shit to think about, Naruto kept his chin up as he marched towards the market district, mentally going over what the house needed.

It was just another day in the life.

* * *

"...I'm so hungry..."

"Shut up! Just...just wait, ok? I'm working on it!"

"But...!"

"Look, if you didn't spend all of our money on that fake painting, then we wouldn't even _be_ in this situation!"

The bustling market district was always pretty chaotic at the best of times, though the day seemed to be a tad more crazy than usual.

Mostly due to the presence of two cloaked women, arguing over something, while standing right next to a charity box.

A charity box that was meant for _them_.

Suffice it to say, neither of them were having a good day.

"But Xenovia...!" the other cloaked woman whined, stamping her foot onto the ground. "It was a painting of Jesus Christ! How could I take the chance and _not_ retrieve a painting of our Heavenly Father?"

The aforementioned Xenovia just ground her teeth together in response, trying not to lash out at her dense partner.

Not that she was much better, but even she wasn't _this_ bad.

Fact was; Irina, Xenovia's partner, had blown all of their money away on a fake painting of Jesus Christ by some scam artist, and now they were currently starving without any hope of getting food.

So, Xenovia had devised a plan to get money; by setting up a charity...for them.

It hasn't panned out so far.

Honestly, to both young women, it looked like they both might literally die not from an enemy's blade...but from starvation in a first-world nation.

Neither of them were too keen to go out that way whatsoever.

"...Oi, what the hell is all this? You both look way too suspicious dattebayo."

Both church agents snapped their heads towards the blond that had appeared in front of their charity, carrying plastic bags in his hands, and a sweatdrop formed on his forehead.

Like lightning itself, both cloaked warriors bolted up and teleported in front of the spiky-haired youth, one's eyes pleading with him whilst the other's burning with determination.

"Please! Find it in your heart to help this poor lamb of God, heathen!" Irina begged the young man, her hands clasped together in a fashion eerily familiar to the man and her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Meanwhile, her blue-haired partner was practically in his face, her eyes burning with such fire that it wouldn't really be out of place to be on the face of someone who was fighting for their very life. "God would look on you kindly for helping his Children. Would you be so cruel as to abandon someone in need, stranger?"

Said teen, whipping his focus between both warriors, was looking decidedly unamused by the double team. "...Aren't you two way too pushy to be asking anyone for anything?"

Neither of them seemed to have listened to the young man however, since they both stayed just as they were, in his face, and giving him their own best 'persuasion' attempts to give them money.

It took a little bit, but eventually Irina and Xenovia saw the sweatdrops that was beginning to pile up on the teen's forehead, becoming more and more exasperated with this borderline mugging he was facing.

"...Fine." he relented eventually, pulling out his wallet with a roll of the eyes. "I'll give you both enough to get at least three decent meals, so try not to blow it and-"

The blond was forced to stop speaking in his incredulity.

Mostly thanks to the efforts of the two idiots in front of him, who were both bowing deeply in front of him, their heads touching the cement street.

""Thank you very much!""

It was at that moment that the spiky-haired youth with strange whisker marks on his cheeks wondered how he got himself into these situations.

Swallowing his misgivings, he nudged the two bowing females with the toe of his shoes. "Alright, alright, I get it...no need to embarrass yourselves in public for my sake here. Just take the money and go get some food already."

Irina, with her bright violet eyes and her chestnut-colored hair now visible to the male before her, beamed so brightly that he felt like he was looking at headlights. "You have no idea how happy I am to meet a good soul in this foreign land! It soothes my heart to know that God's good will has even reached the Far East..."

Seeing the lost look that their forced benefactor was giving her partner, Xenovia intervened. "Basically; thank you for helping us out, even if we _are_ foreigners."

"Yeah, that's what I thought she said." was his reply, turning his focus to the seemingly more level-headed one between the two. "So...you two are foreigners? What brought you two all the way out here to Japan?"

More relaxed around the man that helped save them from the very real threat of starvation, she answered simply. "We're on personal business you could say, for why else would we be so far away from home? Why else would anyone leave their home?"

Maybe motivated by her less than pleasant experiences in this strange land, the Church-aligned teenager was more than ready to finish this mission and return back to the Vatican.

Their acquaintance's blue eyes blinked. "...Home...huh?"

Irina cranked her neck to the side, her violet eyes scrutinizing the blond's face. "Are you ok? You look kinda...troubled."

Indeed, for some reason, the male teen had gained a far-away look after he spoke up, seeing yet unseeing, only getting knocked out of it by the question provided to him. "Uh...yeah, just had a lot on my mind is all. Listen, I gotta get back home, alright? So take this and get yourselves something to eat...and try not to lose all of your money a second time while you're at it."

Not waiting for a response once he placed the bills of yen onto Xenovia's palm, the blond spun on the spot and continued his trek back to his house.

Staring at the money that was casually placed on her hand, the blue-haired swordswoman snapped her head up to face the retreating back of the mysterious young man. "Wait! Can...you tell us your name at least, mister?"

He didn't stop to face her, only turning his head to the side so that a single cerulean eye could make contact with her's. "The name's Naruto. Now don't go starving, since I doubt I can bail you two out a second time!"

Watching Naruto blend into the crowds that still swarmed the market district of Kuoh Town, the wielder of one of the fragments of _Excalibur_ clenched her fist, willing herself to remember that name.

If only to pray for that name when she returned back home, or maybe even to provide some kind of service to him in return for his aid to an official task force of the Church.

Either way, she'd do her best to remember him.

Little did she know, that they'd probably be meeting each other sooner than they thought.

* * *

Asia tiredly plopped onto a chair, her shoulders sagging as she earnestly continued to stay awake, refusing to knock out quite so easily.

Oh, but she _really_ wanted to.

Those who stayed downstairs to continue training had just came back upstairs, with a few of them carrying some pretty heavy wounds.

Of course, it would be just Issei's luck to catch the majority of those wounds.

Not that the nun minded, if anything, her heart skipped a beat when Yuuto and Maria literally dragged the teen out of the elevator, deliriously wondering why he was hit by twin meteors.

Really, seeing him like that had only managed to reinforce her natural dislike for fighting in general.

But as soon as she healed him, he had sprung back up, eyes blazing at the sneak attack that he has apparently suffered from.

He was up and at 'em again, no worse for the wear.

And she just as quickly remembered why she had grown to tolerate the wounds that her friends inflicted upon each other.

In the end, even if the perverted boy raged, there were no hard feelings afterwards.

Only a drive to be better.

A tired giggle left her at the thought, forcing herself up to check up on the sleeping patient one last time before she left with Issei to go back home.

She made sure to check up on him at least twice a day, and this would be her last check up before the next day came.

Turning on her seat, she scanned the rhythmic breathing of Yuki's friend, noting the way the teenaged boy's chest expanded and contracted without a hitch, as well as the complete lack of stress on his face.

Nodding in satisfaction, the blond raised her hand and allowed a green aura to envelop it, placing it onto the sleeping man's chest, just in case.

Even now, she had to marvel how easily her powers came to her now, or how quickly it repaired bone and tissue.

In a sense, the role she had to play as the group's healer had done plenty more to improve her proficiency with her Sacred Gear than anything else ever has.

And she was doing it again, instead, using it as a method to detect anything wrong.

If she felt her power repairing something, that meant that there was obviously something wrong, something that may have to be looked at by a real doctor.

But at least they could use her powers as something of an alarm to problems down the road, if needed.

Any chance she had to help, she was trying to take. No questions asked.

It was the least she could do.

Concentrating back on her scan, Asia shut her powers off, closing her eyes as she breathed out.

It looked like he was fine-

"...Who are you?"

Green eyes opened, scanning around to find the source of the question.

Then they aimed down.

And met with another pair of green, blearily staring up at the nun with confusion plainly written on his face.

Her heart skipped a beat, but Asia managed to center herself and try for a brave smile.

"...Hello, Basara-san. My name is Asia Argento...and it's nice to meet you at last."

* * *

Chaos.

That was the word that could describe the current state of the Hero Tribe when the young hero finally returned from her latest duty.

All around her, there were small groups of heroes rushing about to complete whatever tasks that were assigned to them, some to check on the barriers that guarded their home, others to check on the alarm systems put into place, or some even to question eye witnesses to... _whatever_ happened.

All the young hero could gather was one simple fact from the sparse information that she has managed to overhear around her.

Their home had been attacked.

Somehow, someone had managed to sneak through the numerous barriers that separated their home from the dimension that normal humans lived in blissful ignorance, killing several heroes without alerting the rest of the base.

It was only when the security system, that was meant to detect any foreign presences that wasn't in their database's entries, actually detected roughly seven new signals that the alarm was raised.

But by then, apparently, it was too late.

At the end of the day, several heroes were dead, another important member kidnapped, and no one knew who was responsible or how it was accomplished.

...Except, there were rumors going around that someone _knew_ who was responsible.

And that was precisely why the young hero that had just returned from her latest mission was rushing towards the Hall of Heroes, the place where it was said that the Elder Council was gathering to speak about how to precisely approach this major breach in security.

Again. Since the last meeting didn't seem to bear much fruit, if the grumblings of the groups of heroes were any indication.

Her cape billowed behind her as she continued to run, ignoring the various looks that she was being given along the way by her fellow heroes, many of which she knew; were pity.

Pity for the situation she had suddenly found herself in.

Not even managing to reach her destination, the young girl stopped in her tracks, saying nothing as an important member of the Council passed her by, speaking with harsh whispers to a fellow member about something or another.

All around her were important heroes or retired heroes, making their way back from the meeting that had obviously just been adjourned.

The young girl sighed, frustration piercing through her, not sure what to do next.

"...Kurumi-chan?"

Kurumi snapped her head up, meeting the mahogany eyes of an old man, an elder that she knew was a veteran from the Great War that had consumed the Biblical factions many years ago.

His life lengthened purely to aid the next generations of heroes.

"...I see." the elder looked at her, gazing into her eyes. "So you've heard..."

There wasn't pity in the man's eyes or voice, unlike the numerous other heroes that passed her by on the way here.

There was, instead, understanding.

She appreciated that.

"Kurumi-chan." the elder spoke up, grim faced. "I'm not sure how much you've heard, but we are in a rather delicate position at the moment. The heroes on base are thoroughly split on what to do, your father has retreated inwards and has not given any further instructions in regards to current events, and the Council...well, they are as split as the general population."

Sighing, the wrinkles on his face deepening, he shook his head. "...And it seems that some of my fellow elders are taking matters into their own hands. Going behind the Great Hero and the rest of the Council's back. I fear that they will drag you; someone who is connected to the young woman that is allied with the suspect of the attack, as well as the leader of our faction, into it. Hoping to use your familial ties to make whatever scheme they present have more legitimacy."

Kurumi stayed silent throughout all of this, as silent as she had been when she first entered the Hero Tribe base in Japan.

What could be said about the situation that hasn't already been said.

The far older man before her had said it perfectly; the faction was divided, and that wedge was being driven further apart.

Regarding the young woman's quiet form, the council member combed his beard idly, looking upon her with compassion. "I do not envy your position young one, as you will no doubt be dragged into a conflict that could pit you against your own family. So, take the advice of a senile old man such as myself before you continue to walk the path that you are treading, if you could?"

Taking a knee and forgoing the walking stick that he has been using, the elder met her face-to-face. "Whilst I myself take stock in your father's words, as well as numerous other members of the elder council, I will not force my opinion upon you. No doubt, you will be forced to make a decision for yourself, but before you do, I simply ask that you form that opinion yourself instead of through the influences of others...as that decision could very well have meaningful ramifications if my old mind hasn't fooled me."

For the first time in the entire conversation, the young girl, barely reaching teenhood, answered him, her voice wavering. "...Why are you telling me all of this?"

Just a few days ago, she was reading one of her older sister's rare letters back home, regaling her with the events that led to her befriending a young man that she has gotten close to in recent times.

Just a few days ago, the Hero Tribe's base was as impenetrable as the day they were built in secret, watching over the populace of this section of the world as they have done for centuries.

Just a few days ago, her adopted father, a man that she knew as a parent for as long as she could remember, was the indomitable, powerful, and wise leader of their faction.

Now? All of that was turned on it's head.

Now...she was forced to form an opinion that could possibly make enemies of her own family.

The elder looked onto her with sadness in his eyes, which have already seen much throughout his long life.

"...Because the previous generations can't always solve the problems of the present." he said simply, closing his eyes in resignation. "There is nothing anyone in the Council could do, locked as we are. No...if anything, whatever scheme that is being hatched by those who aim for an immediate reprisal might actually break the stalemate. So it falls on those who could be dragged into this; the newer generation, to solve this crisis, and hopefully mend these divisions before they grow too wide."

Clasping the walking stick that he had dropped, the old man who had served with Toujou Jin during the crisis years of the Biblical Great War stood back up, smiling sadly. "I wish that it didn't have to be this way, but I was trained in my youth to look for possible ways to gain an advantage against my opponent...and I'm sure that the other higher ups have noticed this as well. I can only hope that you choose wisely, young one."

Standing as tall as he could with his bent spine, the old hero hobbled along with the numerous other heroes, no doubt making their way home or continuing whatever other duties that they have.

Kurumi just stayed there, conflicted.

She clenched her hands into fists, glaring at the ground as she bit her lip harshly, tasting copper with her tongue.

What should she do?

What _could_ she do?

Because she had no idea. None at all.

The young hero had no idea how long she stayed there for, simply staring at the ground, her mind roiling with strife.

It had been long enough for the area around her to clear out, with nothing but the occasional hero walking past the large walkway.

A sense of time would only return to the thirteen year old girl when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Kurumi...there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Pivoting her head to the side, she saw another teenaged hero run up to her, a frown marring his features.

His shaggy blond hair and dark sideburns, as well as his sharp eyes gave her a clue as to who she was talking to. "...Takashi."

Takashi nodded seriously, taking a step forward to her. "Kurumi, listen, I need a favor. I've been given a mission from one of the higher ups in regards to...the attack that happened the other day. They need information, and I've been chosen to lead a team to retrieve that information. So can you help me out with this?"

Kurumi felt her cheek twitch, recalling what the elder hero told her before.

It was happening just as he predicted.

On principle, as well as for her sanity, she initially wanted to deny Takashi's request outright.

But then, realization hit her.

The best way to find the truth...was to go to the original source, and find it yourself.

This was the best chance she had to find out what was going on with her sister, and help her, regardless of the circumstances.

The _only_ chance that she could see.

She had only one thing left to say to the young man that offered her a mission that she knew could possibly damn her relations to her family.

But damn it, if they were wrong about this blond that they placed their faith into, then she would make sure that he would pay for it. "I accept."

* * *

Shiba was having a bad day.

Not only was he literally _kidnapped_ by a group that served under a man that he was nominally allied with, that would've been humiliating enough.

No, it was the fact that he was temporarily outmaneuvered that managed to truly get under his skin.

Basically, Shiba had already requested for the old man to extract him from the Hero Tribe, who's leader was becoming increasingly suspicious of his activities.

What he had expected was for a the old man to divide the Hero Tribe's attention more by creating a fuss somewhere in Japan, forcing Toujou Jin to focus on that instead of Shiba, and then allow him to leave the village using the chaos to his advantage.

It was hard to keep track of several heroes during chaotic times, it was even harder to keep track of a single one.

He may not have requested as such from the old man, but they were both manipulators first and foremost, he _knew_ that the old man had read in-between the lines and realized that this was the most advantageous route for Shiba.

Which was why the old man had probably sent a task force to just retrieve him with all of the elegance of a horde of rampaging elephants.

Now Shiba couldn't use his high position in the Hero Tribe to sow dissent anymore, but even worse, he couldn't use the Hero Tribe as a possible proxy to get rid of his possible enemies down the line.

Like...the old man, in the future.

They may have been allies for now, but who knew how long that'd last, in reality?

Which was why the old man had most likely intentionally operated this 'rescue mission', to break his ties with the Hero Tribe, leaving him unable to go back unless he was forced to answer some hard questions.

It wasn't worth it anymore.

And to make matters worse, he was surrounded by thoroughly twisted young man and women to boot.

Old man Shiranui's pet projects were not exactly the epitomes of stability, that was for sure.

So, of course, he had to meet one of the crazier ones.

「Eh...don't you think it's strange, Shiba-chan? How obsessed Medaka-chan is with Naruto-chan?」

His strange manner of speaking wasn't helping either.

Shiba just stayed silent as he stewed over what to do next, annoyed that he was forced to allow himself to get caught without a fight, lest he answer questions as to _why_ he was getting kidnapped in the first place.

「Seriously though, is Naruto-chan really that special? I've never met him, so I don't know. Isn't that a shame? If he's so special, then wouldn't it be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet such a person?」

Staying quiet, allowing the twisted boy right next to him to continue to talk as if he was partaking in a conversation, Shiba wondered whether he was actually going to go anywhere with his statements.

One couldn't really tell with this boy.

As if sensing his thoughts, the average-looking boy turned to him, his wide and innocent blue eyes meeting his closed ones.

Oh, how much of a _lie_ were those innocent eyes of his.

「What do you think, Shiba-chan?」 the black-haired teen asked of him, as if giving him a say in the process. 「Do you think that I should go and see what all the fuss is about? Ah...but then again, what if I get my hopes up too high and ruin this momentous meeting by expecting something grand? I don't like being disappointed, you know? If that happens, then I'll have to do my best to make sure Naruto-chan is up to standard then, won't I? Don't want him to disappoint Medaka-chan.」

Nodding reasonably, as if his logic wasn't the most fucked up thing he has heard in a while, the one known as Kumagawa grinned at him.

It was such a twisted grin that Shiba genuinely wondered whether even someone as thoroughly selfish as himself shouldn't just do the world a favor and just _off_ him.

「Ok, I made my decision! I'm gonna make friends with Naruto-chan! It's gonna be like in that Shonen Jump manga I've been reading! Where the hero gets brutally murdered by the antagonist in a fit of rage!」 Kumagawa exclaimed with excitement, spreading his arms out with a friendly smile.

That smiled faltered, becoming confused, before being replastered on like a new coat of paint. 「Oh. Oops. Wrong manga. Hehe, silly me.」

And with that, the boy disappeared from his sight, his disgusting feeling going away with him.

Now that Shiba thought about it, he never _did_ correct himself about that manga comparison.

* * *

 **AN: I am so, so, so, SO sorry.**

 **This took forever to crank out, mostly because of a perfect storm of circumstance.**

 **For one, my computer wasn't fixed and handed back to me until last month.**

 **For two, I was sick and tired of using my phone for another chapter, thoroughly burned out by that hell of an experience.**

 **For three, I was busy as hell with my studying for my job in the Army, leaving only about an hour and a half of free time during the weekdays when I actually got my computer back.**

 **Suffice to say, this took a bit of time to make.**

 **But I hope that it was to everyone's liking, since I worked hard on this.**

 **Like I said before, mostly relaxing time and healing time for now, and we're finally getting into a little bit of that romance bit. Finally. (Even I wanted to get to this.)**

 **And, of course, events are happening in the background, as usual.**

 **Anyway, hope this was to everyone's liking, I'm going to sleep now. Cya next time!**

 **(PS I know all about the stuff that have yet to be resolved, no worries, they're incoming. (Looking at you, Underworld!))**

 **-RekkingPride**


	42. Chapter 42

**AN: From on, if I get big chapters like these and take too long in making them, I'm going to place little flashback sequences to help remind the readers what happened last chapter as a little fresher. :3**

* * *

It was dark out.

Dark enough for someone who, say, wanted to go on a secret covert operation, would want to work with.

Uzumaki Naruto, or rather; his clone, was on such a mission.

The corporeal copy of the enigmatic blond was currently wearing a plain dark shirt paired with dark pants, as well as a bandanna that covered his face and a dark beanie to shroud his hair.

Why was he wearing such clothing?

As he has stated; because he was on a top secret mission, duh.

That being said, he knew damn well that the dark clothing and the items that were used to shroud his face weren't necessary, he could infiltrate almost anywhere with very little trouble.

Nah, they were mostly there just to make him feel more 'official'.

...That, or maybe he was letting the popular imagination of what a 'shinobi' was get to him.

Either of those reasonings could work, frankly.

It didn't really matter in the end, since the end result was going to be the same anyway.

The blond was going to successfully infiltrate the Student Council's work space, and...make some changes to something within it's confines.

Something that he knew that the orderly student council president would keep for her own personal use, probably to reference and follow to the letter.

The book that outlined all of the school's rules and regulations.

If someone were to look at him, they'd see the dark grin that were splitting his features as he jumped high into the sky, blending in with the night sky before the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon.

Hopefully his real self was _actually_ working while he was getting the goods...

* * *

Naruto had almost fell back to sleep as soon as he made his clone.

Thankfully, the shinobi had enough self discipline to drag himself out of his own home before he fell into temptation, aware that a part of him, deep inside, wasn't exactly raring to go.

Because, frankly, what he was about to do could have certain...implications.

Implications that he wasn't ready to deal with just yet.

Still, it was something that he had to do.

Sprinting across the empty streets of Kuoh Town, wearing nothing but a simple orange tank top and black sweatpants, the teen moved without a care, knowing damn well that people weren't largely awake yet to start their normal days.

Thus, he could move freely, and as quickly as he wanted.

Good, because he wasn't going to half ass or slow down.

He just wasn't in the mood for it.

Blurring across the sizable settlement, he made sure that the nice and properly planned buildings of Kuoh Town began to shift into the slightly dilapidated version of those prior buildings.

One that surrounded a familiar building.

Landing softly right before a large electric fence, Naruto raised his bowed head to face the rundown factory that stood at the absolute edge of Kuoh Town.

Once upon a time, this area was probably an industrial zone that had been abandoned, left here to rot as those who worked here moved onto other better things.

The last time he was here, he had pretty much kidnapped a certain fallen angel and interrogated her, and then got attacked by her allies, leading to the eventual fight that broke out in that abandoned church.

Hmm. Good times.

Thankfully, given the complete lack of activity, he'd say that people had finally stopped giving the site any attention after an eye-catching explosion had drawn the local police and news people there.

Which was just what the young man wanted.

Flipping over the electric fence that he had completely ignored the last time he was here, Naruto sprinted inside the abandoned factory, finding a spot that gave him ample room to work with.

It was when he reached the center of that decaying building, where there was a large opening in the roof that allowed for light to reach inside, where Naruto finally stopped.

Breathing in, he made sure to double check if there really was no one around him that could see what he was about to do.

...

No one. Great.

Breathing out now, the shinobi hesitantly raised his thumb to his mouth, opening his jaws to bite down onto his digit, prepared to draw blood.

 _'Why else would anyone leave home?'_

His blue eyes hardened, his resolve pushing back against the bit of hesitance that was plaguing him as he reached this spot.

Bringing his canines together, making sure that a bit of skin was in-between their contact, he flashed through some hand signs as blood dripped from his open wound.

Cerulean flashing, Naruto slammed his hand onto the ground, focusing chakra onto it, an explosion of smoke cloaking him and his surroundings as his jutsu went into effect.

Swiping away at the smoke, he zeroed in on the spot where he placed his hand, awaiting for the toad, knowing damn well that he put enough to meet with one that understood him.

Expression stony, he had gotten just what he had wanted.

At the epicenter of the artificially made cloud, emerged a small toad, blinking at him with it's bar-like irises.

It tilted it's head, obviously not really recognizing him. "Who are you?"

Naruto smiled softly. "...Yo. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm looking for Sage Jii-chan."

The small toad regarded him, blinking owlishly. "...Sage Jii-chan?"

Smiling just a bit larger than before, the shinobi decided to clarify himself. "Heh, sorry, I forgot that not everyone knows about my nicknames. It's actually been a while since I've used them, ya know? Forcing myself to sound formal when I first came to this world, just so that I could attract less attention was really tough dattebayo. Anyway, you probably know him as Fukasaku; of the _Nidaisengama_. (Two Great Sage Toads)

He hit the jackpot.

His words made the small amphibian's eyes widen so much that they nearly fell right out of their sockets, really.

It was kinda funny actually.

"Eh!? Wait, actually, I think that I remember Fukasaku-jii-chan saying something about a lost summoner..." the toad mentioned after recovering from his shock, squinting as it tried to recall.

Surging forth, getting right into the amphibian's face, Naruto's eyes became intense, looking like he was trying to dig the information right through the little guy's head. "What? What did he say? Come on, I'm sure that Sage Jii-chan must've said something to _everyone_ by now!"

Nonplussed by it's summoner's lack of personal space, the animal squirmed on the spot, uncomfortable. "Well...I think that he said something about reverse-summoning..."

Heart beating faster, the blond leaned just a tad closer, his eyes digging even deeper to the toad.

But he would just as quickly deflate at what the amphibian would say next.

"...But then claim that it was almost impossible, or something like that."

Naruto felt cheated at that very moment.

"W-? What does he mean by that?" the shinobi questioned with disbelief plainly written on his features. "Impossible? It _can't_ be impossible!"

Horizontal bars that replaced normal irises gazed upon him. "...I...I think he mentioned something about it costing too much chakra to be...uh...'feasible'? Feedable? I'm not too sure which big word he used..."

By that point, the toad's summoner was completely ignoring the child's floundering in remembering difficult words.

His mind was racing far too fast to deal with the little guy, trying to grasp the implications that he has just heard.

Too much chakra...

 _Not feasible._

...Now that Naruto thought about it, how much chakra did it cost him just to get this small toad to...wherever the hell he was?

He was damn well aware that he had massive chakra reserves, way beyond kage level as a matter of fact.

So then...keeping that in mind, how much chakra would it take to drag someone like him, with _his_ chakra reserves, back to the Elemental Nations?

Hell, he wasn't even counting the damn fox that was sealed in his stomach!

Pure frustration tore through him, his fist slamming into the cement ground as he fell to his knees, gnashing teeth harshly enough to rattle his gums.

What the hell was he going to do now?

How was he supposed to-?

"Well, yeah, he said something like that." the toad eventually concluded, not paying attention to the blond's mood. "He also said that if any of the toads should ever be contacted by our summoner again, then we should tell him to be patient, since he and Shima-baa-sama were going to try and gather a lot of chakra to help make it possible to bring him-"

Blinking, horizontal bars checked it's dangling feet, confused to find them off of solid ground, unsure why-

"You..." it heard the teen in front of it growl, his blue eyes flashing with barely repressed anger.

Weird. Why was he so angry?

"... _Mention that earlier, you damn brat!"_

* * *

Naruto took a deep breath, centering himself after getting thoroughly frazzled.

Honestly, if the not-even-an-adolescent toad had just played a prank on him, then he'd have to congratulate it on a job well done.

But, sadly, he was pretty sure that it's childish mind gave it trouble when trying to remember some details.

And stuff.

Still, did the little toad actually have to laugh at Naruto's yell?

Seriously...the shinobi sometimes felt that every kid that he's come into contact with have either laughed or retorted angrily back at him when he got angry at them.

He wasn't sure whether he was good or bad with kids...

...Ugh, he remembered once when Sakura-chan wondered whether kids were at ease with him because he acted like one.

A low blow to a thirteen year old, no doubt.

Naruto's visage fell a bit at the thought, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Damn it...

He missed them. Everyone in Konoha.

How were they holding out without him? Were they rebuilding by now? Were they looking for him?

Were they preparing for what was to come?

The shinobi had no idea, be he at least hoped that they were doing alright.

It pained him to think that maybe something bad had happened in his absence, and if something did, he wasn't sure whether he could forgive himself for it.

...Which was why he was confused.

 _'We're on personal business you could say, for why else would we be so far away from home?'_

Deep inside, when he heard those words, it had instantly sparked memories of leaves, brushing past him as he walked down bustling streets with a grin, animatedly talking about something and nothing with his teammates, and an indulgent sensei.

It sparked a _longing_ that he didn't know that he had.

...But that wasn't all that it sparked.

To his confusion, and to his shame, he felt a twinge of _uncertainty_ appear at the very edge of his awareness.

Even worse, it spawned...a hesitance that he never had until then, aimed at the prospect of going back home.

Naruto, frankly, was pretty damn concerned about why he should feel hesitant about going back home.

What he was doing here, was helping out the friends that he had made in this world, but it was only supposed to be temporary, until he managed to find a way back.

So...why?

Blue eyes wavered, stuck in indecision, wondering for a moment whether he'd gone and got too involved with this world.

Then that oceanic colored gaze steeled.

He didn't have time for this.

Not for these doubts, or even his stalling for that matter.

The time to leave hasn't arrived yet, nor would it be for a while now, since the cost of taking both; himself and the biju within would be massive from this world.

He would think on this, but he wasn't just here to summon the toads.

No, he was also here to get some work done, so for now...

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_ "

Several copies of the stationary shinobi appeared all around him, stretching their arms and shuffling closer to their creator so that they could get assigned.

"Hey! You guys over there! Continue working on that seal, we need some kind of insurance just in case we lose control over ourselves again! You! Take a batch of clones and begin the super-top-secret project that I just came up with! And for goodness sake...someone _please_ master that damn fire seal already!"

Giving orders left and right, several copies sprinted off throughout the dense machinery of the factory, aiming to complete their tasks with the limited time frame that they've got.

And, of course, they knew what their boss would be focusing on.

Huddling up with the rest of his corporeal copies, Naruto met all of their expectant looks with one in return, nodding at the difficult task ahead of them.

"We're... he drawled lowly, raising his fist in determination. "...Going to master the _Futon: Chakra Mode._ Everyone ready?"

No words were spoken in response.

All that was left was action, and the sound of wind ripping through the air itself.

* * *

Sona crossed her legs, pursing her lips as she took a sip from her cup. "...Excellent tea, as always, Akeno."

Behind her, the Gremory group's _queen_ bowed her head a tad, her lips twitching upwards. "You're too kind, Sona-kaichou."

Taking a chance to take one last sip, she lowered her cup daintily onto the coffee table as soon as she was done, eyes zeroing onto her fellow high-class devil. "Rias. Do you know why I'm here?"

Rias, in the midst of doing some paperwork in regards to the territory that she ruled, lifted her eyebrow as her pen hand continued scribbling. "Not necessarily. The school day hasn't even started yet, and I'm trying to get some work done before we have to get to class. I don't recall any plans for meeting with you, so..."

"Don't worry." Sona folded her hands together onto her lap. "We didn't have any prior arrangements, but I figured that this was a good time to reestablish the fact that we really should try and renew our contact with the Underworld. It's...well, I wouldn't say urgent, but we should really should just in case we _actually_ have to for whatever reason."

That and the idea that they had no contact with the Underworld was...somewhat embarrassing.

It wasn't like either of them were _too_ worried, since the both of them were actually quite sure that they would've heard from their older siblings if anything too...troubling happened.

That being said, a whole three days without getting any contact was beginning to push her to action, whether Rias wanted to participate or not.

She must've seen this resolve in her features, since Rias didn't even bother trying to convince her otherwise. "...Right. The moment that school's over, we'll give it another shot. If we don't get anything, then I suppose we should actually go to the Underworld and check, shouldn't we?"

Adjusting the glasses on her nose, the _king_ of the Sitri group couldn't agree more with this plan.

Best to do it when they had more time on their hands.

Mentally switching gears for a moment, Sona cupped her chin with her hands, tapping it with an errant finger. "Shifting topics for a moment, I was wondering; have you been into the Student Council office yesterday after school, Rias?"

Her pen hand finally stopped moving at the query, the red-head lifting her head to give her old friend a look. "...No. Why?"

Straightening her back, the Sitri heiress crossed her arms and sighed. "Oh, nothing. It's just that...it felt like some of the items on my desk were moved around. I tend to be pretty organized, and yet some of my paperwork were...'shifted' from their pile."

"Shifted?" the Gremory high-class devil echoed.

"A millimeter or two. Yes."

Rias leaned back into her seat, looking like she wanted to say _so_ much more, but didn't have the energy to do so. "...I see. Well, isn't it possible that you...maybe just shifted it when you passed it by?"

That was the logical assumption here, right?

"Impossible."

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

"I'm very thorough when it comes to these things." Sona insisted, frowning. "There's no way that I'd accidentally move some paperwork by passing it by. That's how messes are made, and that's we lose paperwork. I'm sure that you've learned that yourself, haven't you, Rias?"

Wincing, the red-head had to give her that one.

She hasn't done it recently, but she has been guilty of losing important paperwork in the past.

Cheap shot to bring that up after all of these years though.

About to make her displeasure known, the high-class devil opened her mouth to complain, until she heard the front door leading to this room creak open.

The trio of devils turned on the spot to see another red-head peek inside the room, somehow managing to make a mix of nervousness and determination that only Asia could pull off.

"Mio-san?" Sona ventured, looking plainly confused to see her at all. "What are you doing here? Classes don't start for another half an hour."

Indeed, Sona and Rias had occasionally gone to Kuoh Academy early, usually to deal with some issue or another that had to do with the supernatural.

But for what reason did the half-devil have to come here so early?

"Mio-chan!"

At least she managed to receive a clue when she heard the older red-head chirp their kohai's name with enthusiasm.

"Rias-sempai." Mio murmured softly, timidly even. "I...well, I was hoping that we could-"

The half-devil couldn't really get another word in when her sempai suddenly teleported in front of her face, that same unnerving sparkling effect that she had last time in her eyes when she grabbed the both of her hands with her own.

Behind her, Sona felt her jaw slam the floor.

While Akeno simply took it in stride, daintily covering her mouth with her hand, failing miserably to stop the small smile from reaching it.

Mio squirmed a bit when the attention of the three devils in the room concentrated on her, her cheeks pink.

Thankfully, Rias figuratively and literally began to drag her out of the uncomfortable situation by pulling her into another room, not even bothering her to ask her for her consent.

The student council president stared as Mio was bonelessly taken into one of the spare rooms, the door closing behind them as soon as her dragging feet was secured inside.

...

"I think I'll take my leave for now." the Sitri heiress decided on the spot, smoothly getting up from her seat.

Her decision was pretty much a foregone conclusion after she saw her friend just drag a teenaged girl into a room with sparkling eyes.

That was simply something out of a horror flick.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did." Akeno agreed sagely, offering her an apologetic smile. "Nevertheless, I hope that you could forgive her for her...eccentric support for Mio-chan. She's been over the moon that Mio-chan sought her out for help with something like a first crush, she hasn't stopped talking about since last night actually."

Flicking her violet orbs to the door that the two red-heads went into, the Sitri heiress could definitely believe that the older of the two was more than a little excited to help.

So she shrugged. "I'll try not to hold it against her. That being said, I'll see you later, Akeno. Try to keep your _king_ in line, if you can."

Forming a wicked smirk, voluptuous teen shrugged. "I'll do my best. Even if it is a full-time job."

Sona didn't retort to that, no matter how much she _really_ wanted to.

It was only as the young woman was leaving, escaping the confines of her friend's base, that she allowed herself to really wonder.

Was she really just being paranoid? Thinking that someone might've entered her office space?

At first, she was positive that she was correct, but now that Rias had voiced her doubts, the Sitri heiress felt her own rise in response.

Deciding to let the matter drop for now, Sona made her way back to her own home base, prepared to send out the pamphlets for the Ball Tournament to the school body's many clubs.

The date has been determined after she had made sure to go through the administrative board, giving her the green light to truly advertise the event to everyone.

However, since the event was originally going to be scheduled this week when it was being formalized as a concept, that meant that the board couldn't justify as much time to prepare for the festivities as planned.

They had other scholarly events lined up after all.

Thankfully, everything that's really needed for the Ball Tournament has already been gathered, all that's really needed is to inform the student body and to decorate, which is something that the Student Council could accomplish without too much trouble.

She just hoped that the week would be relatively calm for once...

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit, _shit!"_

Let it be known to all that Naruto wasn't the best when it came to time management.

Like now for example.

The shinobi was so focused on his training earlier this morning, that he nearly blew past Kuoh Academy's morning bell.

Hell, he was pretty sure that it was going to ring in about a half an hour, so he didn't have much time to waste.

That may seem like plenty of time, and it really was for the blond, but he had to make some pit stops before he actually got back.

It'd be a miracle if he actually managed to get to class in time.

Which was why he was sprinting at an incredible pace, at least for regular human beings, with his school uniform thoroughly ruffled.

Not that he cared really, he was more focused on the stores that he was racing past, looking for something specific among the many options that were presented to him.

He didn't need rugs.

Or futons.

Or wooden furniture.

And _definitely_ not a blow-up doll.

Who even bought those things anyway...?

Deciding not to follow that train of thought, the shinobi didn't stop 'running' towards his next destination, hoping to find something before he reached it.

Blitzing past a light in an intersection, and nearly giving a driver a heart attack when his form literally blitzed past his vehicle as he was going through the green light, he would finally find a store that was somewhat satisfactory.

Skidding to a halt in front of an apparel store, the spiky-haired youth trudged in with sharp eyes, looking for something _very_ specific in it's selections.

He completely ignored the cashier that was laying on his ass reading the paper, looking for all the world like a classic lazy salary man.

Scanning the many purchase options given to him, he made sure to check his internal parameters to see if the items he was looking through actually matched what he needed.

Well...not needed, but he _really_ wanted it.

Finding this thing might make things a lot better after all.

Lips flattening in concentration, the teenager continued to look around, hoping against hope that this little article of cloth was even being sold in Kuoh Town.

It was a pretty small town, so he didn't exactly have high expectations.

So after a few more seconds of searching, the teen breathed out in resignation, accepting the unfortunate fact that the item he was looking for may not be around here.

In this little shop at the very least.

Still, he had to ask the shop owner just in case, just to make doubly sure that this item really wasn't here.

Moving up to the front of the desk that the cashier was lazing on, the blond pinned the presumed owner with a look, awaiting the inevitable question that he was going to eventually elicit.

That's usually what happened when he stared at someone for an extended period of time anyway.

But this guy seemed like he was one of those obstinate 'I'll pretend that I don't see you' types, since he continued to scan the pages of his newspaper without sending him a glance, seemingly absorbed.

No worries though, he'd call the guy's bluff.

Eventually.

Staying there, leaning in a bit against the counter, Naruto quickly got bored with just staring at the unresponsive clerk, making his gaze wander.

Specifically, onto the merchandise that was available behind the unresponsive man.

Where the blond saw something that made his eyes widen.

" _That's it!"_

The clerk jerked, threw the newspaper onto the ground, and went rimrod straight. "Uh-! Good morning, precious customer! How can I help you today!?"

Blue eyes blinked.

Wait...

"...Did you not notice me this entire time?" Naruto questioned, his incredulity obvious.

Seeing the lost look that the young man behind the counter was sporting was more than enough of an answer to his query.

...

Well shit.

It looked like that his patented 'annoy the hell outta someone until they acknowledged you' needed some work.

Either that, or he had become less annoying as he got older.

Hmm...

Who'da thought it?

* * *

Mio really should be writing some of these things down.

Honestly, while she wasn't sure how her sempai would advise her, she was honestly getting some useful information out of this talk.

"Of course, since you won't tell me who your crush actually is, I can't give you any specific tips. Only general ones that affects most males in general." Rias continued on with her lecture, in 'teacher mode'. "Like; appealing to their ego, or their sense of chivalry. In general, plenty of boys like to feel that they've done something to please their significant other. And usually, there's nothing worse that you could do to someone in the gender of the masculine variety than question their usefulness to someone they care about."

So, to put it simply, a lot of guys liked to feel needed?

How interesting.

Then again, if women had egos, then it stood to reason that men had those too.

Mio just never really thought about it.

"So!" the Gremory heiress exclaimed, clapping her hands together, a certain glint in her eye. "Can you tell me anything specific about this boy that caught your interest? Anything at all? If you do, then I can actually give you something specific instead of vague to ensnare him."

The younger red-head decided to ignore the use of 'ensnare' entirely and simply focus on what her sempai wanted from her.

Even if she knew on some level that the high-class devil was also fishing for more information to piece together who she was planning to ask out.

Her curiosity was obviously getting the better of her here.

...Who she was going to ask out.

Who she was going to-

Oh god, she was going to ask Naruto out on a _date_.

Trying to kill the flush of her cheeks, she decided to be general as possible. "He's very kind."

Nailed it.

"...That's it?" Rias asked with a frown, crossing her arms. "Come on, there has to be more to it than that. I mean; what about him caught your interest?"

Mio blinked.

What about him caught her interest?

Boy...

First off; it wasn't like she was asking him out because she wanted to get together.

Of course not.

This was to get to know him better.

That was all.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

As for her sempai's question, which was left hanging between them with as much subtlety as an elephant using trumpets...

Well, she thought about it for a bit.

What exactly _drew_ her to him?

Several things came to mind the second that she gave the idea some serious thought.

His magnetic personality and charisma, both of which made anyone feel like they were beside someone larger than life could permit.

It made someone insignificant feel like they _meant_ something.

His confident 'we can do it' attitude, which made even the daunting of tasks seem like a plausible goal.

Or his empathy, that could allow him to connect to people in such a way that could spurn people to be better.

No.

Altogether...there was one thing that could meld all those things together.

A simple statement, a simple phrase that explained the 'what' in a satisfactory manner.

For herself at least.

And when he managed to form those words in her head, it unintentionally spilled out through her lips, their importance not lost to her at all.

"He pushes me to be the best that I can be." was all she said.

Then, after a spare moment, she realized that she actually verbalized it.

Raising her head, she wasn't sure what she'd see in her friend's expression.

Indeed, she was right to be cautious.

Since all she saw was stars in her eyes.

"That's _so_ cute!" she gushed, unable to contain herself. "Mio-chan, you've just made me more determined to help! You'll ensnare this guy, no doubt!"

She used 'ensnare' again...was this a devil thing?

"And if he hurts you in any way, just tell me, and I promise that I'll make him disappear."

Maybe Mio should tell Naruto to watch his back for a little bit...

"Ah, by the way." Rias shifted gears, moving away from the topic of assassinations. "Have you changed your hair because of this crush of yours as well?"

The half-devil squinted, tilting her head in confusion. Her lack of understanding flashing in her pupils.

The Gremory heiress pointed a digit at her, or more specifically, at the top of her head. "Well, normally you'd tie your hair into twin-tails, but instead you've let your hair down for this entire time. So..."

Mio raised her hand and brought a few strands of her vibrant red hair to the fore, raising it for inspection.

Yeah, her sempai was right.

Ever since the ribbons holding her hair up was burned up by that asshole of a devil in their fight, she hasn't tied up her hair at all.

It wasn't because she was trying to impress anyone though. "I can't. I don't have other ribbons."

"You don't?"

Mio shook her head. "I only had one pair, and that pair...well, it meant something to me. So I didn't bother to get another one."

The Gremory heiress gazed upon her kohai curiously, wondering if that black ribbon really meant much to her.

But she didn't have the chance to think on it much more. "Also, the guy I'm trying to ask to dinner is kind of...dull, so what do I do to deal with that?"

Rias said nothing, for all of about five seconds.

Then she grinned, getting back into it. "Right. So this is what you do..."

* * *

Yuki was a little nervous.

As much as she'd like to attribute that nervousness to being late to school, she couldn't.

Not without lying to herself.

To be perfectly honest, being late to school was probably among the last things on her mind, with the coming meeting with a certain blond replacing it as a higher priority.

She didn't know why it made her nervous, especially when he came to her house once before, albeit unannounced, but it did.

For some reason, this specific instance made her heart hammer more than any other in recent memory.

Which was why the young hero was distracting herself by creating a chart of her current symptoms, hoping to narrow down which disease was ailing her.

Marker in hand, a plain white board in front of her, and a silent determination to find out what was going on spurred her on with this action.

Yuki popped the marker's cap off and began jotting down her 'symptoms'.

First; an uncomfortably tight feeling in her chest, which eased and grew stronger depending on proximity to _him_.

Second; a heat that pooled into her cheeks whenever she was close to him _him_.

Third; a loss of breath that could, once again, be attributed to _him_.

And, perhaps the most infuriating symptom; the feeling of nervousness that prevailed whenever she knew they were going to see each other.

Her thoughts would always drift to whether her clothes were appealing, if her hair was alright, whether she smelled or not, or if she was acting too awkwardly.

Every time.

Yet...she didn't dislike it, if that made any sense.

Strangely enough, these symptoms weren't constant like other diseases she were aware of, and in fact, only activated in regards to a certain spiky-haired troublemaker.

That fact worried the hero a little, making her seriously wonder...

Did she have a strange new type of disease? Perhaps a mutation of some pre-existing ones?

Because she was pretty sure that there were no listed sicknesses that had symptoms as she did.

So just what was wrong with her-?

"Mornin', Yuki!"

 _Sakuya_ materialized in the palm of her hand and was swiftly brought to bear upon the board in front of her, making passes across it's flat surface mercilessly.

Within a single second, the board fell onto the floor as several tiny pieces, completely destroyed and unreadable to anyone that tried to look at it.

Yuki took a breath, let it out, de-materialized _Sakuya_ , then turned to the blond that was temporarily left stunned silent. "Good morning, Naruto. How are you?"

Naruto, who had seen himself in through her door, wasn't sure what to say, so had instead opted to glance around uncomfortably.

The small home, which externally had a western style theme to it, was, internally at least, a 'Japanese' home.

The floors had tatami mats instead of tiles or rugs, the doors inside slid instead of opened or closed, and the light bulbs were replaced by simple Japanese-themed lanterns.

It was pretty unique, if the whiskered teen thought about it.

But he couldn't really ignore the elephant that was in the room so easily, even if he wanted to. "...Uh, hey Yuki. Look, I'm not sure what that board did to you, but I'm sure it didn't deserve that...pretty brutal slice and dice."

Yuki didn't hesitate to retort. "It did deserve it."

Naruto said nothing for all of about five seconds.

"...Did it now?"

The hero nodded firmly. "It did."

Huh.

Well that was a thing.

Deciding to chalk this strange incident as yet another thing that he didn't understand about his almost humorously stoic friend, the shinobi gracefully changed the subject. "So, you ready to name this new club of ours, Yuki?"

The hero, whose back was tensed up, immediately let the tension in her form disappear into nothing, the faintest twitch at the edge of her lips hinting at how ready she actually was. "Yes. I'm ready."

Grinning, the blond moved closer to her, prepared to bounce ideas with the other teen so that they could reach a badass name for, what he hoped, would be a badass club.

At least that was the idea, until he saw the bluenette raise her hand to stop him short.

"That being said..." she murmured, glancing down at the floor, her hands going down to bunch at her pajama pants.

Wait.

Why was she still wearing her pajamas?

"I-I was wondering if we could do... _that_ thing now."

Hmm?

Hmmmmm?

" _That_ thing?"

" _...That_ thing."

Naruto swallowed a lump that formed in his throat without warning, a creeping feeling crawling up his spine. "Wait. What's _that_ thing? What the hell is _that!?_ "

Yuki bit the bottom of her lip, her eyes hooded when she looked up at him. "...Like with Yasaka-san. You promised."

...

Oh.

Unbidden, a memory of a beautiful blond woman entering the baths that he was in came to mind, washing his back as he burned like the sun in embarrassment.

Then, he clearly remembered a strangely forlorn hero prodding him, asking him why she could wash with him when she herself couldn't.

The only way he managed to appease her was by promising her that they'd get to bathe together once, at least.

Well...it looked like now was the time.

"Wait." he raised his hand, feeling this visit go completely out of hand. "We have class soon, if we do this now, then there's absolutely no way that we'd make it to class on time, ya know?"

There.

That line of reasoning, should've been more than enough to convince the goody-goody Yuki to back off from this for the moment at least-

"I don't care."

 _$ &) %!?_

Naruto's jaw must have hit the ground loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear, but Yuki was completely unconcerned about that. "Naruto...I don't know what's been going on with me recently. But I know that, ever since Yasaka-san got to bathe with you, that I've been wanting to do the same. I want to feel close, Naruto. And you're the first friend I've ever really had, so..."

She trailed off there, looking more lost than anything else, unsure of how to proceed.

All she knew was that this felt _right_ to her, and that she'd feel closer to him if she did this.

As close, if not closer, than the yokai faction leader herself.

Even now, just thinking about that beautiful woman placing her hands onto her friend's naked back to wash him...stirred something within her.

A deep and unsettling feeling that left her breathless, similar to how she felt when she was around Naruto.

Except...this was somehow extraordinarily unpleasant.

She didn't like it. Not one bit.

But with this, Yuki was confident that she would be able to become even closer to Naruto, closer than anyone.

At least, that's what she had managed to understand about the act of skinship and it's properties.

So, with a determination befitting that of a hero, the young woman tugged on Naruto's unresponsive form, grasping his sleeve, and began dragging him with her towards their next destination.

It wasn't until the shinobi was brought to the entrance of the bathroom that he managed to snap out of his stupor. "Uh..."

"We're doing this."

And that was that.

Yuki was completely adamant in doing this now, and the blond had made a promise to allow her to do so.

Raising his chin up as he faced his destiny, Naruto was at least going to make damn sure that he was going to face this newest development with the air of a defeated samurai.

Nothing less was going to be enough for this.

At least, he thought so up until the bluenette in front of him dragged him inside the bathroom, closed the door behind them, and then proceeded to pull her shirt over her head.

Face growing hot, the shinobi grit his teeth and defiantely looked the other way, wondering how he could be so affected by the sight of Yuki's sizable breasts being contained in a white and blue bra when he'd seen worse.

Seriously, he's invented the _Oiroke no jutsu_ by looking through porn magazines as a kid, went through several brothels with his perverted master, and has met plenty of gorgeous women that liked to show off their cleavage.

Konoha's current Hokage notwithstanding.

So why the hell was blood rushing towards his cheeks as he witnessed Yuki pull her pajama pants down?

He only pondered this question for a fraction of a second, until the hero in front of him turned to him, her cheeks flushed.

It was only when his blue orbs met her yellow ones that a possible answer reached him.

Those eyes.

It was those _eyes_.

Peering into the window of his friend's soul, the shinobi was able to see many things reflect in those pools of gold in front of him.

Most of them were too hard to pinpoint out specifically, but there was one feeling that shone out more than the others.

The _passion_ that were exhibited in those orbs of her's, aimed at him, stewing under the surface.

That alone, made him flare up more, unable to help himself.

He remembered seeing a look like that only once before in recent memory.

From Yasaka, when she was washing him during his stay in Kyoto.

"Naruto." Yuki murmured, her arms modestly covering her underwear clad body as she pursed her lips. "...Can you hear it?"

Throat dry, the shinobi attempted to give a response. "...Huh?"

The hero opened her mouth, closed it, then placed her hand on her chest, her breathing becoming shallow. "...It's loud. My heart. It's beating so fast and hard that it feels like it could come out at any moment."

Naruto didn't respond, couldn't respond, since his focus was shifting from her strange words to the hand that was dangerously close to her scarcely covered chest

Ah.

Shit. Down boy.

This was _Yuki_ , damn it.

In a daze, the bluenette shuffled closer, tugging at his clothes, eyes hooded as she looked up at him. "Come on...you have to strip too."

Naruto gulped.

This...he wasn't sure if he was terrified or ecstatic.

* * *

Issei quickly realized that this wasn't going to work.

To be frank, he actually realized this yesterday.

But it turned out that Asia was really good at convincing him to do things that he would normally scoff at.

Especially when she gave him that puppy-eyed look that she had mastered hands down.

Damn.

He turned into putty when she pulled that.

Still, the prospect of taking in a teenaged guy into his home in the late evening proved to spark many questions from his thoroughly worried parents.

' _Issei...has your perversion grown to such levels that you'd be willing to drag young men into it!?'_

Damn it all! How low did his mother think of her own son!?

Issei just sighed by this point, already tired as he trudged his way towards school, doing his best to ignore the talking next to him.

"Hmm...this place is so...open. Are there any walls surrounding the town or anything? Any kind of defenses?"

"Walls? Defenses? Um...no, I don't think so. Japan is very peaceful, so I don't think anyone even thought about it."

"But what if someone has hostile intentions? Surely it's best to have some kind of preparation just in case. I remember that my home had some kind of defenses, even when everyone was sure that no one could actually reach it..."

"Oh! Do you remember something about your home, Basara-san?"

"...No, just that it was protected, and that I didn't stay there. Sorry."

On a normal day, Asia was usually walking beside Issei as they made their way to school.

However, unlike usual, there was another addition to their standard morning group.

Wearing a spare uniform that Issei had, a young man with shaggy brown hair and piercing emerald eyes was methodically walking beside them, doing his utmost not limp or show any signs of his weakness.

After being bedridden for an extended period of time, it was kind of hard for him to just walk around without feeling his cramped and sore muscles protest each step of the way.

Still, something ingrained in him rebelled at the idea of allowing his pain to be shown.

By that point, Issei finally relented and turned to look at the other male, his eyes dull. "I know I sound like a broken record by now, but you seriously don't remember anything? At all? Not the supernatural, or Kyoto, or even of your fight there?"

The new member of the community of supernatural-aware teens scrunched his slightly thicker than normal eyebrows, rubbing his cranium. "...I'm trying to remember, but all I really know is that I once lived in a village that was well-protected, and that I was training to be... _something_."

"That's it?"

Basara shrugged. "For now, yeah. Besides that, everything is...blurry."

Issei shared a look with Asia, seeing his concern reflected off of her green irises.

Amnesia was never a good thing.

"Well, we've got to take you to see Buchou anyway. She might be able to help you out, hopefully." the _pawn_ informed helpfully, turning to look ahead.

Honestly, it was just his luck that Asia wanted to give one last check up on Yuki's formerly unconscious friend before they left, only for him to wake up then and there.

His luck was only exemplified more when Buchou and the rest all left by that point, with the red-head entrusting him to lock the door on the way out.

So...yeah.

His luck was shit.

Sighing for, perhaps, the third time in the last half an hour alone, the reincarnated devil idly wondered whether a certain blond, whom he knew had similar luck, was doing better than him today.

* * *

Sometimes Naruto wasn't sure whether he had the shittiest luck in existence, or whether he was the luckiest son of a bitch to ever walk the earth.

Or, maybe, he had such bad luck that it went right back around to good luck?

Hmmm...

The shinobi had such thoughts swirling in his head as he used his hands to cover his manhood, crouched naked as he sat on a small stool, trying not to squirm.

No matter how he looked at it, he was in a bit of a precarious position.

Internally, the blond wasn't exactly opposed to having a bath with the hero, not really.

He was just embarrassed as hell about it.

Even more when Yuki was literally right behind him, wearing nothing but a white towel around her naked body, rubbing a bar of soap with both of her hands so that foam could cover them.

Naruto twitched as a soft finger trailed down his back, the cleansing foam left behind as it traveled south.

Following that digit's lead, soft hands covered in foam began rubbing up and down the blond's back, giving him a soothing sensation, especially with the faint callouses that existed in his friend's palms.

"...Does it feel nice?" his friend asked him quietly, her voice sounding almost breathless.

"Ah...mmm..." was all he could say, since he bit his tongue before he could groan at the nice feeling.

Heartened, she pressed her palms onto his back with a bit more strength, nails lightly scratching him in a soothing manner.

All the while, Yuki's breathing became just a tad heavier and labored as she inching closer to the warmth of her friend's back, not understanding why she just wanted to...get closer.

Why was her body on _fire?_

And why, oh why, did she want it to burn even more?

"Y-Yuki?"

The hero tapped her forehead onto Naruto's back, right in between his shoulder blades, taking a shaky breath as she did so.

The fire that was pooling across her belly, spreading throughout her body, suddenly grew in intensity as soon as she began to meld her body with his.

It...

It was...

Intoxicating.

She didn't even care that the towel that was wrapped around her body slipped thanks to her sudden movement.

All she cared about was getting closer.

 _"Yuki!?"_ Naruto's voice was pretty much a squeak by that point. "Oi, damn it…this…do you even realize what you're doing!?"

"Hmm…?" the hero murmured under her breath, far too busy with her ministrations to think about her words. "Getting closer, right?"

Oh yeah, she was doing that alright.

But if she wasn't careful, then she'd get a little closer than she bargained for, he was sure.

That train of thought actually managed to cool down the burning that was making it's way down south to his groin.

That was right.

Yuki probably had no idea what she was doing right now, especially if this went any further.

She just wanted to get closer to him, and this was what she saw as the way to do it.

But if they went further than this…

Well, the blond was more than positive that she'd probably regret going that far, if not now, then later on.

He wasn't gonna do that to her, no way in hell was he going to hurt Yuki if he could help it.

But…damn it, she owed him one for this.

Taking a deep breath, the shinobi calmed and centered himself, somehow managing to give himself a steady voice when he spoke. "Yuki…listen to me for a sec."

The hero's lips ghosted upon his bare back as she pressed herself into him even more, her light blue bangs keeping the blond from seeing her face. "…Do you want me to stop?"

Doing an admirable job ignoring the feeling of Yuki's - _his friend!_ \- chest pressing into him, especially when the slightest movement on her part made the sensation ten times better, the blond pressed on. "Y-Yeah. I don't think that this is a good idea dattebayo…"

As he was speaking, Naruto was twisting his neck, giving him the chance to see the hero tilt her head up at him, her eyes shimmering with emotion, barely kept in check.

"…Why should I?" she demanded quietly, her eyes hardening, almost accusatory. "You didn't object when Yasaka-san did it, so why-?"

Glancing away, Yuki turned away from him then, looking inexplicably down.

"Am I…just not enough?"

"…Hah?"

The disbelieving tone that was utilized made the teenaged girl slowly pan back to the spiky-haired blond in front of her, meeting his dumbfounded blue eyes.

"Oh geez…is that what this is about?" Naruto shook his head, despairing over the situation. "Yuki…you don't have to compete with Yasaka-san, you do know that, right?"

But when he tried to emphasize that point by locking his focus with her's, all she did was stubbornly flick her head to the side, away from him.

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

He shifted to meet with the hero's eyes again, hoping that she'd-

She then flicked her head to the other side of the bathroom, a pout formed on those slightly puffy lips.

"Yuki, don't be childish."

Her response was a thoroughly unashamed silence.

Making sure to take a deep breath before taking action, the shinobi resolved to grab and keep his friend's attention.

So, with careful precision, Naruto fully turned around and extended his arm.

All Yuki felt by that point was rough fingers gently grasping her chin with a tenderness that she didn't expect, angling her head so that they could return to face a pair of determined blue eyes.

Swallowing the lump that entered her throat, she found herself entranced by his eyes again.

She said it once before, but his eyes were honestly very-

"Hey…you know that you don't have to compete with Yasaka-san…right?" she heard him ask of her, searching her features. "Do you know why though?"

The hero pursed her lips, staring up at him, expectant.

Naruto grinned at her, a wry fondness in those features of his.

"It's because I treasure what we've got, Yuki."

Yuki felt her cheeks heat up again, and, unsure of how to respond to it now that she had her friend's undivided attention, she hid her head by pressing it against his naked chest.

Naruto didn't stop there though. "To me, Yasaka-san is a nice acquaintance, don't get me wrong. But you? No…I don't want to jeopardize our friendship by doing something stupid, it means too much to me."

Although the whiskered teen couldn't see the teenaged girl's face, thanks to her light blue hair acting like a curtain on his chest, he was still able to feel the nearly unnoticeable twitch upward that her lips made.

"So don't feel forced to do something like this, alright?"

Yuki twitched at that last bit.

"…I didn't feel forced though…"

The shinobi leaned down, ears straining. "Huh? Sorry, I didn't catch that. It's kinda hard to hear you when you're faceplanting my chest dattebayo."

Then and there, the hero quickly made a choice; clarify and embarrass herself by making eye contact with Naruto during her curious state, or retain her dignity.

No contest.

Refusing to speak further, Yuki just shook her head and wrapped her lithe arms around the waist of the teenaged boy she was leaning on, idly noting how nice his toned body felt against her's.

She didn't even notice the sharp intake of breath that he took when she did so.

"So…" the blond's voice, strangled as it was, was still clear. "Do you get it now?"

"…Mmm."

"Does that 'Mmm' mean 'yes' or 'no'?"

It meant 'yes'.

That being said, Yuki didn't want…whatever _this_ was to stop.

To the contrary, if anything, she wanted to keep pushing to see how far this development could go.

Never before has her body reacted in such a manner.

Never before was she _driven_ to continue with a course of action because of an overwhelming urge from her base instincts.

It was…something else.

She didn't want to stop.

But the thought of entering some sort of unfamiliar territory with Naruto, while appealing to her in a way that she didn't quite understand, was also…

 _Scary._

She could certainly understand why the blond was unsure whether they should continue what they were doing.

Such a thing could harm the bond that they've cultivated if they unintentionally hurt the other, which could happen when one considered their dual inexperience.

Hasn't she always been taught to never enter a situation impetuously? Especially when ignorant?

The dangerous prospect, among other things, was what stayed her wandering and curious hand.

Disentangling her arms with a lowly sigh, Yuki gave in and backed off from Naruto, squashing down the urge to ask whether he wanted to wash her in return.

It wasn't until she shuffled back from him though, that she remembered something.

Somehow, after admitting that he didn't want to lose or hurt the bond that they had with each other, she just couldn't look at the blond in the eye without becoming flustered.

But when she moved away from him, she not only found his gaze trained onto her once more, but she also recalled the fact that she was completely and utterly naked.

Of course she was, and she had no problem with it.

Yet her cheeks blew up regardless, and an uncharacteristic sound came out of her as a result.

"…Uwa…"

She bowed her head, hoping that her bangs could shield her embarrassment.

To Naruto though, not only was he once more seeing Yuki naked again, with her unblemished skin and perky breasts in full display, but it happened while his self-control was reaching it's limit.

All made worse when she made an adorable sound and bent her head down, unintentionally making _something_ bounce on her chest.

Naruto felt his face slacken, then adopt a far-away look.

"Ero-sennin…it seems that…I've reached my limit." he whispered to no one in particular, entirely dazed.

Yuki glanced up, confused enough to momentarily regain her composure.

" _Guh!"_

But there was nothing that could have prepared her for this.

Blood spurted out like a hose from the blond's nostrils, launching him backwards and smashing his body into the wall of the bathroom, delivering spider cracks all across his impact point.

From his new spot on the wall, the shinobi slumped, a blissful aura gracing his form.

"N-Naruto!?"

"No…regrets…"

Of all of the ways to go, Naruto quietly admitted to himself that this wasn't too bad.

* * *

Yuuto Kiba was pretty much caught up on the happenings that have hit Kuoh Town in the last week or so.

Which meant that he was aware of the friend that Yuki had found during her fight with the 'heroes' in Kyoto, as well as his comatose status.

Hell, he even knew about the fact that the yokai healing him have claimed that he would probably wake up soon.

Yet, when Issei showed up at the old school building so that they could hang out as a Peerage before class, he showed up with someone that he didn't expect to see up and about anytime soon.

"…Issei…that's…" Rias' gaping face made clear her feelings on the shaggy-haired youth that was casually glancing around the gothic-styled décor.

"Yeah." the _pawn_ grumbled, still irritated that his parents drew the conclusions that they did. "This guy woke up last night, Buchou."

All eyes were inexplicably drawn to the amnesiac, oblivious to the wariness that his presence had caused to the devils in the room.

Akeno, who was right beside her _king_ , as usual, pointed out as such. "Buchou, Yuki-san was one thing, but are we _really_ sure that this boy won't try and harm us?"

Honestly speaking, the red-head couldn't.

When the young man finally woke up, she expected to have Yuki on hand to speak to him, aware that having someone familiar with him could keep him from doing anything…rash.

Too bad that it didn't work out that way.

"Basara-san. That's your name if I remembered correctly, yes?" Rias decided to aim for some pleasantries first.

Said youth snapped his focus to the red-haired teen, straightening subtly. "…Yeah."

Seeing the rigid posture that the young man had adopted, Rias quickly determined that he was, at best, uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving.

This wasn't going to work.

"…I'm not sure how much you remember, Basara-san, but a friend of yours had asked us to keep you safe here while you were in a comatose state. As to the 'why', well…I'll leave that to her to inform you about."

Looking about as lost as can be, Basara nodded, at the very least sensing that these people didn't mean him harm.

Still uncomfortable though.

Deciding to do something besides stare at the new and unexpected arrival, Yuuto made a show of checking his watch. "Hey, Buchou. I think that it's about time that we get to class soon…"

The _knight_ thought it prudent to ignore the hasty thumbs up that Issei discreetly gave him.

Silently though, Rias was congratulating her friend's quick thinking in getting them out of this awkward situation. "Ah. Yes! Yuuto's correct, we should all get going to class. Don't want to be late, do we?"

Next to her, Akeno scratched her cheek lightly, her indulgent shake of the head saying more than enough.

Gracefully, the red-head ignored her and stood up from her seat.

Following her lead, the present members of her Peerage got ready to go as well, refusing to be left alone with someone that they didn't know that happened to be a 'hero'.

Or a self-proclaimed one, at the very least.

"Basara-san, feel free to stay here while we're attending class. There's plenty of tasty snacks that Akeno made on the tray on top of the coffee table." Rias was walking towards the door now, trying her hardest to offer the plainly confused newcomer a reassuring smile. "Yuki-san should be getting to school soon, and I'm sure that you two will have plenty to catch up on."

From there, Basara watched as practically everyone in the building filed through the door leading outside, with the only one being reluctant to leave, which happened to be a certain nun, was getting dragged out.

He only really had one thing to say about this.

"…Huh, since it was offered, I guess that I should get some food."

He had a feeling that even when he had his memories, that he was kinda easy-going, but not to the point of being lax.

* * *

It was a quiet trip back to Kuoh Academy.

Yuki somehow managed to save his life after he lost an excessive amount of blood, by some miracle.

That being said, as Naruto could have guessed, the aftermath of this…'event' left the atmosphere between them painfully awkward.

As in; 'please kill me now' kind of painful.

It was bad enough that they had a literal physical distance in between the both of them as they walked to school, totally silent.

Though, it seemed that they were still on the same wavelength however, since the two of them didn't head straight for their classes after they entered the Academy gate.

Nope, they headed straight to home base of the Gremory princess that lived in Kuoh Town.

Which is where they ran into a…interesting sight.

Of course, the blond had to give his nonchalant greeting of the day, no matter the situation.

"Yo, what's going on, guys?"

Literally, while leaving the old school building as a group, a small procession made up of mostly the Gremory devils were leaving their base.

Well…escaping was more like it, what with their frantic pace and all.

Honestly, he had no idea what this lot was doing.

Or, for that matter, why Rias was looking at Yuki in particular with palpable relief.

"Well, as you can see, we're apparently running away from our newest acquaintance." Akeno supplied helpfully, the end of her lips twitching upwards for not even a second.

The resident shinobi of Kuoh Town blinked. "Say what now?"

Rias shot a tired look at her _queen_ , before facing the two humans with an apologetic smile. "Unfortunately, while I hate to admit it…Akeno's statement isn't incorrect."

Seeing the lost looks that entered both of their features, the red-head turned to her _pawn_ , whom she knew could give a short explanation with the finesse of a bulldozer.

Something that she felt would be perfect for this situation.

Acquiescing to this, Issei jabbed his thumb at the door that they have just exited from. "Yuki-san's friend woke up, and he's probably raiding the snack tray right about now."

Yep, as she suspected.

In the edge of Naruto's vision, Yuki flinched, visibly thrown off by this piece of information.

Not that he had much room to complain, since this threw him for a loop as well. "Wait…Yuki's-? You mean Basara is awake!?"

"Mmm." Asia made her voice known, glancing back at the old school building with uneasiness. "He woke up last night, so Issei-san took him in for the night. But he doesn't seem to recall anything about the life that he's led up until now…"

The blond spared a look at the shaken hero beside him, sympathetic, before turning back to the nun. "Amnesia then…huh? That's annoying dattebayo."

"Indeed." Rias absentmindedly twirled a few strands of her long crimson hair, in thought. "Honestly, that was why I was going to leave Basara-san here. I had no idea how to approach this…delicate situation, but maybe you might, since you knew him personally, Yuki-san."

It made sense.

Yuki could clearly understand the reasoning that was laid out before her, as well as read inbetween the lines and see how…uncomfortable it made the devils that another who held the term 'hero' was in their midst.

Or, at least one that they didn't know on a personal basis.

Still, trepidation stayed her hand.

She didn't know much about amnesia, but she was aware that many who were affected by such a condition…ended up as different people afterwards.

Most of the time at least.

So…would her friend be anything like the kind, yet, always-too-serious little boy that she met long ago?

Before she could ponder the idea further, a familiar hand clasped against her shoulder, squeezing as much as gently pushing.

Turning just enough to meet with concerned blue eyes, she once more felt that disconcerting and pleasant tingling in her chest flare.

She turned away, doing her best to let the heat that burned her cheeks simmer down, until she glared at the building in front of her.

Without another word she took a step forward and opened the door, her gait steady despite the nervous energy that she held within.

Naruto stepped forward to, but not until glancing at the procession next to him. "It's all good, guys. I'm sure that Yuki can handle it from here, so you lot can…'enjoy' class if you want."

The sarcasm in his voice was unmistakable, evoking dry looks.

He wasn't done however. "…Hey, before I go help Yuki out, I noticed that Koneko isn't with you guys. Any idea where she is?"

Yuuto raised his hand at that query. "Uh, well, Koneko-chan was tired after yesterday's training, so I think that she's going to be a little late today."

"Yes…I think she said as much in that group text last night." Akeno input, sending a smirk to the blond. "Why? Are you planning to torture her in your next training session, Naruto-kun?"

Copying the expression on her face, the shinobi showed his pearly whites. "…Well, she probably won't be able to move by the time we're done, that's for sure."

Spinning on his heel, Naruto then chased after Yuki, interested to meet this new member of their little group in Kuoh Town.

Behind him, many among the group were giving their _queen_ owlish looks.

"…'Naruto-kun'? Since when did you use such a familiar honorific with him, Sempai?" Yuuto wondered, asking the question that many were about to.

A giggle that was covered by a dainty hand was all he got in response, as Akeno twirled about and began walking towards class.

Rias watched her go, her brows scrunched together in consternation, unable to stop the irritation from crossing her features before she smoothed it over.

"Let's go." was all she mustered, her voice strained.

Thankfully, it was hardly noticeable.

* * *

Yuki wasn't sure what to expect when she entered the main room of the old school building.

But seeing Basara casually munching on a pastry whilst relaxing on the couch was among the less…expected outcomes.

Slowly panning his head around while chewing, the young man raised one of his eyebrows. "…Huh, you're with that group from before, right? Well, sorry for asking, but do you guys have anything besides pastries here? I don't want to intrude, but there's…well…nothing but sweets here."

The female hero didn't reply.

As expected, he took her silence the wrong way. "Ah, but if that's all you have, then don't worry about it. I'll manage. Anyway, I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name is-"

"Basara."

Basara paused in his introduction, then slowly nodded his head.

Yuki stepped forward and crouched in front of her old friend, features blank.

"Basara."

Exasperation and a little bit of suspicion bled into his face. "…Yeah, that's me alright. And you're-?"

"Yuki." she said simply, emotionlessly. "Your friend."

Basara gave her a strange look, snapped his head behind him, as if to check that she was actually talking to him, then went right back to her. "…My friend?"

Yuki nodded, the first crack of that unexpressive mask appearing when she smiled. "…Yes. It's…really nice, seeing you again. For the longest time, I thought that you were…"

She shook her head, pushing those thoughts away. "It doesn't matter. Now that you're here, maybe otou-sama…"

"Wait."

Words dying in her throat, the active hero allowed for the shaggy-haired teen to speak his mind, interested with what he had to say.

"…Who…are you, exactly?"

Yuki nearly slapped herself on the head in her beleaguered realization.

Basara had _amnesia_.

To him, she was probably either speaking gibberish, or was just plain insane.

Even worse, she was probably a stranger to him…

Swallowing the lump that appeared in her throat, she prepared to start the process of revitalizing her friend's memory, hoping that her walk down memory lane would trigger something.

"Ohhh…so this is what you're like when you're not trying to kill me, huh?"

Such plans were rendered moot when a certain spiky-haired teen entered the room and made his feelings known.

Basara frowned visibly, his shoulders squaring as he gazed at the newcomer, a wariness entering his emerald orbs. "…And you are?"

Sapphire danced when they met emerald, looking far too amused for Yuki's comfort. "Your future best buddy. And someone that you tried to kill. That too."

"Naruto…" the female hero whispered, a faint warning inherent in her tone, her attention split between the two males.

Both were too pre-occupied with the other to actually respond to her though.

"…I tried to kill you?" now Basara was frowning for a completely different reason.

"Not just me." Naruto claimed, refusing to hold back any punches. "Yuki and Maria too."

Sparing a glance at the worried bluenette beside him, the former hero met the blond's gaze with a sincerity that genuinely threw him off.

Just a little.

"If you aren't lying to me…then I'd like to apologize for my actions." he stated clearly, solemn, and meaning every word that he was verbalizing. "I don't remember anything before I woke up…so this is all I can really do right now."

Hands clenching into fists, the young man that had a single scar on his cheek pinned the other male with hard eyes. "But, if you'll give me the chance, I'll definitely make up for my transgressions. Count on it."

Naruto kept their connection for a moment.

Then for one more.

"I like this guy."

Yuki sighed explosively, turning away from the blond resolutely so that he couldn't get any satisfaction from her.

Not like she could ignore his beaming visage though…

Still, she wouldn't waste this newly formed gap in the conversation. "Basara. I need to ask; does the word 'hero' mean anything to you?"

The young man jerked, as if stung, rounding on her with a faraway look in his eyes, face tight with tension.

"That…word…" he whispered, so quiet was he that the other teens barely heard him. "It sounds…familiar."

Yuki bit her lip, conflicted whether she should say more, or stay her hand for now.

It was obvious that the word meant _something_ to him, but his struggle with it proved that it wasn't enough to help him remember.

Maybe she could-

"Yuki." Naruto interrupted her thoughts, glumly looking up at the clock that was held suspended on the wall in front of him. "It kills me to say this, but we're gonna be late to class if we don't hurry. You can help him out later."

At that moment, she wished she could've seen her own face, because she was positive that she looked ridiculous as she gaped at the blond. "…Are you pushing me to get to class on _time?_ "

"Don't get your hopes up." he growled, annoyed. "If I fuck around too much, then the student council will try and capture me with that giant net of theirs again. I don't need to garner a lot of attention by dodging Saji's swings again dattebayo!"

Yellow eyes blinked.

Oh yeah.

That did happen once, didn't it?

She was also pretty sure that the _pawn_ of the Sitri group still nurtured a grudge against her friend after he glued that bucket onto his head as well.

Not that she could blame him.

Inevitably, Naruto's and Yuki's attention fell back onto Basara, who was looking decidedly interested in the little tidbits that their banter had revealed about their lives.

"Basara-san, could you do us a favor and stay here until we get back? I'm pretty sure that the both of us have a free period right before lunch, so just hang around here 'till then."

Basara deadpanned at the blond. "…So just keep doing what I've been doing?"

Naruto offered a positively beatific smile. "You're catchin' on!"

With great reluctance, the young man felt the corners of his lips twitch upwards.

This guy sure knew how to alleviate someone's tension. He'd give him that.

* * *

Ok, so Naruto didn't exactly rush Yuki back to class just so that he could get there on time.

While a clone was left back at his death-by-powerpoint world history course, the original was making his way to officially hand in some paperwork, aware that he was on the clock.

He knew that this stuff had to be handed in during faculty working hours, so he had to wait until the first bell rang, unfortunately.

Because he knew that this paper had to be given early, as in, as early as humanely possible.

Not only were people still groggy early in the morning, making them prone to mistakes, but the longer that he dragged this out…

Well, the more likely that the student council would find out what he did, probably by randomly checking their important documents.

Yeah, that wouldn't be a thing.

Briskly walking at a sedate pace towards his destination, making sure not to seem too desperate to get there, while avoiding any questions that might've arrived about his lack of class attendance-

"Uzumaki Naruto."

 _Shit_.

His plan was foiled before it could even begin.

Slowly panning his head to the stairway that he was passing by, he locked with a pair of heterchromic irises, focusing upon him with intrigue and a bit of wariness.

He supposed that she had a decent reason to be wary though, considering the fact that he gave them so much shit.

"Tsubaki-san." Naruto inclined his head in acknowledgement, refusing to stop moving all the while. "Sorry, but I'm kind of in a rush, so hopefully we could talk later-"

"Have you played a prank on my _king_ recently, Uzumaki-san?" she interrupted, regarding him with those strange eyes of her's.

Forced to stop this time, lest he garner suspicion, the shinobi fully faced the _queen_ of the Sitri group, looking about as puzzled as he actually felt. "…No. I didn't. And if I did, I would've owned up to it, since seeing you lot get your panties in a bunch really makes my day. No offense."

Tsubaki took offense, understandably.

But despite the twitching of her cheek, she managed to remain straight-faced for the most part. "…I see. I apologize for taking your time then. Kaichou suspects that someone has gone through her office and rummaged through her papers last night, and you were among the first suspects that we considered."

Naruto managed to keep his features relatively free from anything that could've implicated him, thankful that he accidentally misinterpreted the teenaged girl's question.

His clone's actions early in the morning wasn't that of a prank, rather, it was the culmination of his strategy to build his club.

So when she asked him her query, the thought of earlier this morning was among the furthest thing from his mind.

Good thing too, since his genuinely confused expression seemed to have convinced her of his innocence.

"No worries." he excused easily enough. "If anything, this worked out for me. Do you know if Sona-kaichou is at her office right now?"

"Yes." she answered, tilting her head in interest. "Do you have business with her? She should be free for all of first period."

"Ah…no, just curious." the shinobi responded, shuffling backwards. "Anyway, I'm kinda busy, so I'll see you later."

Not even waiting for an answer, Naruto continued on his trek, ignoring the feeling of Tsubaki's eyes boring into the back of his head.

He was right about needing to hurry and hand his paperwork in.

If he didn't, then the student council president might actually sift through her things to check if they were tampered with.

Even when he reached the door that gave him access to the faculty room, he knew that he wouldn't feel relieved until he actually had it signed.

Taking a breath, the blond knocked on the door, preparing to enact his rehearsed sob story as to have his clubs, and it's members, officialized.

Outside of that, all he needed everyone to do today was _not_ do anything stupid so that he could concentrate on his mission.

* * *

Freed Sellzen was hungry.

No, scratch that; _starving_.

It's been two nights ago since he was beaten up, captured, and tied up by a blond faggot and his bitch of a girlfriend, and he was _still_ furious over it.

Worse than that, they even took his new toy before he even had the chance to use it.

That wasn't fair at all!

Still, at least it helped clarify who he wanted to kill first as soon as he got out of this shitty situation.

Grunting a bit as he squirmed, shifting his bound limbs in order to get some leeway from the tight knots.

They didn't budge at all.

"Having trouble being tied up like some sort of pig on a fire, Freed Sellzen?"

Snapping his head up as much as he was physically able, the man with long silver hair glared daggers at the source of the voice that pierced the darkness of the room, recognizing and _loathing_ it.

He tried to curse out the woman that stood idly leaning on the door frame, verbalizing the most distasteful and creative cusses that he could think up.

Too bad his voice was muffled thanks to the ball gag occupying it.

"Oh, I think you hurt my feelings just now." Raynare snarked, a hint of a smirk reaching her lips. "I might have to write my feelings down in a dairy to recover from this, don't you think?"

If looks could kill, the fallen angel would've been completely disintegrated, she knew.

Not that she cared. "Oh, don't give me that look. I'm here to give you the food and water that I _know_ that you want. Or need, if you feel like living."

Just the thought of food and water made his stomach grumble in protest, forcing Freed to dial back his vicious glare from pure spite to mere hatred.

"Good boy." the raven-haired woman taunted, but still pushed herself from the door frame to walk to his prone form. "Was that so hard?"

The bound man barely managed to hold himself in check from the taunt, and instead watched as the woman crouched in front of him with a plastic bag filled with goodies.

He could feel himself salivating…

Slender fingers edged towards his face, plucking out the ball gag that firmly latched onto his mouth without hesitation.

"But before I give you your nourishment." Raynare continued, as if she hadn't stopped to begin with, peering down at the defenseless man. "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Her tone of voice indicated that it wasn't actually his choice to make.

Still, ever ballsy, the insane exorcist let his tongue hang as he provoked the one who had his food and beverage. "Hoh? So now that you're some kind of bigshot, you think that you could just do whatever you want? Well fuck that! You're just some cunt muffin that just let go of her mommy's teat-!"

Freed was forced to stop his tirade before he could really get going.

Mostly thanks to the carefully aimed spear made of light that was held over his skull, ready to be brought down end him.

Raynare coolly watched him squirm for a bit as she held it suspended over him, not appearing fazed by his words at all.

"Would you like to keep running your mouth? Because unlike some people, I have no qualms with ending your miserable existence."

This time, wisely, the exiled exorcist stayed silent.

Accepting this as his acceptance of the situation, the woman squared her shoulders once she crossed her arms. "…Why are you still here, exorcist? You served under the banner of my mother in the name of conflict, and yet, you stayed here, in Kuoh Town."

Freed grinned sharply. "What can I say? I like killing shitty heathens, that's all."

"Don't try and play me for a fool, Sellzen." the fallen snapped, features shadowed by her dark bangs. "You're sadistic and insane, but you're no fool. You wouldn't stay here when there were powerful devils in the area, not unless you had something keeping you here. Your sense of self-preservation is too strong for that."

"Oh~ How nice that you look at me with such admiration! If you look at me so highly, then just skip the foreplay for now and-"

"You're working for Kokabiel, aren't you?"

Raynare's query, given with a flat tone, did not receive an answer immediately.

Which, for him, was as much an answer as an avoidance, considering how much he liked to hear himself talk.

At the very least, she could conclude that he was involved with the rogue Grigori member on some level, though maybe not directly.

"Why'd you do it?"

Pausing her thinking, the supernatural being regarded the human below her, interested to see a genuine hint of anger in his eyes.

Not the insane over-the-top anger either, rather, it was more akin to the reasonable one that one would see from feeling the sting of betrayal.

Interesting.

"What? Did you think that we were comrades? And if so, in what exactly? Surely you must have realized that our interests weren't even marginally aligned?" she asked of him, unable to see his logic, nor expecting to.

Growling, Freed glared daggers upon his former superior. "Damn it…! I know! But I also knew that no one that served with Vretiel-sama would consort with heathens and shitty devils!"

Violet eyes flickered to the door, wary, before bearing down on the silver-haired man, venomous. "Don't presume to understand me. If you think for one moment that I trust devils, or even humans, then you have me completely mistaken. I…I've only made an exception, that's all."

"An _exception!?_ "

"It's of no concern to you." she hissed, drawing closer to him, overtly threatening. "All you need to know is this; we aren't friends. We are enemies, and that I won't hesitate to end you."

With a clean and deft movement, Raynare stuck her hand into the insane man's pocket, grasping and pulling something out before he could even react.

At first glance, it looked like a dark yellow handle of a sword, without the blade itself.

In reality, that's exactly what it was.

And if one wanted to actually _get_ the blade, all they needed to do was press the small button on it, which allowed the container that held light energy within to power the hilt.

Which, she promptly did.

A blade formed of pure white light shot out and pushed back the darkness in the room, illuminating both of the occupants' features.

Freed didn't like what he saw in the other person's eyes.

"Consider this your one and only warning, since I know that nothing but a threat will stay your hand."

Raynare swung the blade down, forcing the light sword to cut through clothes, skin, muscle, _and_ bone.

" _Ah-!_ MHPH!?"

The fake priest nearly screamed out, but it was muffled by the ball gag that the fallen quickly snapped back over his mouth, keeping him relatively quiet.

He could do nothing except handle the pain of having his right thigh impaled by his own weapon.

As well as wish that he could have even an _inkling_ of a chance to kill this bitch and anyone that she might give a shit about.

"Your only warning." was all she claimed afterwards, looking particularly haughty. "You'll stay like that until someone decides to pull that sword out of you. I'm sure that our resident super-powered human might do it, but he won't be back until at least the mid-afternoon. So…hold out until then, ok?"

That last bit was offered mockingly, before she sauntered her way out of the room, slamming the door on the way out.

And Freed was left there, his own light sword sticking out of his leg, fucking _furious_.

A feeling that was amplified when he realized that that fucking traitor left his food and drinks in the plastic bag on the _floor!_

Wishing he could scream out the profanities that he wanted to express, the disgraced exorcist wiggled out in protest, ignoring the stinging pain that accompanied it.

Then he heard something.

Scowling as much as he could with a ball gag in his mouth, Freed managed to turn his head enough to look at the weapon inside of him through the side of his eye.

His red eyes widened at what he saw.

…

…Maybe he could turn this around after all.

* * *

"Mio-san!"

Mio jerked, knocked from her daydreams by her teacher, who was looking quite worried.

A sentiment which seemed to be echoed by most of her peers as well, seeing as she seemed to be the darling of their grade.

Not that she really put much stock in that though.

"Sorry, sensei." the red-head bowed her head a bit, her lips twisting upwards in an attempt to reassure him. "Just had a lot on my mind, that's all."

And she was being completely honest, she really _did_ have a lot on her mind.

It just so happened to be on a single subject.

Her teacher didn't look entirely convinced though, but couldn't press the issue further when an annoyingly loud bell rang out.

This class period was over, according to the school bell at the very least.

Which was why Mio's classmates all scrambled to gather their things and get out of their while the going was good, some even managing to just leave immediately since they packed their things already in anticipation.

Mio followed their lead, piling all of her school supplies into her carrier bag and swiftly getting up to leave.

All the while feeling the teacher's worried gaze burn into her back.

She knew that he was worried, but it was fine, really.

She knew what she needed to do now, and how to get out of her funk.

All that she needed to do was somehow get Naruto to go on a date with her.

...

Unbeknownst to her, all of the other students in the hallway gave her a wide berth, shooting her strange looks as they saw steam blow out of her ears and her face go cherry red.

A berth that was only made worse when she firmly shook her head, her long hair acting like a whip that smacked anyone that came too close to her.

To her, the idea of spiky-haired teen with eyes as expansive as the ocean was…

Well…it was beyond anything that she could have imagined.

Still, now that the idea was put into her head, it simply couldn't be dislodged.

Rather, as much as the thought of it should disgust her on principle, a part of her couldn't help but wonder…

How would it be like?

That wasn't even mentioning the fact that she could learn more about the man that could has so thoroughly upended her life's path, for the better she felt.

There were so many questions that she wanted to ask…

So deep was she caught in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice how empty the hallways became as she drifted towards her next class.

Nor did she notice the subject of her thoughts rush up the stairs, a victorious grin gracing his visage.

At least until he noticed her.

"Yo, Mio!" Naruto waved at his sibling with a cheeky smirk, his good humor only rising when she jumped a foot in the air.

The half-devil whirled on him, a high voltage glare accompanying her incoming tongue lashing.

Which died as soon as she saw who actually made her jump. "N-Naruto…"

Noting the lame way she made that sentence, the resident powerhouse looked upon her with a sweatdrop. "Er…you alright there? That was pretty weak coming for you dattebayo."

How could she be 'alright'?

She was about to attempt something that was making her heart beat so fast that it felt like it might explode!

Still, she didn't want to waste this opportunity.

Pumping herself up by mentally repeating; 'Go Mio!', the young woman called upon the wisdom that she had received from her senior and began her assault.

"N-Naruto!"

"…Yeah?"

Mio jabbed her finger at her adopted brother, mustering up her bravery for this attempt at gaining something that, until now, she didn't even realize that she wanted.

"I-I'm hungry!"

The most intelligent thing that the shinobi could say in response to that was; "…Huh?"

"I said…" the red-head managed to sound haughty for this one. "I'm hungry! And the food that I have with me isn't enough! So maybe, if _someone_ was enough of a gentleman enough, they could…take me to get a bite to eat...or something."

Then, scrunching her countenance, she proceeded to one-up herself in the 'strange' department. "N-Not that I want you to do it or anything, _stupid!_ "

Naruto, for the first time in a while, was at a lost for words.

And his lack of a reaction to Mio's outburst was something that she recognized swiftly, even as she continued to stand tall without doubt weighing her down.

At least, so she appeared.

It didn't take too long for her body to begin to vibrate, shaking a lot as her eyeballs went glassy.

"…Uh…"

"Right!" Mio uttered out, shuffling backwards as she shook just a little bit more. "I'll just…yeah…"

Mutely watching his sister slide back, making stuttered comments until she managed to slip out of sight at the corner of the hallway, Naruto really could only say one thing about the whole fiasco.

"…What just happened?"

* * *

Mio felt like she could just die.

That was just…the worst. The _absolute_ worse!

The 'tsun-tsun' tactic obviously wasn't going to work here, and if she tried again, she was liable to hide away for a week out of shame.

Either way, out of everything that she was taught from her sempai, she knew that, at the very least, she had to try and get her dense sibling to make the first move.

If not that, then she couldn't be too obvious about her actually _wanting_ to go.

All she needed to do was dress it up as either; his idea, or a suggestion that she didn't necessarily plan on following through

She believed in her sempai's experience with guys, so if she claimed it to be important, then it had to be done, of course!

Even with this setback, she wouldn't give up quite yet.

Determination in hand, Mio raised her head to glance at the clock, liking what she saw.

Alright then…onto the next plan!

* * *

Naruto decided to actually go to class for once, if only to kill time than anything else.

He had to wait just a little bit longer for his plans to flourish now.

Which was why he was just casually walking down the hallway, taking in the festive atmosphere that lunch time had brought forth from the student body.

He hoped that Yuki was doing alright with that Basara guy…

"Naruto!"

The shinobi stuffed his hands into his pockets as he twirled on the balls of his feet, offering a small grin at the familiar visage of his adopted sister.

Hopefully her strange behavior had whittled down a bit. "Yo, what's up? Heading to lunch?"

Mio huffed as she stopped in front of him, sweating as she leaned over and plopped her hands onto her knees, using them to support herself. "Y-Yeah…but…I have to…"

She stopped, took a large gulp of air, and tried again. "I want you to have something."

Hoh?

Interested, the blond leaned closer, blue pupils scanning her form for anything out of ordinary.

He needn't have bothered, as Mio held something behind her back as she took another step forward, presenting it to him with a tentative smile. "…I-I made a little extra food when I cooked my bento this morning. So I put it into a separate bento for you, in case you wanted it."

Blue eyes sparkled, taking in the sight of the small box wrapped in colorful cloth with delight. "Ohhh…! Thanks a bunch, Mio!"

Eagerly taking the box with food into his hands, Naruto impatiently opened the box to check it's contents.

…And regretted his actions immediately thereafter.

What he _saw_ was absolutely delicious, with a healthy serving of onigiri, yakisoba, and a small portion of vegetables on the side.

What he _smelled_ on the other hand…

Well…the fact that the shinobi felt his consciousness waver proved that it was beyond his expectations.

Just not in the way he expected.

"Uhh…"

"O-Oh, by the way." Mio was fidgeting now. "I don't really have anything else to eat, so…if you feel like it…after school, maybe we could…"

Wait, hold the phone.

Wasn't this bento extra food that she made?

Was this just a misunderstanding then?

So…did that mean that…he _shouldn't_ eat his imouto's lunch?

…

Thank goodness…

"No way could I deprive you from your healthy meal dattebayo!" Naruto declared unilaterally, thanking whatever deity that allowed him to dodge this 'incident' that would've ended with his hospitalization as he handed her back the bento. "Here, I'll just leech off of someone else for a bit."

The red-head stared at the box, then snapped her head back up as her eyes widened. "Wait a sec-"

By the time that she looked back up, all that was left of the blond that she was speaking to was the dust cloud that he made when he made his escape.

Mio clicked her tongue, irritably grabbing one of the onigiri that she had made and chomping down on it to stop herself from saying more.

…

She lurched, her vision darkening for a second, but she managed to stay conscious.

Looking down upon her food with a sweatdrop, the half-devil couldn't help but wonder whether the fact that she couldn't give Naruto her food was a blessing in disguise.

Still! "…Next time!"

* * *

Watching from behind the corner of the hallway, a succubus was tearing up watching her brave charge finally take the offensive.

Albeit, in a strange way.

Still, for her to go and grab her during her free period before lunch and actually _ask_ her for help was something that she never expected.

It wasn't like she was doing much anyway, as she tended to just relax while Naruto-sama and Mio-sama were away at school.

Which was boring, to say the least.

But she didn't want to get Mio-sama angry at her a second time, not after lucking out last night.

After having went to Kuoh Academy despite her charge's wishes, Mio-sama proceeded to have tied her up in a roll last night, and then leave her on the couch like some kind of large sushi roll.

It took the succubus about an hour to break out, and that was only because she wanted to make sure that the red-head was asleep by that point.

Maria couldn't help but feel that the other half-devil was too distracted to genuinely punish her, though she had no idea what could have occupied her mind to such an extent.

Until now that is.

Not that she bothered to question her good fortune or anything at the time, just in case she was tied up with something even stronger than rope next time.

Sometimes it was better not to question some things.

Like; that paper that Naruto-sama made her sign last night, which incidentally had Raynare-san's signature as well.

Yeah, like that.

That being said, she was planning on checking on that guy that Naruto-sama brought over, just to make sure that Raynare-san actually fed him while she relaxed back at home.

She wasn't sure, but she had the feeling that the fallen angel had something of a mean streak with that people she didn't like.

At least, that was her plan, up until a certain red-head came busting through her door with equal parts determination and hesitation.

If that made any sense.

So here she was, back to where all the fun was.

And she was eager to see what spawned this behavior, if nothing else than to help her out.

She was waiting for this inevitable day anyway, and there was no way this wasn't going to happen!

Naruto-sama and Mio-sama would go on a date! Her OTP would become a reality!

So she waited eagerly as Mio-sama crossed her, the bento forgotten as she looked through a sheet of paper that she was scanning with fervor.

…

That being said, she had to wonder what kind of advice she was following.

"C'mon, Maria." Mio forged past her, pink eyes burning. "I ain't giving up that easily!"

Either way, the succubus grinned, wanting to see things play out.

And end favorably, of course. "You got it, Mio-sama!"

* * *

Naruto officially had no idea what was happening around him anymore.

Bad enough that Yuki nearly made him bleed out earlier that day.

But now Mio's weird behavior from the past few days have gotten even _weirder_ , just in a different way.

Why?

Hell if he knew!

All he knew was that her personality kept shifting back and forth, and that it was seriously giving him whiplash.

"Hey, Naruto! I heard that you didn't get to eat during lunch, what's up with that? Did someone hurt your feelings or something? Don't be too macho to admit to your hunger, otherwise you won't have any energy, you know~?"

What in the actual fuck.

Naruto took a step back, blinded by Mio's worry for him, which was beyond anything that he has ever seen…ever.

He expected to see this kind of expression on a doting sibling.

Like. A _seriously_ doting one.

While Mio was many things, this wasn't quite one of them.

"…I think I'll be fine dattebayo."

The shinobi shuffled towards his next class, dazed to say the least.

While the red-head cursed under her breath.

Damn it. _Next_ time.

* * *

"Naruto!"

The shinobi was sinking into his seat, hoping that he could hide from the one that was seeking him out.

He felt like he failed in that endeavor.

A feeling which was compounded when a young woman leaned closer to him over the desk, giving him a smile.

A dangerous one that is.

"Y-You know, I think that you've been a little… _tense_ recently." Mio claimed, playing off her stuttering as if it didn't happen while lowering her tone of voice to a whisper.

The shinobi shied away, kind of scared.

Why was this a thing?

Mio, you're scaring your onii-chan right now!

The red-head raised her hands, reaching out to him. "Let me touch you for a second, let me loosen your muscles…"

Her fingers began wiggling threateningly, and Naruto felt scared for his chastity.

If she touched him, he may never be able to get married!

" _Uwah!_ "

Flashing through hand signs as Mio grabbed his shoulder, she quickly let out a surprised shout when he blew up in a cloud of smoke.

Coughing and sputtering, the red-head took a step back, cloaking her eyes in order to peer through the sudden cloud in front of her.

And what she saw gave her pause.

"…A log?" she asked no one in particular, incredulous.

It took all of five seconds for her brain to process this event, and recognize the face that her target had just escaped.

Again.

" _Mou!_ " Mio stamped her foot, cheeks bloating up as she went through her tantrum. "And I thought that I had him this time!"

Pulling the small notebook –notepad really- from her skirt pocket, the red-head gazed upon the strategy that she called upon for this occasion.

"Loosening your target's tension through a friendly backrub, then guiding the conversation into a friendly talk over a meal…" Mio murmured to herself, face scrunching up.

Damn.

 _Next time_.

"…Mio-sama…"

The half-devil spun her head around, seeing her guardian biting onto a napkin as she cried a waterfall of proud and distraught tears.

Why was she the one crying when Mio was the one dealing with this exactly?

Too tired to question it, the red-head sighed.

She had to keep trying, if not for her own sanity, then for the desire burning in her heart.

If there was one thing that really rubbed off on her from Naruto's influence, it was his ridiculous stubborn streak after all!

* * *

"Hey, Rias."

Rias stopped scribbling onto her notebook, glancing to the side to meet her friend's curious gaze. "Hmm?"

"What kind of advice did you give Mio-chan exactly?"

The high-class devil smirked at this question. "Hoh? Could it be that even you have someone that you want to impress, Akeno?"

Akeno smiled pleasantly. "If I did, I don't think that I'd take your advice, Buchou. I'm just curious is all."

Ignoring the snub that she had just received with a flick of her long crimson hair, the red-head leaned closer to her friend conspiratorially, lips curving devilishly. "I took a page out of one of the most reliable sources for relationship advice out there. That's all."

"And that is?"

Rias' ahoge twitched with her excitement. "A gal game, of course."

Akeno felt her facial features slacken.

Oh dear.

She was almost afraid to ask but… "You play those games?"

"I'm interested in all facets of Japanese culture, including the 2D!" Rias declared without shame.

The _queen_ tapped her chin thoughtfully, coming to the conclusion that her _king_ 's 'experience' would probably blow up in their kohai's face.

Should she tell her or should she let it play out?

…

Nah.

* * *

"Sona-kaichou!"

The Sitri devil felt the peace that descended on her small piece of Kuoh Academy shatter by this shout.

Made even worse when one considered the fact that she was alone in the room.

"…Naruto-san." she replied evenly, peering up at him through her long lashes.

She wasn't sure what she expected to see when she looked at his features, but she didn't expect to see him nervously checking the door behind him, as if fearing that he was being followed.

Or the fact that he was literally quaking in his shoes.

Interesting.

Seemingly snapping himself out of his state of mind, the blond took a moment to compose himself, ignoring the fact that he accidentally called out the devil's name out of a hope that she could save him.

"Anyway…" he decided to skim over all of that and get onto the reason he was here. "I've come to give you something that needs to be signed. I just picked it up from the faculty's office and it has all of the necessary signatures. I just need yours now."

The student council president felt her reservations grow. "…I understand, may I see this form that you need signed?"

Shuffling closer while pulling out a slip of paper, the blond handed her something that the high-class devil simultaneously didn't, and yet _did_ expect.

A form that allowed for the formation of a club.

Which just so happened to have names that were not present in the current student body, she noticed.

"I can't sign this." she stated flatly. "Under current school regulations, only those who are registered in this school as students could join a club, and could only partake in their activities during festivals and such."

Sona wasn't sure what the blond's game was, but she felt like her refusal to sign wouldn't end this conversation.

Her belief was validated when he placed his hands onto her desk, grinning like the madman that he sometimes acted like he was. "Really? You sure about that?"

The young devil folded her hands onto her lap, confident in this at least. "I've memorized the numerous rules and regulations that Kuoh Academy officially utilizes, especially in regards to the conduct of clubs, since they are an important facet of student life in my opinion."

As well as an easy way for supernatural beings to hide amongst normal humans, she reflected pointedly.

And yet, even with this factual statement, her adversary when it came to following school rules didn't look fazed.

"I don't doubt that for some reason." he stated dryly, before quirking a brow. "But, then again, rules change sometimes, right?"

An ominous feeling crept up Sona's spine at that last bit, her hand deftly sinking to open the drawer on the bottom half of her desk, retrieving an important object from within.

The _official_ school rulebook.

As in, the school rulebook that all other school rulebooks were initially copied from.

She always made sure to have it on her desk, just so that she could refer to its aged pages should she need to confirm something.

Like right now, for example.

Opening its old leather confines to reveal the pages within, the student council president skimmed through it in order to find the specific regulation about clubs.

Or, who could join them.

It took a sparse few seconds, but eventually she managed to track down her target and properly read the content that held the answers that she sought.

…

Carefully placing the open book down upon her desk, Sona took a breath and glanced up at the only other occupant of the room through a critical lens. "You changed it."

Naruto had nothing but a toothy grin on his face. "That sounds pretty baseless to me."

"You're lying."

"I don't lie though."

"That is most _definitely_ a lie."

"You can't prove it though, can you?" the shinobi didn't bother to hide the smug tone his voice.

Because he was exactly correct.

She couldn't prove his involvement at all, and that meant that even if she suspected him, she wouldn't be able to do much about it.

Again.

A fact which was obviously annoying the cool student council president. "…Even if you managed to somehow rewrite the rules that dictate who could join a school club, I won't sign your form and allow it to become legitimate. I _know_ what the rules were like before they were tampered, Naruto-san."

The shinobi shrugged his shoulders, expecting as such from someone as stubborn following the rules as he was breaking them, not really annoyed by it.

If anything, that made it all the more satisfying winning this little battle between them.

"You say that." he stated clearly, not holding back in his rhetoric. "But I don't think that you've got much of a choice, not unless you wanna break your own rules that is."

Sona looked almost amused by this statement. "Oh? And how would I do that exactly?"

Naruto wagged his finger back and forth, shaking his head. "Cause you're mistreating me, duh."

...

"Excuse me?"

Blue eyes sparkled with barely contained mirth. "You've literally got no reason to deny me my request, you're only doing it because you _believe_ that I did something wrong. A belief that has nothing to back it up. Basically; you're being bias against me dattebayo. Please stop that, eh?"

Sona had to reel at that, inspecting her actions not through her own lens, but the lens of an outsider.

And, oh boy…

Pushing her glasses up, the young woman glared at the male in front of her, sour. "That's dirty."

"I never said that I fought fair, ya know?"

This was true.

Grudgingly accepting the fact that her metaphorical hands were tied, Sona glanced up, a tinge of respect hidden behind her severe annoyance. "How exactly did you convince a faculty member to sign that form anyway? They must've known that what you were asking to sign was against school regulations."

Indeed, she very much doubted that the blond could or would change each and every book on school regulations in Kuoh Academy, something like that would be too tedious for someone like him.

And she received her answer in the form of a hand sign.

" _Kage bunshin no jutsu."_

Shimmering into existence next to his creator, the clone grinned cockily and made a hand sign of his own, whispering something that Sona barely heard, even with her incredible hearing.

" _Oiroke no jutsu._ "

At the explosion of smoke that erupted from the copy of the troublemaker, the Sitri heiress was put on her guard, unsure of what to expect.

Well, she can guarantee that what she got was something that she couldn't have seen coming in a thousand years.

" _Yahooo~"_

Sona felt her eyebrow twitch.

"…Turns out that some of your male professors can be sweet talked pretty easily by a beautiful woman." Naruto spoke with such pride, one would think that he was the one that actually tricked the man into signing the form.

In a way though, wasn't he?

What a disturbing concept.

So, frustrated, yet unwilling to express it, Sona opted to just voice out her annoyance with the current state of affairs.

"…You've annoyed me, Naruto-san."

The shinobi scratched the back of his head, bowing his head in genuinely contrite fashion. "Sorry for being a pain in the ass, Sona-kaichou."

Rubbing her now closed eyelids, the young devil had to give the blond credit where it was due.

Apologizing to her after having won the battle for gaining club members from outside the school? And in such a fashion?

Already she could feel her irritation leak away, no matter how much she tried to retain it.

He was just too damn honest.

Leaning back into her seat, she opened her mouth to ask something that has been bothering her for all of this time, acting as something of an itch in the back of her mind. "…Why do you even want those friends of yours to join in your club anyway?"

No matter in what angle she looked at his actions, wasn't he going too far for non-students to join in a club?

A twinkle entered the young man's eye at the question. "To make the Ball Tournament fifty times better than it was going to be, of course! Especially if we…spice things up a little bit."

Sona stared at him for all of about a second, a twinkle entering her own irises in response.

"We shall see if your plans actually come to fruition during the Ball Tournament, eh, Naruto-san?"

Naruto grinned. "Ya know, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing you try and stop me, this wouldn't be as much fun if you didn't anyway dattebayo."

She couldn't stop the small and challenging smirk which graced her features, the blond's attitude infectious.

She may have lost the battle…but she wouldn't lose the war quite so easily.

* * *

"Having trouble, Yuki-san?"

Yuki didn't turn around, biting her bottom lip, her foot tapping the floor incessantly. "Yes."

Rias had to agree with this blunt assessment, as she glanced between the two humans that were occupying her base's living room.

Facing the no doubt frustrated hero, Basara was looking particularly contrite for the crime of not recalling his past, what with his hands folded on his lap and all.

"This isn't working." the hero claimed with a sigh, the blank stare that she was aiming at the ground in front of her being retracted.

The red-head didn't fail to notice the breath of relief that the young man in front of her released. "How long have you been at this, just out of curiosity?"

Relaxing into the cushions of the sofa she was resting on, Yuki hummed in thought for a moment. "About…an hour or so?"

To say that the devil's heart bled in sympathy for the youth subjected to this was an understatement.

She only came back here to get some paperwork done, which mostly revolved around the applications that some supernatural beings have sent to her to request entry to her territory.

Just one of those small constants in the daily minutia of controlling a piece of land, she supposed.

Back on the subject at hand however… "Don't you think that that's a bit much, Yuki-san?"

If the other female heard her, she didn't act like she did as she pursed her lips, eyes faraway.

Taking one good long look at her, the high-class devil could only shrug her shoulders in helplessness.

There was no saving that boy now, he was on his own when the hero was like this.

Cautiously moving around the two, Rias made her way to her desk, sliding into her seat right when the door to the room slammed open.

All eyes turned to the opened door, seeing a certain perverted boy crash into the living room, huffing as if he had just rushed here.

Honestly, he probably did.

"Hey, Buchou! Do you know if that guy is still…" Issei began, trailing off as soon as he saw Basara and Yuki on the couches. "Oh, he is."

Basara frowned, features pinching together as he looked at the newcomer. "You're…that perverted guy, right?"

Valiantly keeping himself in check from giving a harsh retort, the brown-haired boy turned to Yuki. "Hey, you're still having trouble in helping this freeloader remember anything, right?"

Behind her, Basara twitched, but was summarily ignored by Yuki. "Yes, do you have any solutions, Issei-san?"

Initially, the perverted boy responded with a grin, only interrupted by the sound of his fist colliding into his open palm.

"Easy!" he declared, exuberance and a tinge of righteous anger coloring his tone of voice. "All we need to do is have him unlock his instincts in a fight!"

Not even noticing his _king_ blanche at the idea, Issei jabbed a finger at the resident amnesiac. "Hey, spar with me, would ya?"

At this, the messy-haired youth blankly stared at the other male, completely unresponsive.

Until a ghost of a smirk snuck its way onto his features, a bit of excitement lighting his emerald eyes.

The hero couldn't tell whether he was drawing from an instinct that he had grown through his time as a warrior, or whether it was just a masculine joy of fighting that was spurring him on.

Either way, he was looking livelier than she had ever seen him since he has woken up.

Even if she didn't personally agree with this 'plan'…it looked like it may actually accomplish something in comparison with her methods.

So she simply followed both of the boys as they made their way to their 'battleground'.

All the while, Rias was watching the proceedings unfold with some apprehension, wondering whether a fight between a reincarnated devil and an amnesiac hero would end well at all.

Especially when she knew that at least one of them was very hot-headed.

…Well, it wasn't like they were going to listen to her.

Yuki-san was probably one of the few that could safely calm Basara-san down should he…revert, so maybe it was for the best that she stayed out of this one.

As soon as the red-head reached this conclusion however, she raised her head when the sound of her door opening alerted her to someone else's presence.

She wasn't particularly surprised by whom she saw. "Akeno. And…Sona? Back already?"

From behind the door's expanse, the two dark-haired women entered the living room with two totally different attitudes.

One seemed to be having a really good day, if her pleasant disposition was of any indication.

While the other was…well, obviously not having such a great day.

It shouldn't be too hard to guess who was feeling what right now.

"Yes, unfortunately." the Sitri heiress grimaced, looking almost embarrassed to be back. "Not by my will, I assure you, Rias."

Rias wasn't too sure how her fellow devil could be unwilling to come here, after all; why would she be here if not for her own will?

"Just listen to her for a moment, Buchou." Akeno looked absolutely beatific as she made her suggestion, trying and failing to stay composed. "…It seems that our kohai has struck again."

Seeing someone like Sona, the epitome of rationality and poise, flinch visibly at the _queen's_ words managed to pique Rias' interest.

Then she actually thought about what was said so far, and quickly connected the dots. "Naruto?"

Another flinch.

A fit of giggles that refused to stay contained.

Rias nailed it in one.

"What? Did he flood the Student Council room or something?" the red-head herself couldn't prevent the fond smile from reaching her features.

"…Not quite." Sona responded with a scowl. "He tricked me into allowing individuals that weren't students here to join his club. He probably intends to join the Ball Tournament."

"What? Did he outmaneuver you or something?"

"Worse." the bespectacled devil replied, almost ashamed to admit to it. "He…changed the rules."

Rias cocked her head to the side, decidedly confused.

"…Literally. He literally changed one of the rules in the official school rulebook in regards to club membership. It wouldn't have been a big deal if a high school professor didn't already sign the form, giving the rule some semblance of legitimacy." Sona was just ranting quietly to herself by now, an aura of depression surrounding her by this point.

Speechless, the red-head turned to her _queen_ , seeking understanding.

"Ara? Are you just going to let our cute kohai get away with this?" Akeno asked, smirking openly by now, having fun fanning the flames.

With those words, Sona's downtrodden aura was washed away, her head snapping up back to the other ravenette, a clear glint of challenge in her violet eyes. "Not at all. He may have won this round, but I won't just allow him to have his way so easily."

Rias could only sweatdrop at how quickly her friend rebounded from her depression.

That sweatdrop only grew bigger when Akeno began to clap politely at this show of determination.

"…Is there anything _else_ that you've come here for?" she hazarded to ask afterwards.

The Sitri heiress blinked. "You don't have to worry about helping me search for the one that meddled with my paperwork anymore."

That let loose another fit of giggles from Rias' _queen_ , unable to help herself by this point.

Not that the crimson _king_ could really blame her. "My…he got you good, hm?"

"Yes…I suppose so." Sona groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. "But why does he garner so much pleasure from making my life more difficult? Does he simply have a distaste against authority?"

Rias hummed, considering it. "From what I've seen, that does seem to be pretty spot on. But I can't say for sure. Why don't you ask him?"

"Absolutely not."

The Gremory heiress rolled her eyes.

Her friend always did have a strange sense of pride that prevented her from asking her 'opponents' simple questions.

She'd rather solve something about them herself than just do the easy thing.

"I'm sure that you could gather something of his personality the more that you speak with him. He's pretty straightforward and blunt, as I'm sure you've figured." Rias offered, easily recalling how her friend and ally always spoke his mind.

Without fail.

"...Is he though?"

Sona wasn't the one that asked that question of her.

Both high-class devils turned in surprise to the only other person that could have possibly asked such a question, but the red-head among the two was obviously a bit more nonplussed than the other.

"What do you mean by that, Akeno?" she had to ask of her close friend, finding her words to be...strange to say the least.

Akeno, previously having a difficult time in stopping her giggling fits when hearing of her kohai's actions, was now frowning, visibly serious.

"I mean just that, Rias." her use of Rias' actual name proved just how serious she actually was. "Is he actually as straightforward and blunt as we think?"

Rias couldn't quite believe that she had just heard that question come out of Akeno's mouth. "Um...are we talking about the same person right now?"

To the red-head, nothing fit the description of the blond as; blunt and straightforward.

Maybe mischievous worked too, but she wasn't going to argue about which trait defined him more.

And while the other high-class devil stayed silent following that exchange, her quirked eyebrow was proof enough that she was also skeptical of Akeno's doubts.

"I've…just been thinking about it recently, about how Naruto is like with us." the _queen_ admitted, tapping her bottom lip with a dainty finger, thoughtful. "Especially after what he told me yesterday."

The Gremory heiress piqued a bit in interest, leaning forward a bit, waiting for her friend to expand on that last bit.

Even if she had to stamp down on the reflexive question that she wanted to demand; 'When did you two get so close?'

"Oh, if you're curious, then you'll just have to ask Naruto-kun himself, Buchou." the designated Yamato Nadeshiko of Kuoh Academy deftly rejected her _king's_ wish to hear more, much to her frustration no doubt.

But, perhaps seeing how the _Power of Destruction_ was leaking off of the crimson-haired beauty, Akeno felt it was wiser to at least give her the highlight of their conversation. "That being said…he admitted something incredible to me, Buchou. Something that I never would of thought him capable of before. Not him."

At that admission, the black miasma that represented Rias' signature power retreated back into her form, the dark look that she sported fading away as innocent curiosity took its place.

What could he have possibly told Akeno to have her think so deeply about how he interacted with them?

Was it even that big of a deal?

Seeing that she not only had grasped her own _king's_ full attention, but the focus of her Sitri counterpart, the ravenette folded her hands over her skirt and spilled the beans. "Buchou…Naruto-kun has actually _hated_ someone before."

Blue-green eyes blinked.

The owner of said eyes then sagged a bit. "…Is that it? Oh come now, Akeno…I don't think there's a person alive who's never hated someone else before."

Indeed, she's hated Riser for trying to take her hand in marriage, so even someone like her has hated someone before.

Was it that far-fetched for the spiky-haired blond to be the same?

Sona, standing beside her, felt her face pinch up. "I don't think that the two of you are using the word in the same context."

Akeno nodded, looking mildly uncomfortable. "Yes, Sona-kaichou. Buchou…it's hard to explain, but what I'm talking about is worlds apart from what you felt with Riser. If anything; I'd liken it more to how Kiba-kun felt about _Excalibur_ than anything else."

Flashes of the young man and his borderline insane actions popped up in Rias' head, evoking a frown.

Comparing and contrasting such raw and destructive behavior with both blonds; Naruto and Yuuto, she found that she couldn't even fathom it.

"Are…you sure?"

"He told me himself." Akeno replied, brushing a stray bang so that she could clearly meet her _king's_ gaze. "And…that made me realize that maybe I don't know him as well as I should."

"…And perhaps…that he's hiding things from us." Sona remarked quietly, unwilling to believe it, but knew that she'd be remiss to discount the theory.

While that remark earned her a scolding look from her fellow high-class devil, it had to be noted that she didn't refute her either.

Rias turned away from Sona, sighing as she took a few steps back and plopped back onto her seat, crossing her arms together as she fell into deep thought.

Mostly falling back towards several moments that spoke out to her, in regards to the whiskered teen.

One moment in particular stood out like a sore thumb.

Just a mere two days ago, when every supernatural being affiliated around Kuoh Academy met in her clubroom to discuss the series of events that hit them all throughout the past few days.

She remembered clearly how reticent Naruto was when he spoke of that faction that his group fought in Kyoto; the Hero Faction, if she recalled correctly.

Especially when the subject of the group's elites was broached.

She took a single glance at the blond's expression, his tone of voice, his reticent attitude, and quickly decided to let the matter drop.

Even when she wanted to ask more questions about what happened out there; from what the objectives of this 'Hero Faction' was, to where it came from, and more…she didn't.

She didn't for the same reason why she didn't probe him over what he _was_ exactly.

"I-I know." was all the red-head said at first, biting her lip. "I _know_."

Akeno and Sona alike turned to her, giving her a concerned and quizzical look respectively.

Neither had a chance to open their mouths however. "I already _know_ that Naruto isn't telling us everything…but…is it really that important?"

That's right.

She still adamantly believed that the young man that they were referring to was blunt and straightforward.

Rias just happened to believe that there were exceptions to that general rule, for whatever reason that she couldn't quite decipher.

But was it _really_ so important?

If Naruto didn't want to disclose something, then surely, they shouldn't pry?

Was what happened in Kyoto, what happened on his journey back, hell; his general _past_ so important as to possibly endanger the trust that they've earned from him?

To possibly endanger their relationship with him?

 _Her_ relationship with him?

No…best to just forget about this subject, move past it.

After all, if he deigned to keep such information, then who was she to dig deeper?

"You…knew?" Sona started slowly, face scrunching. "So why haven't you done anything to rectify the situation?"

The Sitri heiress herself wasn't entirely sure whether the blond was keeping things from them or not until just now, seeing as she only recently spoke to him on a constant basis recently.

Rias on the other hand, knew and spoke to him for longer periods of time, so what was her excuse?

"There's nothing to rectify." she replied resolutely, turning her head away from the two eyes pinning her down. "Obviously, he's left his past in the past, there's nothing to fix there."

Akeno's tiny frown revealed her feelings on the matter, without needing to say a word.

Sona wasn't nearly so reserved. "Rias, I may not know much of the effect someone's past has on their present selves, but surely it leaves behind some influence on them. You can't be naïve enough to think-"

"Of _course_ it has left an influence on him!" the red-head snapped, scowling now. "But whatever his past may be, it obviously wasn't severe enough to leave him as anything but a well-adjusted young man. So of course I wouldn't try and go further!"

Recoiling at the forceful way that the Gremory heiress spoke to her, as well as how genuine her belief was, her fellow _king_ had to at least accede to her point.

From what she's seen of the blond, there was nothing that suggested that he was troubled, if anything, outside of his annoying tendency to prank people and his ridiculous confidence, he was actually among the sanest in their little group.

…Not that that was saying much, since she could've placed Kiba Yuuto in such a category two weeks ago as well.

"Rias…" Akeno tried to speak up, hesitating, before making the plunge. "Maybe prodding into his personal life before we met him may seem intrusive, but, for what it's worth, I'm not actually too worried about the fact that he's hated someone before."

Blue-green eyes flickered to meet violet, a hint of confusion within their depths now. "Then why are you so eager to dig?"

The _queen_ tilted her head, looking about as innocent and innocuous as she _actually_ was at that point. "Because I want to know more about someone that I care about."

It happened in a flash.

So quickly that, beside the other ravenette beauty, Sona almost missed it.

A subtle twitch of her lips _downwards_ , almost twisting into a scowl.

 _Hoh?_

"You think that I don't?" Rias demanded, her demeanor aggravated.

Obviously, considering the growing grin on Akeno's features, she noticed. "Hmm? Do you? If you wanted to, then surely you would've tried and learn more about him before this, no? Or maybe you could stop making excuses?"

Oh dear.

Seeing the red-head grow increasingly agitated, it became clear to Sona that she was now in the middle of a veritable minefield.

She remembered hearing the mumbled stories from the rest of Rias' Peerage about how her _queen_ would sometimes get under her _king's_ skin enough for it to come to blows.

She thrived on it apparently.

Well, it looked like it was about to reach that point, and the Sitri heiress wanted no part in it.

Taking a few cautious step back as the air became charged with power, the young devil was going to let these two go at it without comment and come back later.

When they weren't going to destroy the environment around them.

At least, that was her original intention.

Such an action was kind of difficult when a sizable rune circle flashed underfoot and cut off her attempt to move away.

Thankfully, the magical construct's appearance garnered not only Sona's attention, but everyone's attention, distracting the two would-be combatants from actually going at it.

Normally, this would be a good thing.

But Sona wasn't sure whether Rias and Akeno coming to blows wasn't preferable to this when she recognized the symbol upon the magic circle.

The _transportation_ circle.

"Oh great…"

* * *

Koneko was late to class.

No, more than that, she was late to _school_.

Lunch period was already over, and she was only just entering the gate that led to Kuoh Academy.

Though, the _rook_ wasn't particularly worried or anything, it wasn't like she did something like this often or anything.

Unlike _some_ people she could name off anyway…

Hazel pupils flitted across the sparsely populated main square of the Academy grounds, seeing no one except the backs of frantic students racing towards their next class.

Normally, she'd follow their lead, but today was somewhat…special.

No, she'd go so far as to say momentous.

She had spent almost all of her time resting so that she could clearly think upon what she wanted from the training she was undergoing.

Or, rather, whether the fears that still boiled within the pit of her stomach would prove to be unfounded or not.

Which was why the teenaged girl was trudging, not towards the school building, but to the _old_ school building.

Where she knew that her _king's_ headquarters were located.

And, she hoped, where a certain blond was prepared to continue where they left off.

"Aha! There you are!"

Speak of the devil.

Koneko tilted her head upwards and over her shoulder, seeing a blond student jab his finger at her from the school building's third story, a grin befitting of a predator adorning his features.

She was completely unperturbed by the fact that, as soon as the other teen made his announcement, he jumped over the window ledge, despite being on the third floor of the building.

Landing in a crouch, his legs bending in order to absorb the impact of his fall, Naruto rose and walked up to the expectant first-year, prepared as she ever could be for what was going to happen next.

"Ready to get started on your real training?"

Staring without comment for a few moments, the white-haired girl finally deigned to open her jaws to give a proper answer.

At least, until she saw her sempai glance back at the window he jumped out from warily, as if expecting something.

And, following his line of sight, she came to the conclusion that she was correct in her observation.

Upon the third floor, a red-head was jogging down the hallway, her profile plainly visible from their angle, and was obviously looking for someone.

The evidence was in the furtive glances she was sending everywhere.

"C'mon, tell me later." Naruto urged, pushing the smaller form next to him lightly. "For now, uh…well, just run with me, yeah?"

Koneko didn't want to do that.

She had found some semblance of resolve that was needed to actually partake in this training.

And…if she were perfectly honest, she wanted to share it with him.

To let him know verbally that she was prepared to take this extra step into the unknown.

But, as the two drifted away from the school building, and the blond studiously acted as if he _wasn't_ avoiding someone, he sent her a wry grin as they made their way to the only place where they could train in peace.

Somehow, even without words…

She felt that he knew anyway.

Honestly, she wouldn't put it past him.

* * *

"Ready, Basara-san?"

Basara cracked his knuckles idly as he stared down the other boy, a fire lit in his stomach, urging him.

Both young men were practically alone in the middle of the training area below the old school building, prepping themselves for a spar.

A little session that the both of them seemed to be looking forward to.

Without preamble, Issei conjured up a crimson gauntlet that covered his left forearm, tightening his hands into fists as he fell into a fighting stance.

Something that, surprisingly, received an echoed response from the 'new guy' as he instinctively followed suit.

However, even as his legs spread out and his hands cupped together in front of him, he knew that there was something missing.

Something vital. _Key_.

The perverted boy was about to comment on how he weird he looked, looking like he was standing in a guard position with a weapon when he had no such thing within his clasped hands.

But he never had the chance, as a look of concentration washed over the scarred youth's features, body shivering in… _something_.

At first, nothing happened.

Then; in a lightning-quick motion, emerald eyes snapped to the crimson gauntlet that occupied most of Issei's arm.

A powerful green aura overtook his hands, which were occupied by holding an imaginary hilt, clasped tightly against air.

That didn't remain to be the case.

Within seconds, a hilt formed in between his palms, materializing within the wild aura that he controlled, yet didn't.

Bending his legs, the amnesiac kept his hands together as he threw his arms to the side, taking the classic stance of a samurai drawing his katana.

The reality of what he was about to do wasn't too far off from that, since the green aura expanded further, forming a wicked blade that was silver in color and curved.

"… _Brynhildr_ …" Basara murmured, brows scrunching, confused, yet certain.

Absolutely so.

This burst of knowledge, this…illumination.

Emerald eyes stared into the orb of power that glowed bright green within the ring that was connecting the hilt to the blade itself, his features illuminated by this power that was until now; unknown to him.

"Hoh…?" Issei's smirk was more prominent, excited even. "Sheesh, that's a badass sword right there. But, then again, do you even know how to use it?"

"I…think so?" the way that Basara phrased his statement made it come out as more of a question than anything else, but the shaggy-haired youth still turned to face his opponent with a serious attitude. "Let's find out."

To Issei, he had surged forward towards the blade wielder, his fist raised and primed to launch, holding himself back just a bit in his speed and strength so as not to intimidate his sparring partner.

He needn't had bothered.

In Basara's eyes, as soon as the battle began, time just seemed to… _stall_.

It was as if a switch had been flipped in his head, bringing forth instincts that were honed in what felt like another life.

His body moved appropriately to the threat; his feet spreading and his arms brought to the side in preparation to swing.

But more than that…

…

Was…Issei always so _slow?_

Indeed, in the young man's eyes, the other boy was charging at him in slow motion.

Internally, the amnesiac couldn't help but note that he had nothing to worry when it came to his opponent's speed.

No, he had to worry about the _strength_ that his fists carried.

Which was why, his body on autopilot, he moved forward and intercepted the perverted boy in front of him.

Chocolate-colored eyes widened, the _Boosted Gear_ user barely managed to react to the slice by raising his gauntlet to block the wide arc.

Sparks lit both of their features, with both teens meeting each other's gaze at they clashed.

Issei obviously underestimated his opponent, and his improved reaction time was the only reason he was able to block the attack that could've left him with a pretty vicious wound.

"…You were holding back." Basara accused, his lips forming a fine line. "You were moving slower before, but you sped up when you reacted to my attack."

The _pawn_ chuckled nervously, keeping the wicked blade away from his skin. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't holding back _that_ much though…I'm just pretty decent at reacting to things thanks to the shit I've been through."

His features, formerly lax, grew taut with his growing sense of tension.

"Serious time now."

 _Boost!_

Making its declaration, the _Boosted Gear_ doubled its wielder's power, signifying the beginning of his re-energized assault.

Something that Basara took keen note of as the _pawn_ jumped forward, displaying speed that he didn't have until now.

It wasn't hard to deduce that his glowing gauntlet had something to do with it.

Tilting his head to the right of the brawler's left hook, which just so happened to release enough air pressure as to nick his cheek, the amnesiac followed his instincts and spun around to swing his broadsword at his opponent's back.

He wasn't exactly enthused to find that he only shaved off hair instead of leaving a gash on the other male's back, since he reacted to his swing by ducking underneath the arc.

It was only made worse when the perverted boy cocked his fist back, aiming to elbow the holder of _Brynhildr_ in the stomach, using the fact that he was within his guard to his advantage.

However, proving that he still had the superior speed, Basara pushed against the ground and flew back and away from the incoming elbow, making space between the two teens.

Brown eyes widened, then narrowed just as quickly, prepared to move right on in after him.

So he did, using his already bent legs to springboard to his retreating opponent, confident that he could at least score one good shot off of him.

At least, he was, up until the swordsman slammed his broadsword into the ground, slowing down his momentum.

Then, with precision that could have only come from extreme dedication in honing his skills, he propped his feet onto the hilt of his blade, which was still carving into the ground.

And then pushed off of it.

Literally, Basara jumped into the air, cutting into his former momentum.

All while completely avoiding the devil that had _just_ reached his former position.

To make matters worse, he hadn't even jumped that high, leaving Issei at his mercy since he was out of his fist's range while still being within _Brynhildr's_.

By the time that the _pawn_ had realized this, and began turning to intercept the swing that would inevitably carve into his exposed back, Basara was already in the process of bringing his blade down.

Emerald eyes shined in triumph, the first he had felt ever since he had woken up.

It was in such a moment that he felt _truly_ like he was alive.

This clash that forced him to react and try and to outmaneuver his opponent was just like one of those old legends that he recalled.

From where, he didn't recall, but he knew that an event like this would be considered as the prelude of a 'turning point'.

Something that he saw only a certain group of people accomplish, he somehow knew.

A group of people that adhered to the name of-

 _Boost!_

A crimson gauntlet smashed into the sword of stainless steel, knocking both weapons back from the recoil that both suffered the sudden clash.

Basara stared and met with the determined gaze of the teen below him, getting further away due to the force that pushed the airborne youth further high up.

"Don't get cocky!" Issei growled, spinning around once to take control of the recoil before stomping his foot onto the ground and aiming his _Boosted Gear's_ open palm at the flying Basara. "This ain't over yet, buddy!"

Demonic energy was built up into that open palm, resulting in a small crimson ball that occupied that space, radiating in its barely contained shape.

Issei tensed, the jewel within his _Boosted Gear_ glowing brilliantly as he _fired_.

" _Dragon Shot!_ "

Following the loud declaration, the crimson orb flashed forward as a beam that was almost as big as the teen himself, following the trajectory that was given to it.

The amnesiac stuck in mid-air.

Basara cocked his blade back, gripping its large hilt with both hands as he prepared for a mighty swing, somehow confident that he could at least stop the attack from doing too much damage.

More than that; he was pretty sure that he could completely 'kill' it.

Whatever the case, the young man held _Brynhildr_ behind him, elbows bent with wound up strength poised to be unleashed, prepared for a mighty swing as words spilled from his lips.

Not even once wondering about the completely instinctual actions that he had just undertook in this fight.

" _Banishing Shift!_ " came the roar, an emerald aura coating the young man's body as the sword made its powerful curve and made contact with the beam.

Smaller columns of the beam's original form spread apart as the broadsword was held in front of it, forcing Basara to squint at its proximity.

His arms shook at the impressive force lodged against him, struggling to carve through the energy attack, feeling like it should be easier.

Through grit teeth, a stray thought imbedded itself within his mind, far away, and yet…so intimately familiar.

'Is this all you have?'

The beam began ebbing, its power becoming unstable.

'This power is nowhere near enough to justify the name that you have adopted for yourself.'

Whatever aura enveloped him, its flow waving up and down his body, reaching his blade.

'Aim higher, and truly become one with the title you that you've adopted…and surpass it…my apprentice.'

A roar tore through Basara's throat then, a foreign and completely familiar power giving him the strength to complete his cut straight through the crimson energy.

Instead of getting split apart by the slash however, instead, it simply…

Evaporated.

No, more than that, it was completely _erased_.

Banished beyond this plane of existence.

Eyes that were the same shade as the grass, alive and fresh, peered open, staring at the blade in front of him.

A word unintentionally escaped his lips then.

"…Hero?" he murmured, distracted.

So distracted that he completely missed the fact that the fight wasn't over.

"ORRRRYYYAAAA!"

Neck nearly cracking, Basara saw stars as a fist knocked him down from the air, sending him down to earth like a ragdoll, leaving quite the crack onto the ground, despite how it was reinforced by magic.

Gasping, the amnesiac coughed as he tried to get the stars out of his sight, the taste of copper registering in his tongue.

"O-Oh shit!" he heard his erstwhile opponent curse under his breath, before going loud. "Hey! You alright there!? I didn't think that I'd get you with that punch!"

Basara forced himself up as soon as his brain stopped rattling in his skull, a dry chuckle rumbling in his chest. "Y-Yeah…my bad. I got distracted there for a second there."

Issei landed right next to the downed teen, rising up to give him an incredulous look. "Hey…don't apologize for getting knocked onto your ass, that's weird."

A dry grin etched its way across his features on that admission. "Sorry."

"You just did it again."

Breaking out into a fit of laughter, the shaggy-haired youth laid back down onto his back, wincing only a bit at its soreness. "Got it, got it. But…I don't know, there was something liberating in that, I think. I feel…at ease even."

Legs giving out beneath him, the perverted boy joined his counterpart on the ground, shooting him a tired smile. "Yeah…I know what you mean. It's pretty cool, fighting like that when there aren't any stakes in it. Just throwing all you've got against someone else, one on one? It's one hell of a stress reliever, I'll tell you that!"

He turned away then, looking a little chastened. "It's kinda hard to explain to be honest, so much so that I can't really get Asia to understand. It'd be nice if I could help her understand eventually."

Indeed, Asia really didn't get how a spar like this could benefit anyone much, and honestly, given her upbringing, may never get it.

Not that she tried to stop him or anything, rather, she just always tilted her head in confusion whenever he brought it up.

He'd like to change that one day.

"Asia?" Basara echoed, propping his elbows on the ground to raise his upper body a bit. "That's…that's that blond girl, right? What, are you two married or something?"

If anything could have broken Issei's composure, it was definitely a question like that. "Huh? What the hell kinda question is that? We're teenagers!"

"Well…I don't know. From what you've said, you two sound just like a married couple or something. Am I wrong?"

"Yes!" Issei cried, sputtering. "We're close, but we haven't reached that stage yet!"

Basara couldn't help but notice a key word in the other teen's sentence. "Yet?"

The perverted boy huffed, rolling his eyes. "Leave me alone, damn it."

A snort was all he got as a response, the amnesiac's elbows giving out on him as he fell onto his back, inexplicably satisfied and calm.

This atmosphere was nice to him.

And he had a feeling that he wasn't the only one to feel that way.

"My arms hurt." he complained lightly, eyes staring at the ceiling above. "That last energy attack of yours packed a punch, you know that?"

He couldn't see his sparring partner from his position on the ground, but he could imagine him scratching his cheek nervously regardless. "Ehehe…I actually got a little caught up in the moment to be honest, I didn't mean to throw that much power into my _Dragon Shot_."

Craning his neck to look at Issei, Basara gave him a flat look.

Obviously, the _pawn_ had to defend himself. "Hey, I could've maxed out on my boosts if I wanted to, you know? I made sure to keep myself in check!"

The new guy didn't reply, opting to rest his neck by staring back at the ceiling again.

…

"…Sorry."

"Now look who's apologizing?" Basara muttered dryly, a twinkle in his eye.

Twin sets of chuckles emerged from that comment, coming from both boys as they relaxed on the ground, carefree.

At that moment, Basara felt that he could grow to like these people.

And, in that moment, at a secluded area away from the two combatants, another young hero watched the two teens speak with the smallest of smiles.

It looked like Yuki had nothing to worry about here.

* * *

Fire.

While Sona was expecting as such, it came as a bit of a surprise to the other two devils in the room, who didn't even notice the magic circle until now.

Rias and Akeno finally turned away from one another to focus on the magic construct in the middle of the room, spewing fire in all directions in a manner which was eerily familiar to the both of them.

Especially to the red-head. "Oh no…not now…"

While neither of the ravenettes made a verbal comment to that effect, their expressions made their opinions about the situation just as easily known.

The only possible positive about consolation about this, was the fact that the flames were significantly toned down, comparatively.

Still, it was a cold comfort for any of them when a familiar head of hair emerged from the ground through the demonic-powered rune circle.

Accompanied by aristocratic features and piercing blue eyes.

"…Riser." Rias spoke up levelly, the other two devils next to her shifting close to her, closing ranks against an external threat. "What are you doing here?"

In the middle of the room, with his hands stuffed into his pockets, was Riser Phenex.

One didn't need to be a genius to figure that Rias could have gone through her entire life without needing to see him again.

A fact that the blond devil must have picked up on as he turned to look at her with a neutral expression. "Nice to see you too, Rias."

"Let's skip through the niceties, shall we?" Sona cut in, recognizing the telltale signs of her friend's rising anger once she squared her shoulders. "Surely you aren't here just to antagonize us, correct?"

Riser didn't react to her words one way or another at first, simply choosing to slide his gaze across the assorted group in front of him.

It wasn't until he did a thorough scan that he actually opened his mouth to speak.

"Trust me, I don't want to be here anymore than you do." the high-class devil remarked, a tired sigh escaping his lips as he did so. "But I was ordered to do so, so here I am."

"Ordered?" the Sitri heiress repeated doubtfully. "You? Who exactly would-?"

Her words died before she could even bother asking.

All thanks to the finger that was raised, pointing straight at Rias, leaving no doubt as to who the young man was referring to.

" _Her_ onii-chan." he stated dully.

Rias blinked. "Onii-sama? Why would he-?"

"Throughout the past two weeks or so, I've been working with Maou Lucifer-sama in regards to an investigation." Riser explained, crossing his arms as he narrowed his eyes. "Today however, he has sent me to seek you out and give you a message."

Rias and Sona exchanged concerned glances, not sure whether such an action by the Maou Lucifer could be considered a good or a bad thing.

It was Akeno that pointed out a missing component in this puzzle though. "Buchou, Kaichou, I'm not entirely sure, but perhaps this contact has something to do with our inability to contact the Underworld?"

Blue-green eyes snapped to the _queen_ , widening as her mind raced at the implications.

She needn't have bothered. "Actually, this is _exactly_ about the recent breakdown of communications."

All eyes turned back to Riser, who was now casually leaning against the back of the couch in the middle of the room. "As you seem to have noticed, all communication to and from the Underworld has been disrupted, making it almost impossible for anyone to reach through across the dimensions to speak or see one another. So don't even bother right now."

The Gremory heiress craned her head forward, incredulous to say the least. "I've _never_ heard of such a large disruption before, as a matter of fact, I'm _pretty_ sure that this is unprecedented. Unless you're talking about the Underworld during the war, but that's understandable for obvious reasons."

"Rias is correct." the Sitri heiress murmured, pushing her glasses back up high on the bridge of her nose. "Discounting the times when there was civil strife, something like this is…unheard of."

The blond devil amongst them blinked slowly, breathing out a drawn out sigh.

As he raised his hand to wipe at his eyes, Rias couldn't help but notice the bags under his eyes…

"That's just it." he spoke out finally, sounding resigned. "There _is_ civil strife going on in the Underworld as we speak."

If anyone could describe the feeling that hit all of his listeners, it would probably be surmised as; the feeling of a lead weight falling in their stomach.

And Riser was probably someone who noticed this. "Relax, while it sounds bad, the unrest hasn't reached a critical point yet. It's just enough to worry plenty of devils enough to completely overwhelm the magical servers that regulate communication between the Underworld and other dimensions. That's all."

While Sona audibly eased up from the tension that entered her frame, Rias on the other hand, did not.

"…You've changed, Riser."

Riser scowled at that. "Don't remind me."

The resident red-head gazed upon him in wonder, having difficulty connecting the man that almost forced her into an arranged marriage and the one before her now.

It was bizarre to say the least.

"Getting back on topic…" Sona felt it necessary to actually figure out what was going on rather than ask about personality shifts. "Why did those servers break down? Surely Maou Beelzebub-sama could simply accommodate the influx of discourse between the Underworld and other dimensions?"

It was a reasonable question.

Ajuka Beezlebub was the Chief Advisor of the Technology Department of the Underworld, and was, by all accounts, a genius when it came to his job.

Such a problem should've been nothing to such a competent man in such a position.

"Normally, yes. But ever since Maou Beelzebub-sama has heard of Diodora's criminal status, he's been rather…distant."

Sona's cheek twitched.

Diodora Astaroth.

An insane devil that had committed nefarious actions by attempting to kidnap both; Asia and Mio at differing times.

As well as the overall crimes that come with attacking other devils and invading their private property.

And Ajuka Beelzebub...who was once known as Ajuka Astaroth.

She could already see the possible issues here.

"…I thought that Maou Beelzebub-sama was very distant with his younger brother." Rias murmured under her breath, her disbelief plain to see.

The Phenex shrugged, unable or unwilling to give his opinion on the matter.

After that small pause though, he continued on as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, the only reason why this came up as a problem in the first place is because of that strife that I mentioned earlier, plaguing the Underworld. Which brings me to the second reason of why I'm here…"

Blue eyes sharpened, pinning Rias with a stare.

"Do you know where-?"

At that moment, the creaking sound of a door opening was heard, causing every devil in the room to focus upon it.

Riser's eyebrows creased at what he saw.

"Speak of the devil."

* * *

"What will you be teaching me, sempai?"

Naruto stopped, turning to look at the loli next to him, only about a minute's walk away from their destination.

He regarded her for all of a second, before turning away from her, thoughtful. "Well…I think I mentioned this before, but I can't teach you much. I can only teach you techniques that your chakra allows you to."

The _rook_ cocked her head to the side, decidedly puzzled, even when she had an inkling about what he was talking about.

Seeing this, the blond elaborated. "Well, I'm sure you've noticed, but your chakra and my own are similar, but not exactly the same. My chakra has a bit more mixed in to allow me to use certain techniques…abilities that you're unable to use without it."

Hazel eyes crinkled. "Techniques like what?"

Naruto didn't respond verbally.

Instead, he raised his hand, as energy swirled on his palm, spinning to coalesce into a very familiar sphere.

The devil stared at it, transfixed, always impressed by its hypnotizing visage.

"Like this." the shinobi claimed, allowing the incomplete _rasengan_ to fizzle away.

Back while he was in Kyoto, he recalled where he and a certain yokai faction leader compared notes about their respective energy sources.

Apparently, the chakra of the yokai of this world had an imbalance of energies mixed within it, in stark contrast with the balance present with the chakra of the shinobi.

An imbalance of spiritual and physical energy; Yin and Yang.

An imbalance that left the spiritual energy as the dominant force.

The shinobi couldn't remember the specifics to save his life, but he knew that physical energy was _vital_ for ninjutsu in general.

So that left Koneko, and literally every other yokai in this world, absolutely no access to those kinds of techniques.

That being said… "I may not be able to teach you that, but I can show you how to do _this_."

In a flash, the blond brought his hands together in order to weave a single hand sign, causing an explosion of smoke to hide his self.

Then, through the smoke, emerged a pair of hazel eyes.

Hazel irises met with an exact replica of hazel irises, with the original set registering that everything else was an exact replica as well.

Koneko was currently staring at Koneko.

Before she could even be taken aback by the bizarre situation, another explosion overtook her copy, camouflaging 'her'.

Thankfully, Naruto's looks reverted back to what they once were, sporting a playful grin as he laid his hands down.

" _Henge_. While it's harmless on its own, if you try and think outside of the box, you could really do some amazing things with it. Take my word for it." the whiskered teen explained, that grin of his ever present.

"Oh…" the reincarnated devil leaned forward a bit, the only sign that she was interested since her features remained stoic. "I see…but is that it?"

"One more." Naruto replied, bringing his hands again to form a hand seal. "It's similar to my _kage bunshins_ , but this one is illusionary."

In a puff of smoke, as expected, a copy of the blond appeared right by him, a clone to its very core.

But, interestingly, Koneko witnessed Naruto wave his hand _through_ the clone, proving that it wasn't solid by any means.

"This is just an ordinary clone, one that is much easier to make than the corporeal clones that I make all of the time. I'm sure that I don't have to explain the advantages to having this baby in your arsenal, eh?"

A correct assumption on his part.

Without prompt, the illusion faded away without making a sound as the blond crossed his arms and hummed, raising his head towards the sky, peering up at the clouds above. "Now, besides those two, I'd like to see if I could teach you another technique, but that one might be a bit more difficult to grasp to be honest. We'll have to wait and see. But the _rasengan_ and the _kage bunshin_ are impossible techniques for you to learn, just so you know dattebayo."

The _rook_ nodded, taking this all in, already trying to figure how these abilities could be used to her advantage in the future.

But before she could delve too deeply into that train of thought, her ears twitched.

"Someone is coming."

Naruto frowned, opening his mouth to ask what she meant by that.

"F-Found you!"

He may as well not bother.

The shinobi froze on the spot, growing pale when a familiar set of pink eyes pinned him down, accusatory.

"M-Mio…" he gulped, shying away from her uneasily. "What's up?"

Mio took a menacing step forward, the eerie light of insanity touching her eyes.

Naruto may have squeaked when she did so.

 _Maybe_.

"What's up? What's up!? Do you have any idea how I found you, Naruto!?" she practically raged, eye twitching.

Violently, he may add.

Obviously, his precious imouto was on a roll, so Koneko decided to do the smart thing and shuffle quietly away from the new ground zero and support her new sensei from the sidelines by giving him a thumbs up.

It was obvious what she was trying to say to him.

'Good luck, sempai.'

Lucky little…

"I found you thanks to the puffs of smoke that you kept releasing here!" Mio dragged his attention back to her, much to his chagrin. "If it wasn't for the fact that I was looking for you and cutting class, others could have noticed it! Why! Do you! Endanger yourself! Needlessly!?"

The red-head heaved, her breath spent as she paused to take a gulp of air.

Meanwhile, Naruto blankly looked at her as she did so.

Then his eyes lit up.

"Were you worried about me, Mio?"

The scion of the Original Lucifer tripped over air over that one, recovering only enough to gape at him as her cheeks blew up metaphorically.

"Y-You…"

Mio tried to deny it, she really did, but his earnest expression made it difficult for her to garner the necessary indignation for her to keep herself angry.

She turned away, suddenly embarrassed, hand digging into her skirt pocket, seeking out the notes that contained her sempai's nuggets of wisdom.

Naruto stared.

"Ok." he murmured to himself softly, lips forming a flat line as he steeled himself. "This has gone on long enough dattebayo…"

Koneko, who was standing at a fair distance away, still managed to hear him thanks to her supernatural hearing, and felt her interest pique.

Striding towards the flustered girl, the shinobi firmly grasped her shoulders and forced her to face him, cutting her sputtering short.

"Mio." he spoke, voice firm and unyielding, demanding to be listened, refusing to be interrupted. "Listen, I don't know why you've been acting so strange recently, but…I'm beginning to get worried about it. Ever since I came back, your actions have been weirding me out 'ttebayo! I have no idea what's going on in your head anymore, if I were honest…"

Pools of cerulean blue shifted downward to the forest floor, troubled. "I-I'm not too sure about what to do. So…well…"

He fell into silence, having difficulty expressing what he wanted to express.

Until he gave up entirely and shoved his hands into his pocket, snatching something up and offering it up to the red-head.

Mio blinked, peering at the open palm that was presented to her.

It took a moment for her to register what it was, but when she did, it made her breath escape her lungs.

"Naruto…" she whispered, transfixed. "This…this is…"

"…I just noticed that you didn't have one anymore, that's all dattebayo…" he scratched his head, decidedly nervous, but trying to play it off. "I mean, I don't know if it meant anything to you, but I figured that…it'd be nice, ya know? A nice gesture, I guess?"

If Mio was paying attention, then she gave no indication of it, far too focused on the item that she was holding up to eye level.

It was a small thing, really.

Small _things_.

It was just a twin set of black strings, nothing more or less.

But she instantly knew that these were for.

Hand absentmindedly combing through her red long hair, she knew instinctively that there was nothing there holding her hair up.

Usually, she'd have a pair of strings to tie the sides of her long hair into twin pigtails.

But ever since her fight with Diodora, that hadn't been the case.

Mostly thanks to the fact that he destroyed them during that very clash.

…

If she were honest, thoughts of those strings have only passed her by occasionally, and rarely if ever haunted her.

So consumed was she by Diodora's parting words, that she barely noticed its absence.

Yet, the second that she touched these strings, a shock of nostalgia gripped her.

Instead of a rough and calloused masculine hand offering out the accessory set to her, for just a moment…they were _feminine_.

A soft and motherly caress, soothing her as those hands deftly combed through her long hair and tied the strings through her long tresses.

Warm mocha-colored eyes looked down upon her, a smile expressed without needing to make one.

Always so expressive, never shy to act on her feelings for her adopted daughter.

It was a visage of a young brunette whose hair was tied into a bun, wearing an apron and wielding a spatula after having just left the kitchen, cooing quietly as she gave her a look of adoration.

 _You look so beautiful, Mio-chan~_

And then, just as quickly as the vision appeared in front of her, it faded away.

Leaving a very nervous blond in its place, squirming at the silence.

Mio rolled the strings over her fingers, distracting herself from her shaking bottom lip, her eyelids fluttering.

"…That's not fair."

Naruto finally pulled it together. "Eh?"

The red-head said nothing, simply raising the strings up and deftly combing them through her long locks, mimicking the actions of the woman from before.

With practiced hands, she sectioned off some of her hair and tied them up with one of those strings, before moving onto the other side and doing the same to it.

As soon as she was done, she brushed her hair back, and took a shaky breath, calming her beating heart.

After all of this time, she had stayed quiet.

And it didn't change, even when she plucked the notepad from her skirt once more and scanned it blankly, not actually reading it.

Then, she let it fall through her fingers, hitting the ground without bothering to try and get it.

With all of that said, she finally turned back to Naruto, who was looking mighty confused.

"Naruto." she said simply, the edges of her lips twitching upwards into a smile. "Want to go out for ramen as thanks for this gift? I'm paying."

The shinobi gazed at her, inexplicably befuddled even further.

But…unlike the other times that she invited him out, there was just something… _casual_ about this.

Very different from before, which almost seemed to be characterized by desperation than anything else.

So, lured by the prospect of ramen, and eased by the more positive shift in her demeanor, the shinobi grinned.

"Sure." he nodded, pumping his fist. "Let's do it."

Mio grinned herself, folding her hands behind her back as she twirled away from him, making her way to the ORC clubhouse. "We'll figure out the details later then. For now, let's see how everyone else is doing, hm?"

And, just like that, the young woman casually walked to the older red-head's place, humming a tune to herself all the while.

Naruto watched her go, his features softening, and his concerns dimming over her behavior.

He had no idea what had just happened, but…

It looked like she was gonna be alright.

"…Welp, might as well get going, eh, Koneko?" Naruto called out, turning to look at the devil that had dodged that entire mess.

Near him, the _rook_ was also watching the first-year go, an inexplicable expression dominating her face, which shifted back to her usual stoicism as soon as the blond called for her.

Chancing one last look at Mio's retreating back, the reincarnated devil walked up to the shinobi, nodding firmly that she was ready to continue.

Then, as a group they walked towards the old school house, reaching it within the predicted minute time hack.

Before either of them could have actually climbed the steps to reach the front porch though, Mio spun around again and faced the spiky-haired blond, a smile from ear-to-ear on.

"Hey, Naruto." she said, eyes bright. "We're family, right?"

The shinobi was taken aback by the query, opening his mouth to retort in a smartass manner about the stupidity of asking such a question.

But before he said a word, something deep inside him _roiled_.

It was hard to explain, but just at that moment, the sheer thought of answering that question caused something deep-seated to rebel, raising its ugly head to lambast against it.

To push the thought, the _idea_ away.

To banish it, where it could never hurt it again.

 **Remember before, where you considered others to be your 'family'.**

Naruto faltered, looking uncertain.

 **Where is that 'family' now?**

He glanced down, uncomfortable, throat clenching.

 **Pain borne from broken bonds…don't fall victim to that pain again-**

"Because I do."

Blue eyes glanced up, meeting the brightest of pink, shining even.

"I probably said this before." she piped, all positivity. "But…I'm really happy that I met you, Naruto."

Taking a stance, executing a flourish, the young woman kowtowed before her adopted sibling, expressing profound gratitude by action and words.

Externally, Naruto didn't react to the move.

But internally, the fog that had encroached into the depths of his mind were suddenly pushed back, fading away deep into his psyche.

The treacherous words that came from within grew more distant, more difficult to hear or pay attention to.

He couldn't have possibly known that the words that his imouto had just given him had, temporarily at least, beaten back whatever had been plaguing him ever since Kyoto.

But, for now at least, his eyes cleared, and his conviction had been reaffirmed.

With that reaffirmation, came that in/famous boat load of confidence that Uzumaki Naruto was known for.

"Of course!" the shinobi bellowed, huffing loudly and haughtily. "Sheesh, even now, you insist on asking really weird questions dattebayo…"

Mio straightened herself, a sound that suspiciously sounded like a giggle coming from her. "Yeah, yeah. I know, it's just nice to say it anyway, ya know?"

"What's the point of saying it when it's a fact though?"

"…Mou, can't you just accept a nice gesture?"

"Nope, I'd be screwing up my duties as an 'onii-chan' if I didn't give you crap for stupid stuff like this."

"Hmph…maybe you really are a bully…"

"What was that!?"

Koneko rolled her eyes, unable to take the back-and-forth between the two siblings as they walked slowly up the steps, bickering as only they could.

So she decided to take the initiative and move ahead of them, opening the door to the Gremory group's base of operations, ignoring the pang at her chest.

It must be nice…having such banter between siblings…

Those thoughts were immediately killed as soon as she opened the door though, taking in a familiar and decidedly unfriendly surprise.

It didn't take long for the bickering siblings to notice her pause, with Naruto in particular glancing over the _rook's_ head to check out what was going on.

He felt his shoulders sag.

"Speak of the devil."

That wasn't him.

"Son of a…"

 _That_ most definitely was.

In the middle of the main room of the building stood an aristocratic blond devil that no one in particular was exactly eager to see again.

"Riser…" Naruto drawled, shoulders squaring. "What brings you here, of all places?"

The Phenex stared stonily at the teenaged human, saying nothing.

From behind the high-class devil were some familiar faces, all giving varying greetings in accordance to their personality to said whiskered teen.

Sona gave a respectful nod.

Rias smiled and waved.

Akeno just shot him a sultry smile.

About standard.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Riser spoke up, sighing with the same breath of his words. "To be honest with you, I feel like I should owe you for your actions during our last encounter rather than resent you for them, and it's a shame that we couldn't meet under better circumstances, but…"

He frowned deeply, so much so that it left large creases on his forehead, obviously not taking pleasure in what he was about to say.

"Naruto…I'm here to inform you that large protests have broken out across the Underworld against the current status quo of devil society."

Eh?

"…And that many among them are crediting using that speech of yours back in that party as inspiration for it." Riser claimed bluntly, eyes sharp.

…

…

"Eh?"

That was all Naruto could really say about that.

* * *

"He's late."

An elderly man was casually sipping on some tea as he allowed his greatest experiment to vent, unflappable as ever.

Across from him was that very experiment, aggravated as she had her arms crossed and tapped her finger repeatedly.

A being that he intended to have as the first true human of this world to master the power of the humans of the 'other' world.

A young woman that had forsaken her past and her name on her path for power and perfection.

A young woman, that just so happened to be standing in front of his desk, glowering down at him with those dull ruby eyes of hers.

"Late?" the old man asked, playing dumb. "Whoever could you mean?"

Those eyes, typically dispassionate, grew poisonous, as they were liable to do when this specific individual was involved.

"You know exactly whom I'm referring to."

The elderly man, otherwise simply known as Shiranui, shrugged his shoulders lightly, taking the chance to take another sip of his tea.

Glaring down upon the aged human, the teen once known as Kurokami Medaka took a step back, taking stock of the situation that she had returned to.

She had hoped to return back to her domain with all of the pieces necessary to continue putting pressure upon a certain blond, challenging the ideology that he had adopted to the breaking point.

If there was anything that she had learned of that boy, it was that; if he had enough time, he could very quickly recuperate and come back with a plan or with renewed vigor.

If nothing else, he was not someone that anyone could afford to ever hold back again, not if they wanted to defeat him.

He could be given no time to rest or relax, it had to be a constant pressure.

And yet, the first essential step that she needed to defeat him physically could not be achieved, not without her second-in-command.

Not if she wanted to remain anonymous and not receive a large target on her back like Uzumaki Naruto had garnered by showing his hand for the world to see.

Her next evolution was ready, but she couldn't achieve such a thing here.

She needed to get more information about artificial Sacred Gears, and she couldn't get it here.

No, there was only one place where such information could be readily available and accessible, and she would need Kumagawa's… _unique_ abilities to remain undetected.

Not that the old man in front of her was even aware of what she was up to.

"So, child." Shiranui finally spoke, raising his wrinkled head to regard the young woman. "What is your opinion of the sole shinobi of this world?"

She didn't hesitate. "He was weakened by the time I fought him, but he still proved to be a fierce warrior. I haven't been able to fight like that in a long time. And…if I were honest, I doubt that I could defeat him as I am now."

The former hero felt his eyebrow rise. "Hoh? Quite the admission from someone as proud as yourself."

"It wasn't unexpected." she explained, features neutral. "He's as special as I am after all."

Shiranui didn't respond to that, waiting patiently for his creation to continue.

And she did. "…That being said, the mission was a success for you, chairman. It seems that the Sacred Gear that you artificially created within me allowed me to copy not only other artificial Sacred Gears, but jutsus as well. The _kage bunshin no jutsu_ is an ability that I now have access to."

A smile overtook the elderly man's features at this piece of information.

The tyrant idly noted that she didn't like it.

"As I'd hoped…research into the jutsu of the shinobi is progressing, as I'd intended. However, seeing as that seems to be all you have, that means that _The End_ is still incomplete, yes?"

Ruby eyes narrowed, but their owner didn't say one thing or another.

There was a reason why Shiranui sought out Uzumaki Naruto, and it wasn't just to have a guinea pig to learn about and eventually spread the power of chakra to others.

It was also to perfect her.

"…If that is all you need, then I need to change clothes and make sure that my subjects haven't done anything to…unsavory while I've been gone." she eventually said, turning on her heel, her long purple hair following her trail.

She could feel the old man's gaze piercing into the back of her skull.

But she didn't particularly care about it one way or another.

In reality, she didn't care one bit of Shiranui's ambitions, or about the goals of the other 'special' people here.

She didn't particularly like the idea of the blond becoming a guinea pig either.

No, she sought the destruction of the current Naruto, that was all.

Something that sounded so simple and petty, but which could be considered to be almost an impossible task, and one that had many personal stakes.

In some ways, she knew, her goal placed her in tandem with the old man, for now at least.

But in other ways, they were opposed.

She knew damn well that there were other groups out there that had their own ambitions, and that the one she sought to change was probably a nominal enemy to each and every single one of them, knowing him.

But she knew that he could handle them.

Just like she knew that he could handle Kumagawa.

No, if there was anything that she feared, it was that Kumagawa knew about her efforts and would try and attempt to sabotage them.

Just the thought of that occasionally insubordinate boy made her fists clench tightly, providing enough pressure to crush boulders under the pressure.

She swore…if that boy did anything to jeopardize her plans, then she'd have to devise a way to kill him repeatedly for his treason.

Breaking out through the doors of the building that she was just in, she gazed up at the sky, ruby eyes glistening in the starry night.

She wondered…

Was he also preparing for the future? As she was?

Eventually, they'd face again. But whether they'd go through other enemy factions before each other or deal with the other first was what she was curious about.

"Whatever you're doing out there…" Kurokami Medaka murmured, staring at the beautiful sky. "I hope you're prepared for whatever there is to come…Naruto…"

She raised her hand up, offering it up to the sky, waiting for someone to grasp it, so that she may drag them down with her.

To her 'truth'.

" _I_ will be the one to change you…just you wait…" she whispered, determination pouring out of every pore of her body, the wind brushing past her features.

"Just you wait…"

* * *

 **AN: Ok, yeah, this took a while. Much more than I thought it would. Thank the fact that I had to go to the field for drills and exercises for that, leaving all of my technology behind... T.T**

 **Ah well, regardless, another chapter is done. And things are moving forward as I'd like. :3**

 **Lastly, for future reference for guest reviewers, if you're asking me a question, then it's impossible for me to answer you without an account. And I can't really afford to reply to so many guest reviewers...**

 **Basically, if a guest really wants an answer, then plz make an account so that I could personally answer your query. I don't always answer each and every review anymore, but sometimes I have the chance to.**

 **Ok, think that's it! :P**

 **-RekkingPride**


	43. Chapter 43

Naruto figured that it had to be a joke.

Taking in the fact that the blond devil was looking grimmer than he has ever seen him, his cocky attitude from the past nowhere to be seen, and the devils behind him were expressing how seriously they were taking the situation…

Well, the shinobi could honestly believe that he was being pranked, that they were pulling his chain, and that they were jerking his leg.

But the tension in the room didn't dissipate whatsoever like he hoped it would.

"…Are you serious?" the blond breathed, eyes wide in disbelief.

He wished that they weren't.

Alas, he was wrong.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news." Riser drawled, the bags under his eyes prominent. "But it's true, and the situation could possibly escalate further if nothing is done."

Beside the whiskered teen, who had bit his lip as he took in the consequences of what he had just heard, Mio stood.

The red-head, who _used_ to be in a rather fine mood herself, was alternating between giving her sibling a worried look and glaring in suspicion at the spawn of the Phenex clan. "How do we know exactly that you're telling the truth? You haven't exactly proved to be our friend before, right?"

Expressing an almost carefree attitude, the blond devil shrugged his shoulders. "Then don't. I'm just doing what I'm told. That's all."

Rolling his shoulders for a moment, Riser turned away from the wary half-devil to face the other blond in the room, features growing stern.

"That being said…" his features sharpened as he continued to speak, meeting the human's gaze with his own, refusing to break from it. "…I owe you, Uzumaki Naruto. I owe you a debt that can't be repaid anytime soon. So, as someone that doesn't like to owe debts, let me tell you…that while the situation isn't grave, it _has_ disrupted daily life in the Underworld. More than that, it has spooked many, especially those who have much to lose should the societal structure break down."

He combed his fingers through his golden locks, glaring at the low-born that had bested him.

"Those who are in power will seek you out, to use you to force the unrest to die down, while keeping their own positions safe. If I were you, I'd be wary of devil nobles seeking to befriend you until this situation died down. That's all."

Saying his piece, Riser took a step back, seemingly content that his job was done.

All while leaving Naruto staring at the floor, absorbing what he had heard, stuck with indecision.

He himself knew and _saw_ that the society in the Underworld left…much to be desired.

But he didn't think that things would escalate so damn fast!

Just how should he respond to this? What _could_ be done?

It was too soon for him to do anything worthwhile in the Underworld, and he felt that this wasn't exactly the best time to be acting for such a change there anyway.

But…wasn't this a chance?

"Wait, Riser, I have to know." Rias interjected, eyes calculating. "Do you know which clans, if any, have any plans to seek out Naruto?"

She could only think of a handful of clan leaders that could be crafty enough to; not only present an excellent case, but to actually convince the blond to get these protesters to back off.

In her opinion, far too many of them were arrogant in their status, and she doubted that someone as willful as the sole human in the room would ever be convinced by such people.

Unfortunately, when the Phenex turned to her, it was not to acquiesce to her request. "No clue. It's impossible to tell up until they act. To be blunt, it's likely that there are going to be some backroom dealings in order to figure out what should be done as a collective group. But then again, I'm sure you've realized that."

The casual air and the 'devil-may-care' attitude he had when he made such a conclusion gave almost everyone there the impression that he, honestly, didn't care.

And they weren't too far off from hitting the mark.

To Riser, he had done his part, and was not obliged to go further than he already had.

His job was effectively finished.

"Hey. Riser, right?"

Still, before he could prepare to leave the premises now that his duty was fulfilled, he was called out.

Turning with his hands in his pockets, the humbled noble met the gaze of a set of blue eyes that were of a similar shade to his own.

Naruto stared him down, brows scrunched together.

"…Why do you feel like you owe me?"

During a conversation about the civil stability of the Underworld, Riser had to say that he wasn't exactly expecting such a question at this point in time.

Then again, he should've realized, that the teenager in front of him wasn't exactly one that was easily understood.

Clicking his tongue, the high-class devil created a magic circle that enveloped the floor under him, bringing an orange glow to the room as fire surrounded him.

"Don't worry about it." Riser claimed, crossing his arms, still keeping his focus on the other blond as the flames rose. "I'm sure that this won't be the last time that we'll meet, so when we do, I'll make sure to properly repay my debt."

Before the flames could reach his head, the young devil then turned to his former fiancé, an unreadable expression on his features as he looked at her surprised visage.

"…For what it's worth, sorry for causing you trouble."

Not another word was said as the flames shot up and wrapped around the Phenex, and then sputtered out, as if the energy behind the fire was suddenly cut.

The unnatural glow that was given to the room had died, with the uninvited intruder nowhere to be seen, leaving nothing but a slightly charred floor as proof that he was ever there.

That and a slightly shaken group, leaving naught but a thoughtful silence to reign supreme.

Naruto, especially, had a contemplative air about him.

Something which Sona didn't allow to continue. "So...what are you going to do now, Uzumaki-san?"

A valid question in regards to the situation at hand, since the blond was technically the one that sparked this incident in the Underworld to begin with.

Not that she, or anyone there actually held any animosity against him for it.

Everyone there clearly remembered _why_ he railed against society in the Underworld.

Naruto for his part, looked entirely distracted as he glanced at the Sitri girl. "Honestly? I'm not sure. The fire chicken didn't exactly look too concerned about what was going on…but it looks like I'm gonna have to make a quick visit, just to get an idea of what's going on."

No matter how the blond looked at it, he was gonna have to go to the Underworld eventually in order to get a grasp about what was going on.

And, hopefully, diffuse whatever tension was brought forth by his actions.

That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

Besides, apparently there were some devil nobles that wanted to reach him anyway, right? So he may as well get that messy business over with sooner rather than later.

Rias hummed, combing through her long crimson hair, more nonplussed with the situation than she cared to admit.

Hard enough to swallow the shift in Riser's personality, but now there was unrest brewing in her home as well?

Yeesh.

"I'll think on it dattebayo, don't worry about it." the shinobi finished, sparing a glance at the _rook_ that was behind him. "For now, we gotta get back to work, right, Koneko?"

Close to him, the young girl that he was referring to clenched her fists, meeting the side of his eyes with a firm nod.

"Ara." Akeno, of course, had to chip in. "So eager to hurt your kohai, hm?"

"Not that you have any right to talk…" Rias couldn't help but comment to herself, glaring at her _queen_ through the side of her eye.

In response to the charge levied against him, the blond shrugged airily. "Hey, if it gets my kohai stronger, then what's a few broken bones?"

Behind him, Koneko blinked.

Then paled.

Say what now?

Mio had to give her a look of sympathy as realization dawned upon the smaller girl.

She obviously wasn't gonna have a good evening, that was for sure.

Speaking of evenings… "Hey, Naruto, on the way back, let's talk about our plans for dinner, ok?"

From behind, the red-head clearly saw her sibling stiffen, earning him a deadpanned look.

He forgot, didn't he?

"R-Right! Of course!" Naruto spun around and gave her a thumbs up, clarifying how dependable he was. "Yeah! We'll definitely do that!"

Yep, he definitely forgot.

"Hoh? You two have plans for dinner? Sounds like something special." Rias grinned as she observed, finding the entire thing cute. "What's the occasion?"

Obviously, she figured that this planned event was of the 'innocent sibling' variety, and saw nothing wrong with it.

One had to wonder how she would react when she learned _who_ she was helping her kohai ensnare.

"Eh, she kept bugging me about food, so I figured that getting a bite to eat together would be pretty cool to do every now and again." the shinobi admitted, figuring it to be normal.

Only Mio looked embarrassed to admit that they were going to have a dinner together, shyly ducking her head from the inquisitive looks.

Something which, apparently, only Sona noticed given her raised eyebrow.

"Welp, we have more things to think about for sure, but for now; I gotta focus on Koneko's training. I'll see you lot later." Naruto shuffled towards the entrance that allowed him to go down to the training center, making sure to drag a certain _rook_ along with him.

Mio, for her part, stayed where she was, wondering whether the loli would really be alright with her training.

It wasn't until the duo had left earshot by taking the elevator downstairs that Rias finally fully acknowledged her.

And by that, she meant teleport in front of her and breaching her personal space.

"So~? How'd it go?" the Gremory heiress practically demanded of her, eyes bright with her attentiveness to this appealing scenario. "Did you snag him yet?"

The half-devil, for her part, grinned awkwardly at her sempai, scratching her cheek. "Ahh…well…you could say that-"

All she was able emit after that was a breathless gasp as a vicious bear hug robbed her of her ability to speak, thanks in no small part to the woman that was rubbing her cheek against hers.

"Oh! You did it, Mio-chan! I'm so proud of you!" the older red-head squealed, crushing the life out of her kohai as a conspiratorial gleam entered her eyes. "So, how did my advice work for you? I bet he turned into jelly when you used the 'tsun-tsun' tactic, right?"

Behind her, Akeno coughed, barely managing to disguise the giggle that she _so_ wanted to express.

With her eyes bulging from their sockets, Mio somehow managed to speak with a calm voice that she was seriously hard-pressed to keep level. "Ah. W-Well…it gave him a shock, that was for sure…"

Seeing the beaming visage that her comment evoked from her friend, the red-head didn't have the heart to be blunter.

Sona sighed at the scene, pinching the bridge of her nose at what she just _knew_ was another crazy event that she wanted no part of.

She had enough of those recently, thank you.

"The bond between sempai and kohai is strong, don't you think, Sona-kaichou?" Akeno bedazzled the Sitri heiress with a smile of innocence and virtue.

At least, so it'd appear to anyone that didn't know about her real personality.

"…If you say so."

"Ara."

Sona began making her way out of the room, ignoring the pleading look that she was being shot with by the captive half-devil.

Sorry to say, she was on her own.

She had more important matters to attend to anyhow, with issues like; that damnable holy sword that a certain blond has procured, and the implications that it left for them.

The matter with the Underworld could wait, seeing as she had no information on it, and also couldn't very well leave Kuoh Town until she was _assured_ that it was safe for its residents.

As was her duty as the student council president.

* * *

The day had quickly passed them by after that jarring event had caught the small group in the ORC headquarters off guard.

Eventually, with several members of the conventionally named 'Kuoh Pact' emerging from the training center, and everyone else coming back from class, Rias felt it prudent to inform them all of what was going on in the Underworld.

Of course, nothing could be done about it, but she felt that everyone should be aware of what was going on anyway.

Naruto, for his part, was currently unlocking the door to his home with a breath of relief, about ready to knock out on his comfy bed.

Koneko's training was now well underway, with their first steps focused on actually learning how to utilize her power.

A process that he continually interrupted by smacking her upside the head with a random tree branch that he had procured out of nowhere, at least to her knowledge.

It was all nice and dandy to learn how to use chakra actively in a stable training environment, it was another thing to use it in the middle of a life-or-death battle.

So, being the sadistic teacher that he was -at least according to some, namely a certain pervert- he made sure to smack her anytime she made some progress.

Understandably, she tried to retaliate each and every single time.

It didn't work.

Hey, at least he was improving her durability, right?

All that being said, neither of them were expecting to see two teenaged boys lackadaisically laying in the middle of the training center, talking to one another without a care in the world.

Things were only clarified after Yuki, who was watching the two while leaning against the wall next to the elevator, ventured to explain Issei's brilliant plan.

Honestly, Naruto could definitely understand his logic.

But Koneko, for her part, just rolled her eyes and murmured something about 'boys' under her breath.

Needless to say, the tree branch came back with a vengeance, much to her annoyance.

And now, Naruto was eagerly shuffling inside, grinning at the prospect of a much deserved rest.

"Ah! Naruto-sama! You're back!"

Oh shit.

"...Wait, what was with that; 'Oh shit, I forgot about this one' look that you just had? It couldn't be...did you forget about my existence, Naruto-sama?"

Yes. "No."

"You liar! You definitely did!" Maria cried out in outrage, pointing an offending digit at the guilty blond.

As soon as she did so, she blew up her cheeks in a pout, reminding him of a child that was angry that they did not get the toy that they were begging for.

He could do naught but awkwardly scratch the back of his head, caught red-handed, having nothing that he could defend himself with.

Turning away from him, Maria grumbled to herself. "Sheesh, sometimes I feel like you don't appreciate me enough, Naruto-sama. I had to babysit that weird guy that you captured the other day, as well help Mio-sama earlier today. And, somehow, that guy you captured still hurt himself somehow! Don't ask me how that's even possible-"

"Wait, wait, hold the phone for a sec." Naruto needed a second to actually grasp what he had just heard. "You helped Mio today? That weird priest guy got hurt? What the hell!?"

Seriously! How was that latter part even possible?

"I know, right?" the succubus nodded frantically, eyes bewildered. "Mio-sama never really got the chance to learn how to cook, but she has a special kind of talent to be that… _bad_. Also, that guy that you captured…well, I don't know how he did that. There wasn't even a weapon on the wound. It was weird."

Naruto shared her opinion, on _both_ of her topics.

Opting to at least figure out what was going on with his insane captive, the blond shuffled around Maria to go and do just that, only stopping when said loli next to him piped up.

"Ah, wait, Naruto-sama." Maria spoke up, raising a roll of toilet paper to his eye level. "Before you go anywhere else, can you take this and replace the empty roll in the bathroom when you're done? I'm in the middle of making dinner right now."

The shinobi grunted, grabbing the roll as he moved towards the door leading to the spare room that housed their unwilling guest, wondering whether he could look intimidating while holding such a mundane object.

Walking up to the entrance of the room, Naruto gripped the knob to push the door open, squinting as his gaze met with the darkness of the room.

Taking a second to let his vision adjust to the lack of light, blue eyes latched onto the glaring red eyes which he was expecting to see glaring up at him anyway.

Hm?

Strange, he could've sworn that he left this guy on top of a couch.

And yet, this guy was now laying down on the hard floor, for whatever reason.

Not sure of what to make of this except as a weird attempt at rebelling against him by spitting on his generosity, the shinobi arbitrarily decided to let the matter drop and get back into the thick of things.

"Yo." the blond waved his hand in greeting, the toilet paper in hand. "Seems you got yourself hurt there, somehow, someway. Mind telling me how?"

A muffled sound that sounded suspiciously like a raspberry was what he got as a response to his query.

Right, he forgot.

"Kinda hard to talk to me when you've got this little thing stopping ya, huh?" Naruto asked humorously, indicating the ball gag in the man's mouth, before carefully pulling it off.

He immediately regretted his actions afterwards.

"Ohhh…thanks for that you shit, I hated that ball, it was so hard to breathe and curse your dumbass out for dumbass shit. Oh, I said dumbass twice-"

Freed sputtered when the ball gag was re-attached onto his mouth, cutting him off before he could truly get started on his rant.

"I forgot about that mouth of yours." Naruto deadpanned, peering at the young man with a blank look. "My bad."

A megawatt glare was the only thing that the disgraced priest was able to spare.

Deciding to ignore that harsh look, the shinobi turned away from the captive's face to scan his body for that wound that Maria had mentioned earlier, making sure his inspection was efficient and cursory.

Taking a moment, his gaze finally locked onto the man's leg, focused.

He found it.

A bloody hole that was present within his left calf, still leaking a little bit of blood from within, festering.

And, most interestingly, without the weapon that could have possibly caused the festering injury in the first place.

"So, if I take off that gag again, would you be willing to actually tell me what happened to your leg?"

Freed grunted, but didn't say anything else.

Taking another chance, Naruto pulled out the gag preventing the insane man from speaking, face twisting in a grimace as saliva dripped from it.

Using the opportunity to lick his dry lips, the disgraced priest venomously snapped his gaze up at the whiskered teen. "You really don't know? You didn't order that traitor to stab me? I call bullshit."

Blue eyes crinkled. "Traitor?"

If anything, the unstable man's regard became more derisive from the query. "What? You don't know? Well then…it looks my group won't be the only ones backstabbed by her."

Freed choked when a hand shot out and grabbed his collar, raising him to meet the eye level of smoldering blue orbs.

"I hope that you could back up what you're saying." Naruto intoned seriously, visage sharpening. "Because I really don't like it when an asshole badmouths my friends, and I'm pretty sure that you're doing that right now."

A grin emerged as a direct reaction to this, despite the fact that the silver-haired man was at the complete mercy of another. "Hey, it ain't my fault that that fallen traitor has a habit of switching sides. Or, for that matter, keeping secrets."

Gaze flickering and lingering upon the wound that Freed still had, Naruto glared hotly at the other male. "What? You're telling me that Raynare did this?"

The insane man's red eyes drifted towards the ceiling, purposefully looking away as he spoke in a drawl. "Who knows~"

The grip holding up the bound male gained more pressure, prodding him to explain.

"…Tch! Believe what you want, I don't give a shit, heathen." Freed spat, his breathing labored thanks to the tight grip around his collar. "Not my fault you can't keep tabs on that bitch…"

With a grunt, the vulgar man was dropped back to his regular spot, with the blond himself left in a contemplative silence.

Why, exactly, would Raynare go so far as to wound this weird and stupid person?

No.

He shouldn't be making assumptions, rather, he should be going to ask the woman herself for her reasons. Besides, he had no doubt that this was what this bastard wanted.

Sighing, the shinobi combed his hand through his spiky hair, taking a step back from the poisonous individual in front of him.

The last thing that he needed to do was to do something rash to the captured 'priest', at least before he could figure out what to do with him.

Taking that step back, the young man barely noticed the item that was knocked over by his heel.

That being said, he _did_ hear the sound of plastic being ruffled.

Looking down at his foot, Naruto frowned as he stared at the plastic bag that was left deposited on the floor, abandoned for all intents and purposes.

His frown grew deeper when he managed to read the logo of one of the items within, recognizing it as one of those popular snacks that people like to eat.

Snatching the baggie off of the floor, he quickly determined that that bag of goodies was meant for the tied up captive that was busy mumbling foul things under his breath.

He figured this out thanks to the loud rumble that this guy's stomach made when he brought the bag up, as well as the fact that his focus locked unerringly onto it.

"…You're pretty hungry, huh?"

Freed, if possible, managed to give him a stupider look than his usual expression.

In Naruto's opinion anyway.

"What the hell do you think, heathen?"

…

Sometimes he wondered whether being the good guy was all that it was cracked up to be.

Nevertheless, with a sigh, the young man crossed his fingers to make a familiar hand sign and activated one of his signature techniques, spawning a puff of smoke.

Emerging from the smoke was the predictable deadpanned visage of Naruto, belonging to a complete copy, which just so happened to be aimed at the original.

"Really?" the clone had to express its disbelief. "You want me to _feed_ this bastard?"

Even if his copy hated the idea, the main man was obviously insistent. "What? Would you rather I free his arms so that he could feed himself? C'mon, we're not that stupid, right?"

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who's feeding him…"

"Then do you have a better idea, smartass?"

"Maybe."

"Liar. You're me, remember? And this is all I've got."

"…Then we really are _that_ stupid dattebayo…"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Quit being a baby and just do it already. The faster it's done, the faster you could get out of this, so hop to it."

Visibly stopping itself from trying to strangle its creator, the clone snatched the plastic bag from him and whipped out its contents, grumbling dark things under its breath.

Something about forming a union for shadow clones or something along those lines.

Psht.

From there, the shinobi made his way out of the room, idly bouncing the roll of toilet paper from his palm, moving onto his next mission.

Which just so happened to be the bathroom.

He made sure to ignore the succubus when he walked past the kitchen where she was concentrating on dinner, and apparently wrestling with the pots with her ladle.

Not really surprising.

Still, he did as was asked of him and reached the bathroom, blandly swinging it open so that the mundane task of toilet roll replacement could be done.

Though, that plan took a backburner immediately as soon as he took a step inside.

Mostly due to the fact that Mio was on the toilet, in the middle of getting up and pulling her underwear up from her ankles, and was now owlishly staring at the unintentional peeper.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit.

"N-Now wait." Naruto waved the toilet paper in the air as if it could ward away evil spirits, or save him from a tongue lashing. "Before you say anything-"

A hand was raised, ceasing his fumbling attempt to explain himself.

The owner of the hand took a deep breath, and mechanically continued where she left off and pulled her pink panties all the way back up, making sure that the only other person in the room couldn't see anything.

Mio's hand was still up, holding his tongue, and left the two of them with an awkward silence.

At least, until she finally spoke up. "Naruto…be honest with me for a bit."

She looked at him with hooded eyes, features carefully blank. "Was Maria involved?"

His expression must have given him away, because the red-head took all of about a few seconds to study him in order to reach her conclusions.

"Excuse me." she stated abruptly, smoothly standing up. "I'm going go and throttle a succubus now."

The shinobi didn't really have a problem with that.

Shuffling past her sibling, Mio paused and took a moment to glance back at Naruto, grinning at him. "So, we're good for Saturday, right?"

Naruto blinked, genuinely confused. "Say what now?"

"Our outing, remember?"

A light bulb flickered to light in his head, urging him to widen his eyes. "Oh! Right, yeah, we'll do that. Have any idea where ya want to go?"

Mio shrugged, a coy smile reaching her lips. "We'll both think on it, hopefully we can figure something out. If not, then I'm sure we could improvise, we're good at that, right?"

The shinobi had to smirk at that. "Careful, you're taking more after me than you'd like dattebayo."

"I'm doing no such thing." the half-devil waved off the comment, taking a step out of the room, glancing at the bathroom door along the way.

He didn't miss her last comment.

"She even took off the 'Occupied' sign…I'm gonna kill her for this one…"

May the ramen gods have mercy on Maria's soul.

* * *

The warm wind brushed past Naruto's golden locks as he laid his back on the roof of his own home.

Now, if people saw him, he had no doubt that they'd ask him why the hell he was hanging out on the rooftop like some kind of creeper.

Well, the answer was simple.

He was bird gazing.

Mio didn't really question him for his strange timing in choosing to do something as mundane as bird gazing, probably figuring that it'd cost way too much energy to try and understand his thought process.

And Maria was…too occupied to ask.

So the young man was just relaxing, eyeing the sky like a hawk, looking for movement.

Which was kind of difficult in the night sky, but hey, he never claimed that what he was doing was easy.

Thankfully, due to years of finely honed instincts thanks to his…career, he was able to notice the smallest of changes that occurred within his line of sight.

To notice things that many would just dismiss out of hand.

Like, say, a dot that was floating so high up in the sky, beyond the clouds, and beyond what a normal human being of this world could possibly see with the naked eye.

"Got you…" Naruto murmured to himself, hopping to his feet in order to bend down to a squat.

Thinking about it, this was kind of familiar to how he met this 'dot' in the first place, wasn't it?

Scoffing, the shinobi had to wonder whether she'd notice that too.

Thinking no more of it, the blond pushed against the ground and soared into the air, the destruction of the sound barrier marking his exit of the land below the clouds.

As well as his entrance above it.

Closing in on his target in the sky, Naruto was pleased to notice that that 'dot' very much noticed his presence closing in.

And, from what he could tell, was giving him a dull look for it.

"Do you _have_ to be so dramatic, Naruto?" Raynare asked of him rhetorically, flapping her double set of wings to give him a berth of free space.

Probably so that he couldn't knock her down from the sky a second time.

 _Hah!_ She remembered.

"Nope!" the shinobi replied cheerfully, shooting past her spot in the sky a bit before gravity took hold of him again. "That being said; mind giving me a little help dattebayo?"

The fallen's eyebrow quirked when the teen above her began to descend, nothing holding him up, unlike her own wings.

Moving to intercept his future trajectory, the young woman easily grabbed the would-be human comet's hand before he could gain momentum, expression dull all the while. "You didn't think of a way to get down?"

"Nah." Naruto shook his head, that intractable grin still in full force. "I can technically fly now, but it's way too annoying to do that. To be honest, it's more like hopping than anything else. So this is much better."

Raynare blinked, warring with herself whether she should ask for clarification, but decided against it. "So? Do you need something?"

"What? Can't I see a friend that just so happened to be several thousand feet above the ground?"

"Depends." the ravenette retorted smartly, the faintest upward twitch of her lip hinting that she wasn't nearly as cross as she acted. "Will you punch my stomach in mid-air again?"

Yeah, she remembered alright. "Accidents happen."

"Is that what we're calling it now?"

Naruto shrugged as much as he could while hanging in the air, only thanks to the hand that was latched onto his own.

With a shake of her head, Azazel's technical protégé had to marvel at her ally's balls.

Then again, considering all that she knew about him, maybe she should've expected as much.

"Ok, now, in all seriousness, what's going on?" Raynare questioned, not fooled for a second.

Naruto scratched his cheek with his remaining hand, looking bashful. "Right, right, I'll get to the point dattebayo. You see, I was hoping to ask you a few questions about our resident prisoner in my house."

Immediately, the genial features that the fallen angel had adopted fell away, replaced by a pinched expression. "Oh. _Him_."

While the shinobi didn't want to be _that_ guy and bring down the mood, he still needed to figure out what happened with that tied up bastard. "Yeah. I checked up on him earlier, and for some reason he had this puncture wound in his leg. I just wanted to figure out whether you knew about-"

"Oh, that? Yeah, that was me."

…

"Wait, really?"

Raynare inclined her head just a bit, acknowledging the question with an affirmation. "Yes, I did that. But I only did that to get some information out of him, that's all."

Naruto was interested, that much became clear with the way he was looking at her, prompting her to expand on what happened.

She didn't grant him his reprieve for his curiosity. "Naruto, do you know any techniques that could track someone without their knowledge?"

Seeing his brows scrunch, the query clearly came out of left field for him. "…Not strictly, but I have a trick that could help with that, why?"

Raynare hummed, not answering immediately, concentrating on her inner thoughts for a period of time.

It wasn't until a decent amount of time passed them by that she finally spoke up again. "Because your method is probably infinitely better than my own, and we're going to need such an ability soon."

"What are you talking about-?"

The fallen, while typically composed, was particularly calm when she made her next statement, despite how insane it sounded. "Because, Freed Sellzan is going to escape soon. I guarantee it."

Eyes widening, the blond figured that he must have looked hilarious while hanging limply. Not that he cared about such things though. "What are you talking about?"

"Did I stutter?" his ally didn't beat around the bush. "Not only is Freed going to escape, but I can probably predict accurately enough to pinpoint _when_ he will break out of his binds."

Naruto stared at the young woman, unsure how he should swallow this tidbit of information.

And this would only get worse when she continued where she left off. "I can do that mostly thanks to the fact that I gave him the means to do so. And, if you're curious; I predict that he will be out by two days."

If it could, Naruto's jaw would have become so unhinged that it would fall all the way back to Earth.

"Y-You…" the shinobi stuttered, not believing his own ears.

"I understand that this sounds insane. But hear me out." the ravenette presented her case calmly, but her friend's incredulous stare let her know that she would have quite the uphill battle in proving her sanity. "You see, I'm now certain that Freed Sellzan is working with someone in Kuoh Town, and that he will return to that someone's base of operations as soon as he is able to."

Her gaze slid past the hanging human to peer down at the unsuspecting human settlement below, living life ignorantly, not at all aware of the danger that they were all in by simply _living_ in the town colloquially called; Kuoh Town.

"And that someone is definitely Kokabiel."

Naruto, somewhere along the line of her explanation, grew serious as he regarded her, recognizing that this wasn't a joke by any means. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"He may as well have admitted as such during my interrogation."

The shinobi felt his lips press against each other, flattening into a line as he absorbed this newest bit of information.

Kokabiel was still in Kuoh Town? Without a doubt?

And that insane bastard that he captured with Akeno was associated with him?

If all of this was true, then Raynare's idea to track this grunt back to where the big man himself was could save them all from a big headache in the future.

Leaving someone like a former member of Grigori around without dealing with them, at least if Azazel was to be believed, was a bad idea all around.

If Naruto knew where he was and he could take him down before anything _too_ crazy happened…

"How will Freed escape?" the shinobi had to ask, as much for necessity as for curiosity.

Raynare raised her free hand, a familiar light brightening up her palm, bringing forth shadows when a solid spear was formed from the mystical energy.

"Exorcists, even exiled exorcists like Freed all carry light guns and swords, all of which utilize light energy as a power source. Albeit, with a very limited capacity." within the confines of her palm, that very energy that she was referring to was being manipulated freely, shattering like glass when she willed it to do so. "So, with my own experience with light energy, I siphoned a decent chunk of the light sword's energy and stabbed him with it."

Blowing some air out of his nose, the young man hanging limply in the air had to seriously wonder how such an action could help the 'priest' escape.

Of all things, wouldn't stabbing someone in the leg make it harder for him to escape?

"I can guess what you're thinking, and you're correct. Honestly, while I could probably justify stabbing him, I actually just felt like stabbing him."

For some reason, the blond wasn't particularly surprised to hear that.

Clearing her throat, the fallen tried to wipe away the pleased look that made its way onto her face, failing completely in this goal. "In all seriousness, by siphoning light energy from the light sword, I have done enough to make the energy blade…flicker. On and off. It's lack of power forcing it to act like a light bulb that is going bad. And with it, make it easier for the blade to be extracted by a simple jerk of movement. Or a wiggle, in this case."

His mind's eye flashing towards the bound man inside his house, Naruto keenly recalled the fact that there was no light sword anywhere in sight, leaving the gaping wound clear to him without any indication of what actually caused it.

Which could only really have meant one thing. "Somehow he managed to get it out of his leg and hide it away, huh? That's some dedication dattebayo…"

Not only that, but looking back, the fact that his captive was on the floor instead of on the cushions had now gained a whole new dimension.

"So, can you follow him when the time comes, Naruto?" the fallen questioned, her violet eyes boring down onto him, an intensity that he didn't expect to see within their depths.

Naruto looked back up at her through his lashes, eyes hardening when he met her gaze. "…Yeah, more than that, I can probably pinpoint when he will escape specifically. I just need to set up a clone inside the room while he's sleeping to watch him."

"Good." she looked pleased. "Tell me when he's made his move. I want to go to this secret base of theirs."

Nodding, the blond glanced downwards, tugging at the hand that was keeping him afloat. "Can you drop me off at a height where I don't risk breaking my legs? My arm is falling asleep over here."

Lips twitching into something resembling a grin, the fallen tilted her wings in such a way to allow for a slow descent towards the ground, passing by the cool moisture of the clouds along the way.

Watching the ground grow closer to his feet, the shinobi felt that he had to ask a question that was being bandied around in his head for a little bit now, plaguing him.

"So." he started, not sure how else he could bring this up. "Why do you want to follow Freed back to his hidden base anyway?"

Floating down at a seemingly crawling pace, at first, the blond thought that the one who was carrying him was going to ignore his question.

Until he heard her speak again that is, the low rumbling of her throat highlighting her sober disposition. "…Back at the Grigori base that I was stationed in, I was hearing quite a bit about the strange behavior that the veteran 'Kokabiel-sama' has been emitting recently. That he's been prone to extraordinarily erratic behavior, specifically; that he's become very… _vengeful_."

She paused then, going quiet, collecting her thoughts as she took a steady and shaky breath. "…Do you remember, Naruto? What Azazel-sama revealed to us almost a month ago at the abandoned church's underground cavern?"

Eyebrows scrunching together, the blond's features lit up when he recalled the talk that transpired following his fight with Raynare's mother, who had pretty much gone insane at the time with her hare-brained scheme to…

To…

…What the hell did she try to do again?

Actually, now that he thought about it, Naruto intervened in that whole mess to stop the woman named Vretiel from sparking a conflict in the long run, no more or less.

He recalled thinking about how…strange he found her behavior, how inconsistent, how _bizarre_.

"Yeah…" he drawled, decidedly unenthused by the memory of the less-than-stable woman. "He said something about there being a strange disease that only affects fallen angels, right?"

"That's right." Raynare wasn't really looking at him by this point, even though her eyes were trained in his general direction. "And, for a while, no one apparently thought much of that man's behavior, not that I blamed them or anything…seeing as such a topic would be considered _very_ taboo. But, knowing what I know about the situation of the fallen angels, and seeing it from personal experience…I couldn't help but wonder if…"

The hand holding the blond grew tighter, unveiling the growing strength behind her deceitfully thin arms, as well as how important she felt about this.

"…What if Kokabiel's erratic behavior has a connection with the affliction that struck others before him?" she asked, the query not really aimed at anyone. "I know that the thought of such an ailment has been completely swept under the rug in fallen society, so most people tend to ignore such a possibility, but I can't help but wonder whether Kokabiel's… _anger_ has anything to do with what happened to my mother…"

Naruto blinked, and not just because of how his eyes had to readjust to the sudden shift in the air once they broke through the clouds. "It's personal then, huh…? But isn't that kind of risky?"

Raynare laughed, and despite the fact that he knew it was somewhat bitter, it still sounded somewhat pleasant to his ears.

"Don't worry. I have my ways to stay under the radar." she claimed easily, waving off his concern.

Now, the blond didn't necessarily believe her, but he dropped it anyway since _he_ was getting involved in this now anyway.

Just as he reached such a conclusion, he noticed that he had more than reached the minimal safe distance he needed to land to the ground safely.

"Alright, I'm good from here on out. You can drop the load." Naruto allowed, flexing his wrist to alert the one holding him that he was good.

Not hesitating, the young woman let the grasp she had over him slip away, allowing him to freefall to the ground at breakneck speeds.

At least, to normal humans, at least in this world.

To him, it was pretty damn leisurely.

Landing in a soft crouch in the middle of the street right near his home, Naruto's neck craned to the sky to see a his friend descend back down to earth with her wings flared, blending in with the night.

"I'm counting on you, Naruto." she said suddenly, walking up beside him with her arms crossed.

He didn't fail to notice the pressure her fingers were putting onto her biceps.

Naruto smiled. "I got you, don't you worry dattebayo."

That earned an appreciative nod in return, a small smirk touching her lips.

She didn't need to say anything further for him to know that she was grateful.

* * *

"Ya know, I'm not surprised to see this. I'm really not."

"…You think so?"

"Mmm. As a matter of fact, I probably could have told you that this was gonna happen. But you probably wouldn't have listened, right?"

Maria didn't answer that, since she was too busy trying to best phrase her next statement, which could possibly get her out of this mess.

Standing in front of a blond teen who had a look that roughly translated into; 'you should've seen this coming', a loli was hanging upside down by a rope that was tightly wrapped around her.

Yeah, one could say that she was in a bit of a… _bind_.

…

…

Ok, that was pretty bad, she had to admit.

"…I feel like it was kind of worth it though."

The shinobi made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat, rolling his eyes.

"Why do you do things like this anyway?" Naruto poked her in the nose, repeatedly. "You knew that Mio was probably gonna retaliate, hell, she does enough that I feel like I don't have to do too much after she's done."

Maria vibrated, which turned out to be her attempt at a shrug. "Seeing your flushed face is still a dream of mine, Naruto-sama."

Oi.

She was still about that crap?

Acting all smug, or at least trying to, the succubus vibrated as she chuckled with that patronizing smirk of hers. "There are some sacrifices that are worth making, that's all."

A blank stare was all that she received, not impressed. "How could you act like that while you're hanging upside down? You look ridiculous dattbayo! Read the atmosphere and self-reflect a little!"

Purple eyes copied his blank stare. "…I don't really wanna hear this from you of all people, Naruto-sama…"

Fair point.

Naruto still sighed by this point, taking a step back to let her stew there for a little bit, if only to appease Mio.

The red-head would let her down eventually.

Probably.

"Naruto!" he suddenly heard a certain imouto of his call out from somewhere in the house, voice echoing. "I'm gonna throw the trash away in a bit! Did you make sure to separate the recyclables this time!?"

…

Awww _crap_.

It seems that his lack of a response was damning enough evidence to make Mio groan so loudly that it somehow fully enveloped the building.

Maybe even loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

As expected of a teenaged girl, the neighbors would definitely bitch about this the next time he saw them.

He supposed that her loud reaction was to be expected though, since she was probably going to shift through the garbage in the kitchen and separate the recyclables properly. All thanks to his negligence.

As he was wondering how he should reply to the ongoing groan, he couldn't help but notice that Raynare was putting away the dishes from the dishwasher, idly doing some chores while wearing that outfit of hers.

He couldn't help but notice because of just how bizarre that looked to him.

"…What?" the fallen murmured out loud, glancing at him through the side of her eye, a hint of pink staining her cheeks.

Naruto just grinned.

"You look weird, wearing that corset while putting away dishes."

An indignant huff and a flurry of black later, and the young woman was storming away while grumbling about humans and their poor taste in fashion sense.

The blond's grin only grew wider in response.

"Hey…"

Swerving his upper body, blue eyes moved to face the hanging loli with curiosity. "What's up?"

Incidentally, the shinobi wasn't sure what he was going to see when he looked at his friend's face.

But, of all things, all he saw was a smile.

It was a small thing, dwarfed from the full blown Cheshire-like grins that she had so often gave before with unbounded energy.

Unlike those though, this one was subdued, bordering solemn even. A big departure from anything he has seen prior to this.

"Hey…" she tried again, still giving him that quiet smile of hers. "Do you think that you'll remember that bathroom incident fondly?"

Cocking his head to the side, Naruto shrugged. "Hell, it's just a day in the life in this household, right?"

She laughed then. "Yeah, just another crazy day."

Soon after, her laugh ceased, that small smile returning to the forefront. "Well, you're at least closer to Mio-sama, right?"

Que his crooked grin. "Didn't she tell you that we're going to go out and eat dinner in two days? So I'd say so 'ttebayo."

"Great!" she squeaked, all energy again. "That's great! You two should be super close! As in; you should share the same bed, the same shower, and even the same _clothes_ if you're into that kind of-"

"No." Naruto deadpanned, shaking his head. "Damn, what's with you and-"

" _Naruto!_ C'mon over here! We're gonna separate the trash _together!_ I'm not doing it by myself this time!"

The shinobi winced, grumbling to himself under his breath even as he moved to follow the demand. "Right, right…"

Maria, even from her awkward position, was able to easily see her blond and red-head family members meet up at the trash can at the edge of the kitchen, both sharing blank looks with the other.

Until the teenaged girl relented and dug into the trash can, grabbing the bag within and wrestling with it as she attempted to pull it out without breaking it.

As soon as it was pulled out, a bit of the contents within accidentally were jerked out of the bag's confines, spilling onto the blond standing beside her.

Naruto's resulting look of disgust was _priceless_.

And it was an opinion that the red-head shared apparently, since she had to physically stop herself from snorting at the scene.

Which was a sentiment that was killed shortly afterwards thanks to the garbage that was thrown back at her in retaliation.

Predictably, this sparked a war between the siblings, as garbage suddenly began to fly in a childish display, both teens having large tic marks on their foreheads as they smashed their heads against the other.

Say what you wanted about how close they were, they were still going to end up like this.

Maria giggled at the scene, finding it adorable.

Honestly, it soothed her to know that the two of them were getting along so well, easing her in the knowledge that they would have each other's backs.

Even if it left a pang of discomfort in her chest.

Her attention stayed on the pair in front of her, with only the faintest bit of wiggling on her part to readjust the binding ropes to distract her.

Nice as the scene was though, she hoped that, at the very least, her charge could eventually cut her down before all of her blood ran to her head.

That'd be mighty appreciated.

* * *

Freed was frustrated.

Actually, he wasn't just 'frustrated' anymore, he was definitely beyond that by this point.

Barely being able to hold the weapon that he had thanks to the fact that his hands were tied, _and_ being forced to repeatedly turn it on since the damned thing just kept shutting down on him proved to be…taxing, at best.

Obviously the battery within was losing power, so the stability of the blade's energy output was waning to the point that it would flicker and die periodically.

"Fuck, fuck, fucking _shit…!_ "

And he didn't like it one bit.

The light sword that he was trying to use had barely been pried from his leg last night, and he was only successful in the venture thanks to the fact that the weapon's stability was seriously compromised, most likely thanks to the lack of power.

And even then, he was only able to get it when the blade's flickering existence finally petered out, dropping down to the floor when he was still on the cushion, and forcing him to roll off of it to grab the damn thing.

He was glad he did, because his position on the floor was what helped him hide the weapon by nudging it underneath his body, hiding it from view.

Something which proved vital when that blond idiot came to check up on him.

Thankfully, the copy didn't try and manhandle him back to the couch that he was laying on before, and obviously decided that the action would prove to be too annoying to attempt.

So, after getting his wound dressed up and getting force fed some snacks, he was left off much better than before.

If nothing else, the former priest could at least appreciate the small act of kindness enough to decide that the boy's death would be quick and painless once he inevitably killed him.

A luxury that he wouldn't be giving to others, without a doubt.

Gritting his teeth, Freed wiggled a bit and pushed the hilt of the standard exorcist weapon in-between his tied up hands, flicking the power button to bring forth the contained energy beam.

With careful precision, the young man methodically and with extreme precision worked to cut the ropes up, seeking to free his limbs from their confines, cursing when the blade kept flickering.

If he even made a small slip up, then he'd be kissing one of his hands goodbye-

"Yo~"

The weapon jerked on the tips of Freed's fingers, his already loose grip almost failing him when an annoyingly loud voice took him by surprise.

Thankfully, he was able to fumble the hilt towards his chest, letting him plop on top of it before a stupid blond opened the door to his room, carrying something in his hand.

"Sorry." the boy spoke up dryly, not sounding sorry at all. "Gotta drop this remote controller off. Can't let Mio gain control over the television this time around dattebayo."

Obviously, the tied up man had no idea what the fuck this weirdo was saying, so he said nothing when the teen passed him by and placed the device onto a random spot.

Rather, he prayed for him to get on with his stupid shit so that he could leave the room as soon as possible.

"Hey, you doing alright there, buddy?"

Freed went frigid, gnashing his teeth against the ball gag in his mouth as he glanced up at the other human who was giving him a flat look, waiting for a reply.

It took him a moment to realize this.

Eyebrow twitching, the fallen priest nodded, cursing the damned ball gag covering his mouth.

"Right, just making sure." the shinobi turned away from him, making his way to the exit. "Just so you know, it's likely that everyone is gonna be gone from the house on this coming Friday evening, so don't do any stupid shit while we're away, got it?"

For once, Freed was thankful that his body was wrapped up, since his reaction to those words were far more subdued than it could have been without them.

Chance! This was his chance to escape!

And if he played his cards right, then he could get out of this shithole with plenty of spare time to gain a decent distance away from this prison.

Now marveling at the new possibilities that were just presented to him, ideas and dreams of escaping began coaxing him to make as much progress as possible to cut himself free.

So distracted was he, that he didn't even pay attention to the fact that the blond was making to leave.

Nor did he see the shit-eating grin that stretched his lips across his features, nearly splitting his face.

* * *

The night had come and gone, and the second-to-last school day had begun, with every member of the school community obviously looking forward to the coming weekend.

Some more than others.

Unlike those individuals though, Mio didn't have her eye on Saturday or Sunday.

Rather, her focus was strictly on the last school day, hyper aware of its existence, thus looming over her as something larger than life.

Put shortly; she was nervous about Friday.

So much so that she was pretty sure she was walking towards school with a face that resembled someone who ate too many lemons.

At least, that was probably why she was getting sidelong glances every now and again.

Still, as _that_ event slowly drew closer, she was made painfully conscious of a single fact.

"…I don't have anything to wear."

That was right.

While she had a few casual clothes to fall back on if she wanted to go anywhere, she had nothing for… _this_.

The thought never crossed her mind while she was on the run, and it never crossed her mind while she was here for about a month.

Now though, the thought of wearing casual clothes during this date brought her nothing but trepidation.

It just left her with a bad taste in her mouth, not showing up with something better than the clothes that she would normally wear for normal days.

This was special to her damn it! So she should at least dress for the occasion!

Hopefully, by the end of Friday, she would understand the young man that she had accepted as her brother in a way that she couldn't fathom now.

And with it, develop the link that connected the two of them.

But first, she had to _not_ look like a slob.

Already nearing her final destination by entering the school building entrance, Mio allowed herself to sigh as she readjusted her carrier bag and began walking towards class, ideas of what to do about her conundrum being bandied around in her head.

A certain one began to stick.

"…Maybe I could ask Rias-sempai for some clothes to borrow?" she wondered aloud, considering the idea.

Normally such an idea would've been considered ludicrous to her.

But, if she were to compare her body to the other high school girls around her, then it was obvious that there was simply no way that she could even try and fit herself into clothes meant for them.

There was a part of her that was really well developed for a fifteen-year old after all.

But Rias-sempai on the other hand…

Yeah, that could work.

At least she hoped, since there was no way that she'd bother asking Akeno-sempai, who was beyond the both of them in _that_ department…

Fist clenched, Mio huffed, finally figuring out what she had to do in preparation for this important dinner.

"Morning, Mio-san! Oh, you seem to be in a pretty good mood right now. Did something good happen?"

A month ago, the red-head would've jumped a foot in the air if someone managed to catch her so off guard.

Now though, only one person could still make her do that these days, and the person who was speaking to her wasn't him.

Turning a bit, the young woman smiled pleasantly at one of her classmates, whom she knew to be involved in the supernatural like her.

They weren't exactly friends, but they were decent acquaintances.

"Good morning to you too, Ruroko-san." the first-year allowed an air of smugness to discreetly enter her tone. "Yeah, I'd like to think that something good has happened. Or, I guess _will_ happen."

Nimura Ruroko, her classmate, and a reincarnated devil in the Peerage of Sona, shuffled closer in her unrepentant curiosity. "Ohhhh! Sounds nice! C'mon, share of all of the juicy details!"

Mio chuckled, taking a step back from this typical example of a teenaged girl, whom she knew loved to delve into gossip. "Ehehe, that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Cue the inevitable pout. "Oh come on, just a hint at least, please? Good news should be shared after all!"

Betraying her, Mio's lips twitched upwards, a part of her wanting to at least share a bit of her trepidation and excitement to others in the coming prospect of growing closer with someone she _really_ wanted to.

Even while she had some reservations in doing so.

Still, that part of her that was still a normal high school girl managed to win out. "Well...if you _must_ know, I have a nice dinner planned on Friday night with someone. That's all."

She couldn't have stopped the pleased look on her face if she tried.

Neither could have her classmate stopped the wide-eyed starry look that overtook her face. "Oh! You're going on a date, aren't you!? Congratulations!"

The half-devil beamed. "Thanks, this is something that I'm definitely looking forward to. So do me a favor and try not to spread this-"

"So who's the lucky guy?"

Crap.

The one thing that she wanted to avoid talking about no matter what.

The _identity_ of her date.

"Sorry, that bit's gonna have to stay secret~" Mio tried for the coy approach, winking in a playful manner at the other girl.

And while this earned another petulant pout, this time, thankfully, Ruroko stood down. "Awww…alright. I guess I'll just have to speculate, huh?"

"Pretty much."

"…Is he at least good looking?"

At this, a hint of pink arose in her cheeks, conspiring against her.

"…I don't think he's _bad_ looking." Mio mumbled, glancing away uncomfortably.

Ruroko's resultant giggling only deepened the red-head's blush, wishing that the conversation could move away from the current topic.

"So, is that why you've stopped being such a sadsack in class?" Ruroko hazarded a guess, doing exactly as the half-devil hoped.

She wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth either. "Y-Yeah, you could say that."

"Good!" she chirped. "I hope he's good to you when you guys go on your date."

Unwittingly, Mio smirked at that last bit.

"He's been good to me so far, so I doubt I have to worry about that."

Ruroko halted, staring at her classmate as she walked on ahead to class, continuing to do so even when she made a turn at the end of the hallway and left her sight.

"…Wait, what?"

* * *

The first bell had rung already, signifying the start of the official school day for those who attended Kuoh Academy.

And Naruto had completely missed it.

Not that he cared. If anything, that was pretty standard by this point.

But even he knew that he couldn't just keep brushing off class like this all of the time, not if he wanted to keep the Student Council and Yuki off of his back.

Still, what could he do? He was busy training in the morning these days, so of course he'd be a little late to class.

Of _course_ he was gonna go and nap somewhere instead of go to class!

So, yeah, while a normal student would go to class anyway and try to catch up to the rest of the class by copying someone else's notes, _he_ was just going to flat out go and take a nap.

Once more, pretty standard for the delinquent.

And he had already chosen the perfect spot to do just that.

Stepping out of the nearby woods that surrounded the main school building, he walked up the steps of that building's predecessor and walked inside like he owned the place.

Probably because he assumed that there was no one inside since class had started.

An assumption that ended up being incorrect.

He turned out to be _very_ incorrect.

A grand total of four individuals were in the old school building, not including the blond himself.

Two of which were to be expected, the other two on the other hand…

"Basara? Yuki? What are you two doing here?" the shinobi had to ask, befuddled at seeing the two humans standing in front of Rias' desk.

With Rias in it, of course.

"I could say the same thing." Yuki answered, features flat. "Why are you here instead of going to class, Naruto?"

"Oi! I asked you guys first dattebayo!" his demand was obviously a ploy on his part to throw her own question against her, putting her on the spot.

A ploy that was ineffective at best. "Rias-san is helping me get Basara enrolled, temporarily."

If the blond could have cursed without sounding suspicious, he would have, since that sounded like a pretty legitimate excuse.

Yuki cocked her head to the side, yellow pupils somehow demanding answers without prodding too hard. "So? Why are you here?"

Beside her, Basara was shooting the other teenaged male a look of sympathy, by this point well aware of how pushy the hero girl could be when it came to her friends 'doing the right thing'.

He's experienced that recently himself.

In sharp contrast to his sympathy, Rias looked like she was watching her favorite show, as she paid rapt attention to their interaction, the tiniest of smiles pulling at her lips.

Akeno was nowhere near as tactful as her _king_. "Ara, it looks like Naruto-kun is in a bit of a bind."

The _queen_ gracefully ignored the baleful glare sent to her by said blond.

"…I'm just relaxing after doing some training, nothing much." the shinobi eventually answered, managing to sound level-headed.

Yuki's long-suffering sigh, despite being quiet, managed to be heard by everyone in the room.

Unsure of what to do about this atmosphere, Rias moved to get away from the topic that was managing to bring stress to the human teen in front of her desk. "So, I've heard from Sona that you've managed to get that 'club' of yours approved, Naruto. Have you figured out its name yet?"

Two immediate changes followed after her harmless query.

First; Yuki's face switched from its previously borderline deadpan appearance to something akin to extreme chagrin, something which became clear once the blood rushed towards her cheeks and eventually made its way to the roots of her hair.

Second; Naruto suddenly gained an intense interest in the painting that was hanging up on one of the walls, looking a tad flushed.

"Uh, well, I guess you could say that I was kinda…" blue eyes warily drifted towards the hero, snapping away as soon as he made contact, gaining a deeper flush for his trouble. "…'Distracted'."

Yuki's shoulders twitched, but didn't verbally say anything in response to his statement.

Flicking her focus between both human teens, Rias frowned. "You were…distracted?"

Naruto coughed. "Y-Yeah. Very."

Chancing a look at the awkward bluenette, the red-head's frown deepened, before being wiped away as she regarded Naruto once more. "Alright then, do you have any idea what your club is even going to be about?"

Thankful for the shift in topics away something uncomfortable to him, the blond cleared his throat. "Well…about that-"

"You don't, huh?"

Pausing only to register her rhetorical question, Naruto shrugged helplessly. "Haven't thought it all the way through yet."

"Really?" Akeno asked curiously, turning to look at the young woman that was slowly regaining her natural skin tone. "You accepted Naruto-kun's offer to join his club when there wasn't even a theme to it yet?"

Yuki brushed some hair behind her ear in a casual gesture, not at all bothered by her decision. "Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"Not necessarily." the _queen_ replied easily, an almost whimsical air about her. "But if he happened to be a sexual deviant, then he probably could have made the club into something… _risqué_ , you know?"

" _Oi!_ What are you doing making weird assumptions about people, Akeno!?"

"Ara…" the yamato nadeshiko of Kuoh Academy daintily placed the palm of her hand onto her cheek. "Don't you worry, Naruto-kun, it's just a rhetorical question. Unless…I hit a little too close to home?"

Naruto's jaw dropped, and then was summarily picked back up from the floor so that he may respond properly.

"O-Of course not dattebayo!" stammered the blond, trying _not_ to fidget.

Kind of hard to do when he had literally just received a vivid picture of Yuki's towel-clad body thanks to the subject matter at hand.

"Hoh? Are you sure? I can't help but wonder about that." the ravenette looked a bit too smug for Naruto's tastes.

"Are you done yet, Akeno?" Rias interrupted blandly, trying to make sure that she didn't look too enthused by her friend's antics.

Placing a single finger upon the bottom of her lips in mock-thought, the young woman seemingly considered it. "I don't know~"

"Rias, tell Akeno to quit bullying me." Naruto complained, the biggest of grumpy scowls marring his features.

The red-head snorted, turning away resolutely from the two in mild disgust to look at the two quiet humans in front of her desk. "Yuki, are you certain that you want Basara-san to attend this school? Even temporarily? I can pull some strings for you, but is that really what he would want?"

Taking a moment to regard Naruto and Akeno, cheek twitching minutely, the female hero finally faced the high-class devil with a firm nod. "I think so. Basara should become reacquainted to how normal human society works, plus; we can't just keep him under house arrest. Currently, this is the best option for him, I think."

Humming, Rias rapped a digit onto the smooth mahogany surface of her desk for a time, however limited that it was.

Only to push herself up and pace towards the building's exit, beckoning for the two heroes to follow her lead.

Sharing a glance with one another, Yuki and Basara made to follow without a second thought.

"Naruto, I'll be right back." the Gremory heiress spoke to the blond as she was stepping out, offering an encouraging smile. "So can you stay behind for a little bit? I'd like to talk to you when I return."

The shinobi seemed inquisitive once he looked at the crimson teen, quirking a golden brow, interested. "Alright, I'll wait. Won't wait too long though."

A playful grin inching its way to her without her consent, the young woman left the room with a twist of her neck, her long crimson hair whipping behind her.

Right before she followed her outside, Yuki glanced at the young man one last time before disappearing, moving beyond his sight, the door closing behind the trio.

Watching them go, the blond crossed his arms under his head to act as a pillow, leaning back towards the cushions that were present on the couch.

Damn, he had to admit, these couches were comfortable as hell…

"Hey, Naruto-kun, do you think that Buchou is cute?"

Annnnnd there went the calm air that he had obtained, blown out of the water mercilessly by a blatant and unapologetic sadist. "H-Huh?"

Although the shinobi wasn't looking at her, he could still practically _feel_ the sly expression that she had taken as her own. "Do you think that Buchou is cute?"

Rolling around to stare at the beaming _queen,_ the blond did his best to get his flushed cheeks to die down before he answered. "…What kind of question is that dattebayo? Is this a trap? 'Cause it sounds like one. I mean, I could ask if you like me, Akeno, and I doubt that you would-"

If possible, Akeno cranked her smugness up by eleven. "I do."

"O-Oh…" Naruto wasn't sure what he should say to that.

"So?" the _queen_ prompted, refusing to be dissuaded. "Do you think that Buchou is cute?"

"Uh…" he hesitated for a second, plunging ahead with a small sigh. "Well, I think it's obvious that she's cute, isn't it?"

"Really?" she made it sound like she wasn't expecting to hear as such, but somehow he doubted that, what with her grin and all. "And do you think that I'm cute, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grunted. "What are you up to? The simple fact that I have no idea where you're going with this is scaring me, ya know?"

Seriously, sometimes he had no idea what went through this girl's mind.

Perhaps realizing this, the devil took on a more apologetic look as she righted herself. "Sorry, sorry. I suppose this is a little roundabout, isn't it?"

"Roundabout?" A little?

Akeno tapped her lips, a ghost of a smile touching that very part of her body. "I suppose you could say that I was…just a little curious. About you that is."

"Hoh…?" the shinobi tilted his head, frowning. "You were curious about me? Well, I don't think that you needed to ask me such a weird question to learn more about me..."

"Really?" the _queen_ , wondered aloud, still tapping her lips. "Then, how about this; what kind of women are you attracted to?"

"Now wait a minute-"

"Actually, are you even attracted to women at all?"

"What the hell!?"

"Don't worry." Akeno grinned. "There have only been _some_ rumors about your sexuality going around. For now that is."

Or, maybe they were wishes?

After all, she knew damn well that some girls at Kuoh Academy entertained notions of male homosexuality with their oh-so-perfect 'prince' of Kuoh Academy.

"Who are the _bastards!?_ I swear that I'll beat the shit outta them!"

"…So you aren't-?"

" _No!_ "

Akeno's forthcoming grin was both; beatific and completely smug. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it now?"

A loud and exasperated sigh was all she got out of him, with the blond flat out falling back onto the couch with an annoyed grimace. "You nearly gave me at least two heart attacks within roughly three minutes, so…you tell me?"

Her grin went from smug to predatory within the span of a single eye blink. "Don't you feel closer already, Naruto-kun?"

"'Closer' isn't the word that I'd use." was the indignant reply, rolling his neck in his aggravated state.

Giggling ensued, and the source of which was patently obvious, even if she tried to stifle it with her dainty hand.

"Oh! You're too easy to tease, Naruto-kun!" the _queen_ gushed, unashamed in her admission as her giggling died down, allowing for that predatory grin of hers to return in full force. "You just make me want to tease you _more_."

With deliberately slow and steady movements, the shinobi turned to look at her, licking his lips nervously. "…Can you not?"

"…What a way to break a young maiden's innocent heart."

Innocent.

Yeah, ok.

Knocked out of his momentary musings, Akeno had deliberately shimmied close to him and sat down to his left on the couch, a pout on those lips of hers.

"You're a hard man to understand, do you realize that?"

Naruto would have snorted if he wasn't quite so disconcerted by the lack of personal space. "You're not really one to talk dattebayo…"

"Oh, but I don't do what _you_ do." the _queen_ countered, wagging her finger in a 'tsk tsk' fashion. "I don't falsely advertise as being an open person like you. How cruel is that? Acting like you're everyone's friend, when you're actually quite reserved."

"Reserved? _Reserved?_ " he was pretty sure that he sounded offended, and justly so. "I am many things, but 'reserved'!?"

Wiggling a single thin finger towards him, the reincarnated devil poked the blond square in the chest with a playful attitude. "Admittedly, not the best term that I could have used. But the fact remains; you're a mystery, Naruto-kun. And don't think for one moment that that will remain so for too much longer. Not if I have a say."

"You're being dramatic here." twisting in his seat, blue eyes met with violet. "Even more so than usual."

"Am I though?" she challenged, acting coy. "Or am I just being honest?"

A snort later, the shinobi sunk into the couch cushions with a prominent frown, dismissive of everything that was just said.

And why shouldn't he? While there were some topics that he was…hesitant to broach liberally, he was still super open with his friends.

Wasn't he?

"Aww…are you upset, Naruto-kun?" Akeno cooed, her hand rubbing the crown of Naruto's head.

The very edge of Naruto's lips twitched. "A little actually."

"Would you like me to make it up to you?"

"…Well, now that you mention it-"

"You two seem comfortable."

That last comment wasn't from either of the teens resting on the couch, a fact that was obvious when the two of them turned to look behind the couch, seeing a familiar heiress walk inside the room.

The look that she was giving them, coupled with the tone of voice that she was using, painted a picture of a young woman that was not entirely enthused by what she was looking at.

A point which was only driven further by her sarcasm. "What? Surprised that I came back so quickly? Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to… _interrupt_ anything."

"Ara." Akeno supplied, unhelpfully making the situation worse in the process. "What's wrong, Buchou? Do you feel left out?"

"Not in the slightest." came the reply, accompanied by a pointed glare. "Now if you're finished, I'd like to borrow Naruto for a minute."

Inclining her head, there was no mistaking the flat tone in Rias' voice. "If that's alright with you, of course?"

Miserably failing at hiding her amusement behind her hand, she gestured for the red-head to go ahead, giving her her silent approval.

Not wasting her chance, Rias strode past the couch and headed straight towards one of the spare rooms by her desk, grabbing a sleepy blond's sleeve when she passed him by. Making sure to ignore his weak protests along the way.

 _Especially_ taking great pains to brush off her _queen's_ beatific smile, lest she try and blast her.

The building couldn't afford such an exchange.

Opening the door next to her work desk, Rias jerked the blond inside with token resistance from his part, closing the door behind her as soon as she was able.

Taking a breath to compose herself, blue-green eyes opened and met with bland oceanic blue. "…Hello, Naruto."

"Hi." was the shinobi's reply, stretching his arms as his jaw opened wide, a yawn escaping from within. "Damn though…you came back much faster than I thought you would 'ttebayo."

"Would you have preferred to have waited longer?" the Gremory heiress crossed her arms, visibly pouting now. "Were you really having that much fun hanging out with Akeno?"

"Eh?" Naruto's eyebrows rose so high up his forehead that they nearly disappeared under his golden locks. "What are you talking about? I was just commenting about how fast you were. If anything, I was kind of hoping that Akeno would quit teasing me so much, damn it."

"Oh, is that so?" she turned away idly then, absent-mindedly twirling a stray lock of crimson hair. "W-Well, that's good then. I didn't want to keep you waiting for too long, so I had to twist the arms of a few school administrators to allow Basara-san admission. Now they shouldn't have too much trouble, unless one of the administrators felt like losing their careers anyway."

Unconsciously, the whiskered teen inched back a bit, silently wondering whether this was a textbook example of corruption.

Like…seriously, that was some yakuza shit right there.

"Speaking of Akeno, has she…asked you about anything weird?" the devil glanced back at him through the side of her eye, seeming a little worried. "I mean, more than usual."

Slightly taken aback by the sudden query, the blond scrunched his face a bit in thought, only really able to recall one thing that could be considered 'weirder than usual'.

Frankly, that girl was weird as it was, so it wasn't easy to narrow down something weirder.

"I guess, yeah. She kept making comments about me being _reserved_ of all things, can you believe that? Me? Reserved? Psht, it still boggles my mind that she would believe that!"

The creases in Rias' face only deepened at this apparently rant-worthy assertion, combing through her long hair. "Right…I figured that."

Ceasing the tirade that he was about to fall into, Naruto pointedly glanced at her direction. "Wait, you knew she would do that?"

"Yeah…" the red-head hesitated, but only minutely. "For some reason, she was talking about weird things yesterday. Roughly about getting to learn more about stuff that you haven't told us about yourself yet."

She shook her head, a bit dumbfounded still about her _queen's_ stubborn will to probe for information.

Seriously, here he was; in good health, a good friend of theirs, and obviously sane. There was no reason to pry, literally!

Yes, she could very well understand her curiosity, since her own very much burned under the surface.

But the young man before her was someone that very much resembled a free spirit; someone that did as he pleased, regardless of anyone's feelings or opinions about his actions.

All anyone needed to do was note how, despite officially being enrolled in school, he still refused to attend classes like literally every other student attending the prestigious institution.

Despite the student council's efforts no less.

He did whatever he willed based on some superfluous whim that he has deemed sufficient enough to take action upon, damn the consequences.

Of course, he had limits, but those were self-made, not something borne from the expectations or rules from others, or even society.

Uzumaki Naruto did as Uzumaki Naruto wanted to do.

Pure and simple.

And just like Uzumaki Naruto barged into their lives with the force of a horde of stampeding rhinoceroses, he could just as easily back off without so much as a whisper.

He did as he wanted, and if he wanted to quit school, leave Kuoh Town, and never speak or associate with them ever again…then he could do that.

It wasn't like anyone could stop him.

And if there was one thing that she noticed from the typically random teen, it was that he would become _very_ uncomfortable when certain subjects were…broached.

So much so, that the red-head had made it a point to subconsciously stray away from anything that seemed to make him squirm, such as the business with the supposed 'Hero Faction' and it's elites.

The topic of Naruto's past? That was without a doubt another subject that was to be avoided.

Honestly, she never even realized that she was straying away from such things until Akeno brought it up the other day, it was just a thing that she had done without thought.

Fancy that.

Through unfocused eyes, she verbalized what she genuinely felt about whole situation. "Honestly, all things considered, it's not like what happened to you before has any bearing on you now, right?"

Though, even as she spoke as such, another part of her honestly wondered whether that statement of hers was what she truly believed, or whether that was what she _wanted_ to believe.

Either way, she wouldn't catch the blink-and-you'll-miss twitch upon Naruto's cheek, something which was suppressed as soon as it appeared, allowing him to offer a small smile.

"Yeah." he said quietly. "Probably."

Blinking out of her stupor, the red-head finally refocused on the blond, scrunching her eyebrows together when another thought took the forefront of her mind.

"So? What are you going to do with the club that you managed to form?" Rias brought up the topic that she was originally intending to point out.

She was gracious enough to leave out the fact that the club was only created thanks to the fact that the teenager in front of her twisted Sona's arms for it.

Blue eyes fluttering, the whiskered youth's disposition turned sunny once again. "What? That thing? Ehh…I'm still thinking about it, why?"

"Still thinking about-?" the Gremory heiress released an exasperated breath of air. "Look, I don't mean to rush you, but they're not going to let some random club without a name or purpose join the Ball Tournament. So…you might want to work on that. Soon."

Scowling, Naruto scratched his spiky locks, grumbling at being rushed, before snapping back to meet with blue-green pupils. "Got any ideas?"

Stumbling on air, Rias recovered admirably. "…Are you serious?"

Splaying his arms widely, the shinobi didn't hold back any punches. "I. Didn't. Think. This. Through."

"Of course not…" the red-head snarked, not sure whether she should chuckle or scowl at this unapologetic attitude.

Raising her chin, the devil hummed, thinking of something, anything really.

The first idea that popped into her mind managed to evoke a grin, one that spoke of nothing but bad news to the spiky-haired male.

"…What?" he was almost afraid to ask.

Rias looked at him, grinning a small, genuine, yet evil smile.

"Why not call your new club; 'The Committee to Aid in Scholarly Excellence.'?"

Blue eyes blinked, not quite processing for a split second.

Until he did, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers as a result.

* * *

"Anyway, like I was saying, this is an incredibly…unusual request so late into the school semester. Honestly, if it was up to me, I'd suggest that you wait for next year. If only for your sake, since you missed so much school material already. However, the decision is not up to me. So I can only pray that you turn out better than our _last_ last-minute transfer student…"

Basara looked interested as he listened in to the school's admissions officer begin to complain about the higher ups and their arbitrary decisions, deciding to pipe up. "Who was the last one?"

The elderly woman flexed her jaw at the question, looking like she wanted to answer, but barely kept herself from doing so. "…Apologies, forget what I said. I should be more professional. Now; I just need you to sign some things to finalize the process…"

Yuki had begun to drone out of the conversation by this point, already familiar with the process that her friend was undergoing, since she had to actively be prepared for such a thing when she enrolled in the first place.

It wasn't exactly easy to 'transfer' into Kuoh Academy when she had no prior transcripts in any official Japanese institutions.

Doubly so when it was a school populated by devils.

The only interesting to happen so far was the fact that Basara of all people was interested in the process, and that was probably only because he never had to deal with the mindless minutiae of bureaucracy until now.

She wasn't sure whether that made him lucky or unfortunate.

As she was tuning out the conversation going on next to her, the hero suddenly frowned, a feeling welling up in her chest.

"…I feel like I missed an incredible opportunity." she stated out loud, somehow sure of this.

She missed the strange looks that the two humans next to her gave her.

* * *

"No! No! No! No! No! _Hell no!_ "

Rias laughed boldly, her mirth bringing forth tears from her clenched eyes as Naruto continued to chant his refusal. _Loudly_.

"This isn't funny!" he wailed, grabbing the older woman by her shoulders as he shook her, her laughing growing louder. "It's shit like this that gives Yuki ideas! Don't ruin this for me! Don't you dare! Do you hear me!?"

"Ok! _Ok!_ " she gasped, grabbing the arms that were shaking her as she quelled her laughter into giggles. "I'll stop! I promise!"

The shaking stopped as soon as he got that promise out of her, leaving nothing more than his glare to express his displeasure.

That look that he was giving her made it harder for her to kill her giggling, if anything.

"You done?"

Giggling being converted into coughs, the red-head cleared her throat, unashamed. "Yeah…I think I'm done. Anyway, in all seriousness, is there anything else that you're passionate about?"

Holding the dark look he was giving her for a little bit longer, if only so that he could retain his righteous indignation, the teenaged male relented and gave the query some thought.

Something that he was passionate about?

Something…maybe…he was good at?

A thought struck him with the power of a lightning bolt, a bedazzling smile marking its arrival.

"How about a gambling-!?"

"No." Rias deadpanned, shutting down the idea before it gained any traction.

"Damn." Naruto cursed under his breath, defeated before he could even begin. "Fine. Then how about…I don't know…"

He glanced about, searching for anything in the room that he was standing in to clue him in on what he should base this club on.

Within the small room, there wasn't much besides the Victorian-styled curtains draped across the windows, a flat screen television that was connected to some kind of machine in front of it, and a table that was pushed against the far corner of the room.

His eyes naturally fell onto that table. Specifically to the weird assortment of metal that was haphazardly thrown onto its flat surface. "What's that?"

Following his line of sight, the Gremory heiress scowled. "Oh. _That_ , Naruto, is a pair of valuable items from a bygone era of this country. Which I bought for quite a hefty sum of money, I might add."

Walking up to the table, now able to deduce that the metal was probably whole once, the shinobi couldn't help but notice the bitterness in her tone. "Huh. So how'd ya break 'em?"

"I didn't." she seethed, eyebrows twitching in agitation. "A damned frog and an irresponsible cousin of mine dressed like an apple did."

"Ah." there was a tinge of nervousness to Naruto's voice now. "I see."

Reaching out with a hand to grab one of the metal shards for closer inspection, the young man wasn't sure what to expect when he studied them.

But, for some reason, a nagging feeling in the back of his head prevented him from leaving it alone, annoying the hell out of him.

"Hey, Rias. What are these exactly?"

Still stewing from the reminder of her lost items, the red-head responded curtly, thinking nothing of it.

"They're shuriken."

Naruto jolted, recoiling as if stung by the cool metal he was now holding in the palm of his hands, that nagging feeling falling away with the last puzzle piece falling into place.

Viewing the metal pieces with a more critical eye, he could instantly tell through the rust and the dulled edges that this once whole weapon was finely crafted. Enough to be considered a quality weapon of war.

He was already well aware of this country's history, and how the Feudal era of Japan featured a group of spies and assassins that carried the same name as the native warriors of the Elemental Nations; shinobi.

So this shouldn't have surprised him, or garnered as much focus as it had.

Yet…as he continued to study the broken pieces that make up the shuriken, he felt like there was something…more to it.

"Rias?" he wasn't sure what possessed him to ask, but he did so anyway. "How did you get these things?"

"Umm…" tilting her head to the ceiling, the voluptuous woman had to think about it for a second. "I remember buying these shuriken off of an online auction for ancient weapons. Admittedly, it was done on a bit of whim, but it was just so cool!"

And there she went, going off into space as she gushed about the weapons that she had procured.

He wouldn't catch most of it, but the very first thing said in her defense of her purchase was the one thing that he latched onto.

"Apparently, if the official website of the audition was to be believed; the shuriken that I bought originated from someone near the western coast of Costa Rica of all places! Isn't that incredible!? More than that, allegedly it was found by this person's ancestors around the tenth century! It really makes you wonder how-"

Naruto heard no more after that, his body going rigid at what he has just heard.

That should've been impossible, there was absolutely no way that shuriken could have been created for ninjas up until at least the fourteenth century, if he recalled from his cursory interest in the profession. Not to mention the fact that an ancient ninja weapon had no reason to be on the complete other side of the Atlantic.

…Wait, no, the Pacific. Damn, he hated geography.

Of course, maybe the once-whole metal star had nothing to do with Japan. Maybe it had more to do with the native culture in that area of the world?

But, even as he considered such a thing, he knew for a fact that this was untrue.

This was too finely crafted to serve a specific purpose, and was obviously set up to reach some kind of standard.

More than that…

The shinobi started at it, eyes sharpening impossibly at the idea, comparing and contrasting with the weapons that he routinely utilized.

Feeling the smooth and cool metal through his fingers, he traced over it and placed a mental image over it, finding it eerily close to the infamous stars of his profession.

No, scratch that, this damned thing was almost _exactly_ like his shuriken.

But then…that could only mean that…

 _He wasn't the first._

"What's wrong, Naruto? You've been glaring at those broken pieces of metal for a while now." Rias peeked over his shoulder, curious. "Are you…?"

The jinchūriki turned his head to the side, looking at her through the side of his eye. Not saying a word.

She met his gaze, eyes burning, smoldering really. "…Are you interested in the shinobi too?"

Naruto nearly face vaulted. "Ah, er…well…I guess?"

"You are!?" she gasped, her visage lighting up like the brightest of stars in a dark night, a sloppy grin adorning itself upon her. "If that's the case, then come here for a second!"

Nearly being taken off of his feet when she snatched his hand, the blond was literally caught flatfooted by the red-head's sudden excitement and insistence, as well as the complete lack of general maturity that she always surrounded herself with.

What could have possibly gotten her so excited…?

Whatever it was, it was leading her to go back the way they came, thus aiming for the door that led to the main room in the ORC building.

And they would have, until the sound of the door opening stopped them short.

From behind the door, a young woman with vibrant red hair flicked her pink irises across the room, looking for something, before quickly settling onto her two seniors that she nearly smacked with the door. "Ah…"

"Mio-chan?" Rias looked surprised, probably because she wasn't expecting to see her. "What are you doing here?"

Mio looked flustered as she opened and closed her mouth to speak, with no words coming to the fore as she stared at the blond, who was giving her an amused smirk.

That, coupled with the shock of seeing him here, conspired to leave her tongue-tied and more than a little pink in the cheeks.

It seemed that the world pitied her enough to lend her a hand though, and that help appeared in the form of a dainty hand placing itself on the shoulder as someone came up behind her.

"Ara? Ah, I see. Apologies, I thought that you were aware of Mio-chan's entrance, Buchou." Akeno smiled, a conspiratorial air reaching that benign twist of the lip. "Was she interrupting something?"

Rias flushed under her _queen's_ knowing look, a sentiment that she crushed as soon as she mustered up the effort, collecting herself to give her a friend a defiant glare. "As a matter of fact, yes. I was hoping to show him something cool…but whatever, I guess."

The ravenette opened her mouth, a perfect shaped 'o' created in her befuddlement. "…You were going to show him your 'collection', weren't you? Well…it's a good thing I saved him then."

"How rude!" the Gremory heiress looked genuinely offended. "You don't know whether he will enjoy it or not! For all you know, he may appreciate it! My hobby isn't even _that_ bad!"

"I beg to differ."

The two siblings were flicking their attention between the two women, clueless as to what they were actually talking about.

"Yeah? Well that shows what you know, since _I_ know for a fact that Naruto is interested in the shinobi." Rias bragged, flicking her incredibly long hair behind her, showing off.

Behind her, the blond took a step back to dodge the hair locks that nearly slapped him in the face, sweat dropping when he saw the two devils butting heads, literally by this point.

"Hm? Is that so? Well, that's quite the leap of logic to make, don't you think? To think that you could be so arrogant as to assume that Naruto-kun over there would be interested in _your_ childish hobby…how shameless!"

" _Excuse you!?_ "

"Oof." Mio winced, wanting more than anything else to walk away before explosions rang out.

Someone managed to pull it off before she could however, if the pat on her shoulder was to be believed.

Her head turning as if it was on a swivel, the red-head felt her jaw drop as her troublemaker of a brother gave her a thumbs up as he squeezed her shoulder.

The message he was sending out was obvious.

'Good luck dealing with them.'

"Wait, don't leave me with-!"

"You wanna keep insulting my precious collection, Akeno!?"

"Ara, I think that you already do the work for me, Rias."

Dark miasma and crackling electricity conspired to drown out the hybrid's pleas, preventing her from calling out the escaping teen.

Oh, how she envied him at that moment.

Never before had she wished to have mastered the power of the escape artist as Naruto had up until that moment.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like this heated contest between the two teens was going to subside any time soon.

So, with great effort, the red-head did the only thing that she could think of to actually ask her sempai the question that she needed to ask.

She slammed her flat palm upon the door.

The two girls, whom were either sporting an impish smile or a dark glower, were broken from their trance and finally turned as one to their kohai. Obviously they completely forgot that she was there.

Now, with the attention of both older teens focused upon her, Mio felt her voice stammer as she tried to make her request. "U-Um. Rias-sempai, I…well, I was just wondering whether you could let me-"

"Oh crap, Mio-chan's here!" Rias gasped, cutting off her kohai as she faced her _queen_ frantically. "Akeno! If Mio-chan is here, then that means that her last class finished, right!? What time is it!?"

The reincarnated devil blinked. "…Ah."

"We're missing class!" the red-head hissed, snapping her focus back to her kohai. "Mio-chan, sorry, but you're going to have to ask me your question later. Akeno and I are already late, and I don't need Sona to get on my case right now."

Mio said nothing as both devils moved past her, one clearly more hectic than the other, and made their out of the building without another word.

Now she stood alone in the building, speechless, lost as to what to do.

Huffing out a sigh in pure irritation, the fifteen-year old glared at the room where her sempai and her brother were together in.

By themselves.

The thought, the _idea_ tied knots in her stomach, leaving her more irritable in the process.

Doing her best to ignore the feeling, Mio waltzed on inside the room and looked around, wondering what the two teens could have possibly been doing.

All she saw was a table that held a bunch of broken metal pieces, and a television set that was connected to something that she only knew of thanks to advertisements and the gossip of her school friends.

Before she turned her attention to those pieces of machinery, her eyes lingered over the table and specifically; over those metal pieces.

Even as she studied them, a feeling of…familiarity welled up inside of her, confusing her. Did she see those items somewhere before?

Their general shapes, even when taken apart, resembled something that eluded her at the moment, but still conspired to annoy the hell out of her.

It took a few more moments to pass before she grunted in failure, resolving to forget about the broken items lest they drive her insane, and focus on the flat screen television set and the strangely shaped black box that was connected to it.

Except, that wasn't any ordinary black box, hell, it actually wasn't a black box at all.

Rather, it was a pretty popular console that she knew plenty of students in this school used for entertainment, and to kill time.

It was a PlayStation 3, and Mio was more than a little surprised to see it here, in one of the mostly empty rooms within the club building.

Then again, she supposed that it wasn't that surprising, considering that Rias-sempai seemed enamored with Japanese culture, which probably included its video game industry.

With want of something better to do, the half-devil shrugged her shoulders helplessly and folded her legs in front of the mechanical wonders, figuring that she may as well kill some time until her friend returned from class.

She never was interested in this kind of thing, but hey, she may as well try it and see what all the hubbub was about now that she had the chance.

* * *

Leaning over the railing at the absolute top of the high school within Kuoh Academy, Naruto was inspecting the metal piece that he accidentally brought with him while tapping on the metal railing, his regard intense.

He was pretty damn sure, just looking at the thing, that it was made with the same material that his kunai and shuriken were made with.

Which could have only meant that he wasn't the only person from the Elemental Nations in this world before.

But, then, was it possible that there still shinobi in this world somewhere? Or are they long dead?

Or maybe they even managed to get back home?

He earnestly had no idea, and he had no way to find out on his own, since he had pretty much scoured for as much information as possible in regards to super powered ninjas within this dimension, and had either come out blank or without anything credible.

So basically, he was right back where he started.

The grip that was loosely holding onto the metal shard tightened, the sharp edges biting into his skin when he made a fist. A small grin disproving the idea that he was upset.

To the contrary, this was something, this was _something_.

He wasn't the first one here, and maybe, just _maybe_ , someone before him had found a way out.

And while the thought of actually leaving this place gave him mixed feelings, it still felt nice to know that he even had the option.

Deflating a bit, the blond wrenched away from his current thoughts to deal with the things that may or may not become a problem in the near future.

Two things; the Underworld, and the Hero Tribe.

The Underworld thing was obvious, since a bunch of people protesting under his name could very easily blow up in his face, since he had no idea what exactly _they_ were standing for.

Going back down there and clearing some stuff up might be for the best. The last thing he wanted to do was to piss off people, especially the influential, for some stupid reason.

…Then again, what if those protesters were fighting for a just cause?

He groaned as he ruffled his own spiky hair, he seriously needed to check what was going on down there.

The best time to do it would probably be after his little dinner with Mio, since that would be the start of the weekend, and it wouldn't conflict with either of the high-class devil's schedules too much. Hopefully.

Which only left that thing with the Hero Tribe.

Or, specifically; whether he could convince Yuki to get her adoptive father to enter an alliance with Yasaka-san's yokai. All to deal with whatever was remaining of that rogue hero faction.

Now _that_ would be tough…not that he blamed Yuki for being resistant to the idea.

He had his reasons, and he planned on going through them with Yuki, and to at least convince her to call the 'Great Hero' to arrange a meeting between the two of them.

"…Ugh, since when did I have to juggle so many things?" Naruto questioned aloud, rubbing his temple in irritation.

He wanted to help his friends in this world, yes, but sometimes he seriously wondered whether he was going too far.

"…Ah, found you."

The shinobi wasn't even surprised to hear those soft words, spoken barely loud enough for him to hear.

Tapping on the cool steel on the railing one more time, blue eyes swiveled away from the long drop in front of him to meet with hazel eyes, his grin still present. "Yep. Ya found me. So, what's up, Koneko?"

Just outside of the stairway, Koneko stood tall, if one ignored the slight limp that she had. "Train me."

"…What? No please?"

The _rook_ didn't bat an eyelash. "Train me _ple-_ "

"Ok, ok. That's ok, I was just joking." the shinobi raised his hands up in surrender, rolling his eyes at his bluster being called. "I suppose that you want to go back to the clubroom now, right?"

A bit confused by the obvious question, the younger girl nodded regardless, seeing no harm in it.

That blank expression of hers would fall apart shortly.

"Eh…instead of the doing our training there, let's switch things up, shall we? Let's continue our training up _here_."

As predicted, the reincarnated devil's features slackened in disbelief, followed by suspicion.

She didn't need to say a word, the look that she was sporting spoke more than verbal communication ever could.

"Now, I get that you're skeptical, but hear me out." the shinobi soothed, bearing with the blatant skepticism that she was blaring out. "Listen, I've been beating the crap out of you-"

"…Very true."

"-for the past two days, ever since we've started training together." he ignored her agreement with his words, sniffing at how rude she was being. "So, rather than beating you up, I figured that we'll…focus more inwards today."

Koneko's features softened a bit, but still retained a bit of that doubtful mindset. "…Won't people see us up here?"

In typical fashion, that concern was waved away. "Eh, if no one could see a teenaged girl threaten a guy with a katana up here, I doubt that they'll see us doing other stuff either."

The _rook's_ eyebrows scrunched together.

…Did he make that up just now, or-?

"Besides, we're too high up for anyone to see us. And the both of us would be able to tell if someone was coming up the stairs, so we've got nothing to worry about."

He wasn't wrong.

Finally letting the matter drop, Koneko closed her eyes, doing as they have been doing in every session.

Like clockwork, the words came. "Last time, I asked you to retain focus of that chakra of yours while I attacked you. Now we're gonna see if you can actually make ethereal copies of yourself with that energy."

She nodded, breathing in, breathing out, keeping a rhythm as she tapped into the calm power held deep within, and _focused_.

With just the slightest of mental nudges, she could feel the power coursing through her, ready to be utilized at will. All that needed to be done with it was to _direct_ it.

"Alright, good. As I thought, you're a natural at this!" her sempai sounded genuinely impressed, and a slight heating up of her cheeks was the result. "Now, I want you to make a mental image of yourself, _imagine it_."

Biting the bottom of her lips, the loli envisioned as she was asked, picturing a mirror copy of herself within the depths of her consciousness, visualizing it up to the smallest of details.

"Then…" her sempai's words rang, taut with an underlying tension. "Use that energy to give form to that image."

A mere twist of the lips, the smallest of twitches in her cheek, the slight traction within the muscles in her arms all gave away the concentration that she was putting into following the directives she was given. To the letter.

This tension continued on for a few strained seconds, culminating in the complete slackening of her muscles and the complete loss of air when she released the breath that she was holding.

All at once, she nearly fell onto her butt, a burst of frustration igniting at this latest failure.

She didn't even manage to-

"Stop. Don't think. Just keep trying." Naruto insisted, no condemnation in his voice whatsoever.

Swallowing her disappointment, Koneko tried to look past this setback, focusing on the dormant energy that was calling to be used once more, ignoring all but the task at hand.

Watching her concentrate on her task without complaint, Naruto smiled fondly, a bit of pride entering his pupils.

Yeah, he was probably going too far in helping his friends.

But damn, small things like these just made it worth it for him.

* * *

"Mio-chan! Are you still here?"

Mio squeaked, fumbling with the controller in her hands until she pushed it away from her, trying not to act like she was caught with her hand inside the proverbial cookie jar.

Not that her precautions would do her any good when Rias came walking in, following the sound that the game was making.

"Mio-chan?" the Gremory heiress gave her a wide-eyed stare, blinking in disbelief at what she was looking at. "Are…you actually playing _video games?_ "

The half-devil licked her lips, at a loss for words. For all of about five seconds. "…No?"

Rias didn't believe her, if her starry look was to be believed. "Mio-chan…I didn't know that you liked playing video games!"

"I don't! This was just a one-time thing!"

"Really?" the older red-head deflated a bit, sighing. "That's a shame then. I bought this game console just so that I could try it out when it first came out roughly two years ago, but I never got the chance to use it. It'd be nice to play with someone one of these days…"

The hybrid moved her attention between her sempai and the electronics beside her, her gaze lingering a bit onto the pause screen of the game called 'Soul Calibur 4'.

Something which Rias noticed, but didn't really comment on, deciding to let the matter go. "Ok, so what did you want to talk to me about?"

"O-Oh! Right!" Mio's fist bopped into the open palm of her hand. "Listen, Rias-sempai. I need to ask you a favor, a _big_ one. You see, I don't really have anything to wear tomorrow evening, and I didn't want to wear anything too casual, so-"

Her words, well thought out thanks to the alone time she had, suddenly trailed off when Rias clasped her hands onto her kohai's shoulders, squeezing with more force than anticipated.

There was no mistaking the glassy look in her eyes though, nor the pride in her voice. "Mio-chan…you're planning on sealing the deal, huh? Keeping your acquisition under tight wraps?"

"I…wouldn't use those words…but yes." Mio was seriously concerned about the language that the older teen used.

Pumping her fist in triumph, a sly grin appeared and adorned itself upon Rias' features. "So then, are you planning on marking him after your date?"

Sucking in air sharply, the hybrid's cheeks twitched as her skin tone quickly raced to match the shade of her hair, staying quiet for a bit.

She needed to cool off.

…And she needed to let the images that were flashing through her head to fade away.

 _Down girl!_

"…No." was all Mio could say, her voice strained.

"Want to wait a bit, hmm? Well, I suppose to each their own." Rias shrugged, before meeting her kohai's gaze as she crossed her arms. "So, can you tell me who the lucky guy is now?"

Within the daughter of the old Maou Lucifer's head, an image of her sempai and brother earlier flashed through her mind's eye, when they were alone in that room without supervision. Her hand holding his.

She glanced away from her. "Not really."

"Aww, come on Mio-chan~"

"No."

No matter how the younger red-head looked at it, the fact that she and Naruto were going on a date would probably end up causing widespread confusion, _especially_ if the rest of the student body caught wind of it.

 _'Ehh…so that bro-con finally managed to touch the forbidden fruit~?'_

 _'T'was to be expected!'_

 _'Let's all be honest, who didn't see this one coming?'_

She could practically _hear_ everyone's snide remarks.

Best to just let this stay anonymous, for everyone's sanity. Especially hers.

"…Hmph. Fine." Rias' infinitesimal shake of the head didn't last long in comparison to her indulgent smile, which let the younger female know that she was fine, even if she was _really_ curious. "Anyway, as to your request, I think I may have something that could fit you _just_ right."

The corner of Mio's lips twitched upwards, her strained visage softening.

Even if she didn't particularly like the idea of those two being alone in a room together, it still didn't mean that the high-class devil didn't have her best intentions at heart.

And she should be thankful for that, if nothing else.

Even if she was absolutely positive now that her advice from before was mostly…inaccurate, to say the least.

"Now then." the Gremory heiress rubbed her hands together, grinning. "Let's make sure that your date can look at no woman besides you, shall we?"

* * *

"So…I'm starting classes tomorrow then?"

Yuki nodded.

"…And my homeroom is with you and Uzumaki, right?"

"That's right."

"Hmm."

The two heroes were finally finished with the arduous paperwork that enabled Basara to temporarily attend Kuoh Academy.

Well, actually, it was more like they finished a while ago, and Yuki had _now_ just finished giving her old friend a tour of the high school. Giving him an idea of where to go and what to do tomorrow as well.

Yuki frowned a bit.

Huh.

Somehow this felt like déjà vu for the bluenette.

Dismissing the idea, the female hero was now walking back with her childhood friend in tow, finished with the school day.

And, to her annoyance, missing pretty much the entire day of class.

She had already missed quite a bit of class material before, and now she was even _further_ behind than before.

There was a lot of work that had to be done in order for her to catch up.

…

No matter how she looked at this…it felt like Naruto's bad habits had rubbed off on her instead of vice-versa.

That rankled her more than she cared to admit.

"Oh, look who it is."

Yuki glanced up as a response to Basara's words, following his understated grin to see a familiar teen standing at the gated entrance of the Academy.

Well…two familiar people, really.

"Working her hard, I see." the female hero commented, as the two humans walked up to the spiky-haired blond standing in front of the gated entrance.

Naruto, who was standing there, seemingly innocent, didn't seem so innocent to her when he glanced away from her.

The reason for this was the young woman that he was holding up in a piggyback, sleeping. But was most likely unconscious.

"…Yeah. You could say that." the blond admitted, refusing to meet her blank yellow eyes.

Yep, unconscious it was.

"Aren't you pushing her too far if that's the case?" Yuki asked, studying the lax features of the shorter girl, making sure she wasn't too hurt.

"She was insistent on pushing herself this far, I couldn't really do too much about it when she refused to take a break." the shinobi shifted a bit, adjusting his grip on his kohai, making sure to mind his hands. "Besides, I doubt that you could lecture me on 'going too far', ya know?"

Given the hero's blank stare, he figured that he had to elaborate. "She knocked herself out by pushing herself too hard mentally. Every time we have one of those 'sessions' of yours, you push me so damn hard that I always feel like I'm _this_ close to losing consciousness myself!"

A roll of the eyes was her answer. "That speaks of how much you need an education rather than anything else."

"Not true!" he protested. "If you don't want me to end up like Koneko here, you should lay off the tutoring thing! Permanently!"

"Not happening. More than that, how is learning how to utilize new techniques that you've never tried before even _comparable_ to learning how use trigonometric functions exactly?"

"Easy! One is interesting, the other is useless!"

"Once more; this says more about your mindset than anything else…"

Basara scratched the crown of his head, figuring that this would happen, but unsure of whether he should intervene in it or not.

He couldn't tell whether they were enjoying themselves or not either.

What he did know, was that they were the focus of many stray glances by curious students heading back home.

He had no idea how he should approach this, or how to respond this.

"Ah, well look who it is."

The amnesiac, thankfully, didn't really have to think of a way out, thanks to the crimson-haired girl that was walking out of the gate of the prestigious institution.

Next to her, interestingly, was another red-head carrying a bag, hugging it securely to her chest.

"Aha! Rias! Oh, and Mio too! What were you two up to?" Naruto cut into his argument with Yuki to face the two beautiful women, focus snapping between both.

Mio shot Rias a look of borderline desperation, but was seemingly completely ignored by her sempai. "Well, you see, we were just having a little fashion show back at the club building. You know, some quality girl time."

Sighing in relief, the hybrid was more than a little thankful that the topic of the dinner wasn't broached, since the consequences of people connecting the dots out in the open were, quite frankly, horrifying for her school life.

"Oh, I definitely don't want to hear about that…" the shinobi retorted dryly, features turning serious. "Anyway, I'm glad that I caught you before you left. Can you take your club member off of my hands?"

Moving her attention onto the blond's back, the Gremory heiress felt her face slacken a bit in incredulity at the set of white hair pressed against the back of his neck.

A state that she quickly recovered from. "…Pushed her too far, huh?"

Naruto gave her a blank stare, and pointedly ignored the piercing look that was being levied at him by the female hero next to him. "It wasn't my fault."

Rias made a noncommittal sound in the back of her throat, cracking an eye open after she pretended to clear her throat. "Either way, despite going too far, you're still helping out a member of my precious family. And for that, I thank you, earnestly."

Taking a step forward, the high-class devil opened her arms, giving the spiky-haired youth the chance to transfer his unconscious load onto her, which he gladly acquiesced to.

Shifting her _rook's_ body around so that her head would snugly be placed onto and supported by her upper arm, the _king_ smiled fondly at the serene face of her kohai.

"Don't worry about her, I'll take her back home." she spoke softly, her voice low so that her Peerage member wouldn't wake up. "By the way…you still haven't figured out what your club is going to be about, right?"

Naruto's resulting silence was enough of an answer for her.

"I have a suggestion then." she kept Koneko close to her, that smile of hers still with her. "How about…the 'Shinobi Historical Society'?"

The shinobi squinted, silently rolling the name with his tongue, inspecting it.

"Shinobi Historical Society…the SHS, huh? It rolls off the tongue well, _and_ it has to do with shinobi!" Naruto couldn't have sounded more impressed if he tried. "Ya know what? That works. I like it!"

"Excellent." Rias looked pleased that this small hurdle was overcome. "Then it's settled. By the way, word came down by the school administrators that the Ball Tournament's official date is now settled on Monday, so it looks like you've got time to spare for any plans that you might hatch."

"Oh crap…" Mio cursed, not liking the idea of giving her brother time to come up with mischief.

Yuki felt the same way, but had presence of mind to keep quiet about it until she could possibly curtail his crazier ideas in private.

Verbalizing her displeasure now would only spurn him on.

"Sounds like fun." Basara grinned, liking the idea of a Ball Tournament, mostly due to his competitive nature springing forth. "Where do I sign up?"

"You can join my club if you want!" Naruto zipped next to the amnesiac, grinning like a madman. "We've got plenty of space, and we're definitely gonna stir shit up!"

"We are?" Yuki had to ask.

"We are!"

Basara pumped his fist, copying the grin that was being flashed at him. "Sounds like my kind of place."

"Naruto…" Yuki drawled in warning. "Please stop corrupting my childhood friend, it's unappreciated."

"Never!"

"Mou!" Mio was pouting now, her arms getting tired from holding the bag within her arms so tightly to her chest. "Can we just head back home already!? My arms are getting sore for crying out loud…"

More than that, she had to check herself out with the items inside, just to make sure everything was _perfect_.

She couldn't prepare enough for tomorrow, in her opinion!

"…By the way." Naruto went tiptoed for a second, trying to peek at the bag's contents. "What'cha got there?"

Even while he was speaking, his sister pulled away from him and hugged the bag closer to her body, her pouting becoming more adorable as she did so. "No! You can't see what's inside! It's a secret!"

Surprised by her refusal, the shinobi frowned. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Yes!" she insisted, not budging. "If you want to see what's inside, then you're going to have to wait!"

Opening his mouth in order to protest, Naruto was cut off from saying anything when Rias chuckled good-naturedly.

"Alright, alright. It's obvious that Mio-chan has some…work to do. Well, that and I have to get Koneko-chan back home so that she could rest properly, so why don't we call it a day for now?" she claimed, winking at the younger red-head.

Huffing, the shinobi grumbled as he took a step back, backing off from seeing the contents, despite feeling inquisitive. "Fine, whatever. But only because Mio feels so strongly about it, that's all."

Turning his head to the side, he inclined his head towards Basara in acknowledgement, and then offered a cheesy grin towards the female hero. "Whatever you do, don't let Yuki see you cut your schoolwork. Not if you want peace and quiet that is. But I'm sure that you've realized that."

Yuki crossed her arms, lips flattening. "I noticed that you told him to not let me _see_ him skipping his work…"

Sticking his tongue out playfully at her, he turned and wiggled his eyebrows at the amnesiac. "Good luck, man. Looking forward to seeing you around, and maybe we could spar sometime, just for shits and giggles, eh?"

Snorting, the former apprentice of Cao Cao nevertheless gained that challenging glint in his eye. "Yeah, we'll see."

Snatching Mio's hand, Naruto sprinted away from the Kuoh Academy gates, dragging her along with him and damn well nearly making her drop her bag in the process.

Her long red hair flying behind her, Mio squeaked as she tried not to fall flat on her face as she ran. But, soon enough, her squeaks began to sound more like giggles than frightened yelps.

Really…this brother of hers…

* * *

"That Naruto guy is pretty cool, why do you always get on his case?"

Yuki stopped brushing her hair for a moment, hearing her friend's question from across the house.

Basara was going to live in a spare room in her home temporarily, until further notice at the very least, seeing as she didn't really have a space ready or available for him.

Thankfully, there was a spare bathroom upstairs.

Anyway, in regards to his query… "Naruto is a good man, he just needs some…encouragement towards the right direction is all. Once he gets older, I'm sure that he'll understand."

She had a feeling that the amnesiac upstairs was shrugging his shoulders in response, simply curious, as usual.

Unlike her rapidly developing social skills, Basara was leagues behind her in regards to human interactions and understanding why people do what they do.

Her talk with that blue-haired swordswoman from the Church was proof enough of her growing mastery of social interaction, and she didn't doubt that Basara would envy her latent abilities.

Continuing to brush her hair, the hero contemplated her hopes for her old friend, seeing easily that his time under the thumb of… _that_ man, proved to be a very negative experience for him.

There was so much for him to learn and experience now, the proof was in how interested he was in the simple and tedious process of becoming a student. Something so small had managed to garner his attention with just how _different_ it was.

Now, with so many new things around him, he should be able to live a better life by accepting these new experiences and learning from them.

Much like she did, with a certain blond.

Tightening her grip on the brush a bit, she had to acknowledge that her world view had altered drastically from one meeting, from one experience in this relatively insignificant settlement in the middle of nowhere.

And the same could happen to Basara, who knew?

That was for him to learn and decide, and she intended to give him that chance. She owed him that much.

Eyes staring off into the distance, Yuki was understandably distracted from her surroundings.

So as such, she twitched rather violently when her cell phone blared out its ringtone beside her.

Blowing out air through her nose, the hero put the brush down by her futon and went on all fours to pluck her phone and check out what all that noise was about.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the text message that she had received.

It was given to her by 'Unknown'.

As in; that was what the called id showed, which proved that the sender of the message wasn't traceable at all.

Quickly opening the message, the young woman skimmed through the brief and to-the-point text with careful consideration, as was befitting a trained woman from the Hero Tribe.

However, even while she was reading the message, the hero's visage began to pale significantly, her eyes were widening in blatant disbelief, and her fingers started shaking as they held the phone.

"W-What...is _this?"_

She let the phone fall out of her numb fingers without another word, staring at the floor blankly, shaking her head slowly.

All she could do was mentally go over the last two sentences that were within the message that she had received, wishing and praying that she misread them.

'So, in lieu of recent events, you are hereby temporarily suspended from your active Observation status and ordered to return to the Hero Tribe HQ in Tokyo. You will be replaced by a special team that has been deployed to Kuoh Town in your absence until you are cleared from all suspicion.'

* * *

"We're about halfway there."

Kurumi glanced up at the gruff voice, the long cape of her erstwhile ally being the only thing that she could see of Hayase Takashi as he led the way.

"How much further?" she asked, for want of something better to do.

He didn't answer at first, simply marching forward with the military precision that has been drilled into him for almost his entire life, alert at all times.

"…About two fifths of the way there, roughly." he eventually claimed, glaring as he always did.

It was pretty much his default expression actually.

The young girl sighed, shaking her head, which made her ponytail bob a bit in conjunction to her movements.

At this rate, they'd be in Kuoh Town in a matter of two to three days or so, if their current pace was of any indication.

It didn't help that the small group of heroes had to make sure to travel through the countryside instead of the cities, considering the attire that they were wearing and all.

Hopefully, by the time that they arrived in Kuoh Town, Kurumi's sister would prove to be forthcoming with what was going on with this suspect in the attack in the Hero Tribe.

Clenching her fist, she resolved to search for the truth, and to act accordingly with what she learned, regardless of how their group's leader felt about it.

Both; for her sake, and for her sister's.

 _I'm coming…Onee._

* * *

「Oh…so this is Kuoh Town?」

From atop a hill looking over the settlement, a young boy regarded it with the brightest of smiles and the liveliest of eyes.

If one were to just look at his surface persona, one wouldn't be too hard-pressed to believe that this scrawny teenager was nothing more than an eccentric kid that smiled too much.

But those that knew better could only claim to see his smiles and bubbly personality as something akin to a doll.

All show. No substance.

「Eh…it looks kind of boring to me.」the boy frowned a bit, looking upon the area as if it was a kind of puzzle that he couldn't quite figure out.

It seemed to be an innocent curiosity, fueled by wonder.

But that impression could be dissuaded easily if someone were to look at the boy's visage just… _twist_.

The smile grew a malevolent tint to it as they curved like the reaper's scythe, the eyes stretched out and narrowed as if to leer at the unsuspecting people below, and the angle of the sun conspired to cloak a portion of his face with shadows.

「Then again…just looking at this place, it gives me the feeling that many, many things are about to happen.」he murmured, a sickly grin adorning his features. 「So, obviously, it's up to me to make sure that my new kohai learn from the upcoming experience. As a good sempai!」

Features quickly returning back to what it was before the darker shift, the average-looking teenaged boy shoved his hands into his black pants pockets and began walking down the hill, all smiles and positivity.

「Man, I hope that Naruto-kun is worth all of the hype. It would stink to hype up the main character and then let him flop before he could even reach the final boss. Eh, it should be fine. Also, I wonder how many times Medaka-chan will kill me once I get back?」

The crawling chaos that was known as 'Kumagawa Misogi' was making his way to Kuoh Town.

* * *

 **AN: Ehehe...it's been a while, guys. Sorry 'bout that. :3**

 **Anyway, by next chapter, shit will start roll again, and I'm looking for to it. _Especially_ looking forward to chapter 45! :P**

 **Have something specific planned for _that_ little tidbit. :D**

 **-RekkingPride**


	44. Chapter 44

Today was the day. This was _it_.

Friday had come, and the school day has begun in earnest, whether anyone was ready for it or not.

And apparently, Mio was ready.

Her infectious smile, which proceeded to split apart her face and brighten up the area which she just so happened to be at, both; befuddled her fellow students as well as and cracked smiles out of them.

Drifting -skipping really- into the gated confines of Kuoh Academy, the red-head's unrepentant attitude would have been disgustingly excited were it not for a single blip in the back of her mind.

A single fact that was, frankly, beginning to worry her.

For the past few days, Naruto had simply... _disappeared._ Every morning. Going off to parts unknown without either; informing anyone of his whereabouts or about what he was doing.

Thankfully, he has always showed up later on in the day without fail so far, so it hasn't really been a problem yet.

A part of her seriously wondered about what he could possibly be doing every morning, even if she didn't verbalize it.

But, then again, she probably didn't have much to worry about.

After all, if this dinner went off without a hitch, then she would be able to understand that infuriating blond enough to hazard a guess.

Hopefully.

Head in the clouds, Mio obviously wasn't paying attention to her surroundings at all, which was what allowed her to completely ignore the strange looks that she had been receiving on her way inside the building.

But her internal dialogue would finally be cut short when a familiar voice called out to her. "Ah. Good morning, Mio-san."

Pink eyes focusing; they slid to her right as she halted in front of the stairway that led upstairs, her genial attitude leaking to her tone. "Morning, Kiba-san! How are you doing?"

As expected, Kiba Yuuto was smiling softly as he casually walked up to her from the other side of the hall, carrying his own carrier bag. "Alright, thanks for asking. But you seem to be doing better, hm?"

Only just then noticing the upward tilt at the edge of her lips after he pointed out, the red-head tried to school her expression, but only managed to mitigate it. Somewhat. "I guess you could say that."

"Buchou has been pretty excited about something recently, though I haven't really figured out what." the _knight_ raised a brow, feigning understanding. "I think I might have found the source of that."

Playing along, the half-devil shrugged. "Personally, I thought it was as obvious as the sun in the sky."

"Oh, I'm sure." Yuuto glanced away with a grimace. "Akeno-san told me about our _king's_...'activism'."

"So that's what they call it now..." the hybrid murmured, shaking her head.

"Sounds like you had it rough. Sorry about that."

"Nah, you have nothing to apologize about." Mio waved his concerns away, voice dry. "Rias-sempai is Rias-sempai after all."

The blond coughed, not sure whether that was a compliment or an insult.

Pink eyes slid away from the reincarnated devil for a moment to glance at something behind him, darting back to him with a minor sense of urgency. "Um...I don't usually hang around you that often, but is _that_ normal?"

Blinking, the _knight_ swiveled about and grimaced at what he saw. "Pretty much, unfortunately."

Behind the bishōnen, a gaggle of teenaged girls was slowly forming, blatantly making their presence known as they gossiped about the boy that they kept sending furtive glances towards.

Namely, the so-called 'prince' of Kuoh Academy; Kiba Yuuto.

Sighing in a way that implied that this was a common occurrence, the popular young man faced the red-head once more. "Last thing; do you know where your brother is?"

Mio perked a bit. "Naruto? Well, sorry to say, he's probably not going to show up until at least the third period of school. He's been going off doing who-knows-what every morning for a few days now."

"I see. A shame." Yuuto scratched his cheek a bit sullenly. "I was wondering whether I could ask him for a few tips on getting stronger. Guess I'll just have to wait."

The hybrid's features remained stagnant for a second, taking a moment to compute what was just said, before recognizing what exactly gave her pause.

"You didn't train with us before Diodora came around, right?"

Wincing, it seems that she managed to get it in one. "...I'm a little embarrassed to train with you guys after what happened. But I don't want to fall behind, so..."

Mio had to roll her eyes. "Quit being dramatic, no one's holding what happened against you."

"I know. I know." he waved his hands in front of him, perfectly contrite. "I just won't feel satisfied until I earned everyone's good graces is all. So getting stronger in...unique ways seems to be a good starting point."

Frowning, Mio had to give him that one.

Her blond did give out advice that inevitably produced something...'unique'.

Whether it be a new technique or a strange way of training.

She easily recalled the two things that she worked on while her brother was away in Kyoto, both of which were derived from his advice to her.

One with her physical body, the other with her magical abilities.

They both produced results, even if the magical part was _especially_ weird.

Her insightful thoughts were interrupted then, by a clap in the shoulder by a blond who's charming smile was looking particularly strained right then.

"I should go." he said, eyes haunted. "I can tell that my fans are barely keeping themselves at bay now."

Wow. That sounded like that came from personal experience.

Moving at a sudden brisk pace, the bishōnen stiffly aimed to reach his first class of the day, doing his best to ignore the flood of hormonal teenagers trailing behind him as a crowd.

Meanwhile, Mio was practically forced to press herself against the wall so as to not get in the way of the mob, secretly sympathizing with her acquaintance's plight.

"...Shitty handsome blonds taking all of the girls...!"

"Yeah! Fuck every blond on the planet! Except for the bishoujos, we can keep them!"

The red-head sighed lowly when she overheard two out of the three of the infamous 'Perverted Trio', fully expecting to another unneeded comment from its final member.

"Huh? Oh...yeah. Definitely."

"Gah! Issei, what the fuck!? Your hate should be all-encompassing, not so damn lackluster!"

"Eh, don't worry about it, Motohama. Issei has mellowed out a lot after Asia showed up."

"Oh, right. Issei's popular now...you've changed so much, you traitor."

Somehow, she could hear the much stronger pervert's offended, yet vindicated grin. "Oh, my bad. I forgot that you guys don't know what it's like to hang out with a cute girl, you're right, I should be more careful with what I say from now on. Just so I don't hurt either of your feelings."

All she heard after that was the grunts and groans of two boys attempting to strangle the third, which seemed to be going poorly.

Not even bothering to turn around to look, Mio chuckled and began to take her first steps up the stairs, taking a quick glance at the clock that was up on the wall before it left her sight.

She couldn't wait until the school day was over.

* * *

"Are you ok, Buchou?"

Rias pretended to be deaf, focusing intently upon the lecture in front of her, leaving the woman next to her as an invisible specter to her senses.

"Ara...Buchou is moping again."

The Gremory twitched, but retained her feigned unawareness still, which was actually quite impressive, all things considered.

"Oh come now, are you still upset over what happened yesterday? To be frank, I believe that I saved Naruto-kun from humoring your manga obsession, you know?"

But even the _king_ had her limits, and that low blow irritated her enough to practically erase the pen held within her fingers from existence.

Such power her _queen_ of trolling held over her.

"...I'm going to let that one go." the red-head breathed, scowling. "Now drop it."

"Sorry, sorry." Akeno didn't sound too sorry. "I didn't try and spark a conversation just to make fun, actually I wanted to ask you a quick question."

Rias was almost afraid to ask. "...What?"

Leaning forward, the other member of the 'Two Great Ladies' of Kuoh Academy eyed her friend conspiratorially. "Are you also planning on checking out Mio-chan's date?"

The _king_ finally rotated her head towards her friend's direction, looking almost offended. "What, is that a trick question? Of _course_ I'm going to check out Mio-chan's date! Why, this is a momentous occasion for her! My kohai's first time, ostensibly!"

Taking a moment to scratch her cheek, the ravenette had to wonder whether her best friend realized that her kohai had technically gotten a date faster than she had.

How would she pull off the 'mature older woman' vibe with her now?

Deciding to leave Rias with her delusions, Akeno got right into the important matter at hand. "So, are we going to tell Naruto-kun?"

Shooting a bland look at the use of the word 'we', the high-class devil rolled her shoulders. "I'm sure that Mio-chan has told him already, so I doubt there's any need to go out of our way to tell him."

A dainty hand was placed upon the _queen's_ lips, disguising her smile. "Imagine if Naruto-kun _didn't_ know though, can you imagine?"

"I imagine that he'd want to interrogate Mio-chan's poor date." Rias pulled her collar, not wishing such a fate on anyone.

That poor boy would be pranked to oblivion.

"Besides." the red-head felt her lips tug, just a fraction. "I want to see if this guy is worth Mio-chan's time."

Akeno could definitely agree to that.

* * *

"Welp, I'm late again."

Naruto couldn't have sounded less interested if he tried as he made his comment.

He could have proclaimed himself to be the saddest of pandas, and he probably would have sounded more upset.

It seemed that his already lackluster interest in education had degraded beyond even that low bar. Really, it had reached a point where he was pretty much humoring certain people by showing up.

Training was a bit more important to him.

...That being said, he already did his best to skip classes, so that wasn't exactly an excuse or anything.

Cracking his jaw open in a yawn, the shinobi entered the school grounds with blurry vision, ignoring the obnoxious school bell in the process.

If nothing else, keeping the Student Council off his back was still a thing, so-

"There you are, Uzumaki!"

Speak of the devil.

Taking one last step before halting in front of the actual high school entrance, cerulean orbs took one look at the person standing in his way and groaned. "...What do you want so early in the morning, Saji-san?"

"It isn't early in the morning!" Saji; the sole male of the student council, countered. "And do you have any idea how long I've been going around the school, looking for you!?"

The shinobi blinked. "...How am I supposed to know that?"

"That was-" the Sitri _pawn_ groaned, frustrated. "...Rhetorical. You know what, never mind. Just come with me for a second."

He spun around and began walking inside, his words becoming muffled as he extracted his phone from his pocket. "C'mon, Kaichou sent me to grab you. I'm sure that you'll want to see this anyway."

Interest piqued, the blond allowed himself to be led inside, not sensing anything wrong in the man's tone to indicate that he was being led into a trap.

One always had to be vigilant around the Student Council, especially as one that didn't always...adhere to the school's rules.

After a few minutes of walking through the halls of Kuoh Academy, the duo eventually made their way to their supposed destination. Which happened to be an empty classroom on the third floor.

Taking a moment to knock on the door in order to announce their presence, the _pawn_ eventually went ahead and opened the door for the both of them, revealing a room as barren as Naruto expected.

Literally, it was a small and empty room that was just big enough to accommodate roughly ten people comfortably, bereft of nothing but a table in its center and a chair.

Which was occupied by the Student Council President.

 _Shit_.

"The Shinobi Historical Society." the ravenette tested out the club name, sounding it out as an experiment. "Hmm...it works, Rias did you a favor in giving you the name, and in informing me of it."

The shinobi cracked a tight smile. "Good morning, Sona-kaichou. Did you set this up just for little old me?"

"Don't flatter yourself." was the dry reply, the young woman crossing her legs as she continued. "This is a necessary procedure so that there isn't any confusion for your new...'club'."

Ah. She was still sore about that, huh? "Alright, and this procedure is...?"

"An introduction to your new club headquarters." Sona stood up, arm gesturing at the entirety of the room. "This area is to be where you meet up for club activities, as well as engage in said activities... _reasonably_."

"Reasonably?"

"As in; without being too loud and disruptive to the people around you." the Sitri heiress clarified.

A simple request, really.

"Eh...doesn't sound too reasonable to me." the shinobi met her gaze uneasily, looking doubtful.

Saji turned to his _king_ , expressing his own doubts. "Looks like the delinquent refuses to listen, Kaichou."

"I'm sorry, what? Are you asking for _another_ bucket to be glued onto your head?"

"...Lets not be hasty."

Violet eyes flickered in-between both males, lamenting the idea that she had to actually _explain_ why causing trouble was inherently unreasonable.

For goodness sake...what kind of life has he led to have even thought otherwise?

Even as she stewed in those thoughts though, the first hints of an upward twitch appeared at the edge of her lips. Her mood lightening at the thought of what was about to happen in a few seconds.

"Well..." she started, earning the attention of the delinquent blond away from the other teen he was practically browbeating. "To be perfectly honest, I doubt that I could convince you of what 'reasonable' was, so I suppose that I'll let someone _else_ handle that impossible task."

A golden eyebrow was raised. "What the hell are you-?"

" _Naruto_."

Said spiky-haired youth froze, eyes becoming large and comically blank in comparison to his usual blue orbs as a familiar voice rang out behind him, acting like the sound of a cracking whip.

Slowly craning his neck to see a girl with narrowed yellow eyes and light blue hair regard him with crossed arms, the shinobi responded appropriately. "...Good morning, Yuki. How are you this fine morning?"

All he received as an answer was the incessant sound of a foot tapping the floor, bringing a creeping feeling of foreboding to the whiskered teen.

Something which wasn't helped when she opened her mouth. "Naruto...why haven't you been at class?"

"Uh-"

"I have been lenient, and have backed off from forcing you to partake in our tutoring sessions because of how emotionally battered you were following our return from Kyoto. And here you are, skipping your classes entirely."

"But I-"

"Not only that, but now you're here, inspecting the new club room when you _should_ be at class, for no reason." Yuki exhaled lowly, gaze critical. "It seems that I have been too lenient."

"N-No! Wait! Please! My _freedom!_ "

"It's gone. It's never coming back."

" _Nooooo!"_

Saji was wincing, becoming increasingly sympathetic as the human girl continued to pummel the other blond verbally, even if -in his opinion- he did totally deserve it.

But still, how did she even know that Uzumaki was even here-?

"Well, it looks like my revenge is complete."

The _pawn_ turned around, eyes wide, jaw dropping at the sight of his _king_ holding her cellphone loftily in the palm of her hand.

Did she-?

"Come now, Saji." Sona smiled, entirely satisfied with the sight in front of her. "You didn't really think that I'd like Uzumaki get away with what he did, did you?"

"R-Right." the reincarnated devil muttered, turning away with a shaky smile. "Of course."

He forgot how dangerous this woman could be.

Well...he supposed he at least figured out why she told him to text her as soon as he found the blond teen.

"Now, come. We have to make up all of the work that you have missed for the past week." Yuki was dragging a flailing blond as she walked out the door, ignoring his pleas all the while.

All Saji was able to see after that was the kicking of Naruto's feet as he rounded the door's corner. And all he was able to hear was the slowly fading begging and cajoling as they went further and further away.

"Welp." Sona spoke up, a noticeable spring in her step. "Let's get back to work, Saji. We still have to induct the clubs that have entered the Ball Tournament."

He _definitely_ had to remember to keep his beautiful _king_ happy with him...

* * *

Maria was glaring.

In her mind, she felt like she had a good reason to be glaring at the objects on the tiled floor.

Holding a broom with one hand, and a dust pan with the other, the succubus had just cause to regard the dust bunnies below her with a less than high esteem.

The damned things just refused to get inside the dust pan, if anything, they managed to go everywhere _besides_ the place she wanted them to go.

Whether it be over, under, or _around_ the dust pan.

What was up with that?

Grunting, the succubus promptly slammed the dust pan and broom on top of the garbage can, denting it in her annoyance and impatience.

Her annoyance for the present, and her impatience for the future.

When Mio-sama let her down in the middle of the night after tying her up again, whilst thankful, her timing of said action had given her pause. Piquing her curiosity.

Spoilers; you should never really pique the interest of a succubus with a penchant for photographing your embarrassing moments, lest you find something unsavory of yours on the internet.

Still, the red-head's timing had her wondering; why was she even awake at such a late hour?

There might have been a simpler explanation for her late night movements, but the guardian of the younger girl felt her pervy senses tingling, evoking a sense that her charge was hiding something _juicy_.

And oh boy...did it ever turn out to be just that!

With nothing but a crack through the red-head's door, the silverette spied a fretful teenaged girl staring at herself through a full-length mirror, with a dress in front of her body, overlapping her mirrored form.

Right before she carefully placing it on top of a chair's backrest, swiping it down for any loose wrinkles as if scared to make it anything less than perfect.

It was easily the most adorable thing she had _ever_ seen.

Which was why she was keeping herself on standby, clearing up her schedule so that she could move out with her video camera at a moment's notice.

Besides, Naruto-sama told her not to stick around the house much during the evening anyway, for whatever reason.

Maybe he was giving her a weird directive because he was cranky in the morning?

Whatever the reason, the blond couldn't be _too_ upset if she got into a bit of mischief, now could he?

He was just following directions after all.

Just thinking about the latter half of her day brought forth a delirious grin, looking forward to the future.

* * *

"Where are they!?"

Xenovia grunted, too busy chomping down on a pancake-like food called an 'okonomiyaki', savoring the mix of flavors that assaulted her taste buds. As well as the loss of her hunger pangs.

That being said, her munching was just as much an avoidance as it was a need to bring in much needed nutrients to her body. Since her partner wasn't exactly wrong to be frustrated by their lack of success.

There were just no clues of the missing holy sword fragments anywhere, no matter where or how long they looked.

And after that debacle at the local academy, they were understandably wary of going near that bastion of devilhood any time soon.

So they were now stuck, with no goal in sight, or even a viable path to take.

Beside the short-haired exorcist, her twin-tailed counterpart was visibly pouting at her now, annoyed at her friend's lackluster response to their predicament.

Taking her time to leisurely finish off her tasty meal, and allowing herself to bask in the glow of her thoroughly satisfied stomach, Xenovia finally turned to face Irina. "Don't pout, Irina. We may be rudderless for now, but I have faith that God will shepherd us towards the right direction, as long as we keep _our_ faith."

Violet eyes lit up, regaining it's luster as she clasped her hands in prayer. " _Oh!_ You're right, Xenovia! I was being foolish! As long as we retain our faith, God will definitely show us the way forward, so there's no need to be a worrywart, right? Oh, forgive me God, for I have doubted you!"

Xenovia nodded sharply, truly believing this line of thinking. They just needed to be patient.

The glow that the chestnut-haired woman had obtained when she began praying died away after a bit, leaving the duo in a comfortable silence, simply relaxing for that period of time before they moved again.

Irina broke that silence. "Hey...Xenovia, if it's alright with you, could we make a small detour?"

Breaking out of the pleasant atmosphere that was created, the bluenette glanced at her. "Hm?"

"W-Well..." the exorcist grabbed one of her twin-tails, fiddling with it. "You see, I had this friend back in the day, I may have mentioned him before, but I wanted to check if he still lived in this town. And since we're not doing anything right now..."

"Oh, right." the more serious of the pair planted her fist onto her palm in realization. "You _did_ mention something like that before, I almost forgot."

Scrunching her face in thought, the young exorcist considered her friend's request, feeling her violet gaze figuratively burn holes through her skull. Such was her ally's determination to see her childhood friend.

Recognizing this, Xenovia rolled her eyes and threw her arms up into the air. "Fine, fine! It's not like we're really doing much anyway, so making a pit stop isn't a problem I suppose."

Who knew? Maybe this guy might have a clue about where the lost pieces of _Excalibur_ were.

* * *

Naruto rubbed his fingers against the smooth and dry surface of the piece of paper he held in his clutches, groaning loudly at the sensation that grated against him.

"Naruto. Groaning about it won't help your position, might as well get started."

Raising his head, the shinobi groaned out in protest once more, if only to act like a pitiful last token of resistance.

But the hero wasn't having any of it. "Come on, we have a lot of things to cover, since you've been off gallivanting and doing who-knows-what for an entire week. If you're even going to pass the incoming final exams, we have to hustle."

Glum, the spiky-haired youth clicked his tongue as he began to glare at the series of questions that she, literally, must have made on the spot. "What are you so worried about? They are a ways away, and I could probably just find the answers to the damned things to-"

Naruto was jolted from completing his sentence when a finger tapped onto the flat top of the wooden desks they were leaning over just a little... _harder_ than usual, courtesy from a silent Yuki. It's sound somehow drowning out his ramblings.

All this from person that, frankly, prided herself on keeping herself under control.

Drawing his gaze towards her warily, feeling like he may have gone too far this time around, his fear was only amplified when he saw her form tremble and her bangs shade her eyes from his view.

"...This may be a joke to you, Naruto. Focusing on school, that is." she spoke quietly, enunciating her words carefully as a single digit drummed against the desk, it's constant sound drowning out all else in the empty classroom. "But it's vital, you know that, right?"

"Well, ya see-"

" _No_." she was stressing her words now, her finger's movement was rising in tempo now. "If you want to live a life without danger, if you want to live outside the realm of the supernatural, if you want to have a _normal_ life...then-"

Her finger finally placed too much pressure onto the wooden surface of the desk, acknowledged by the small structure thanks to the visible _dent_ she had unknowingly left upon it.

"-it's _necessary_." she finished, jerking her neck up so that she could meet his sapphire eyes, her own pupils shaky and just a tad glassy.

All of which didn't detract from the genuine belief that she held in her statement.

Which, altogether, just served to confuse Naruto even more. "...Are you ok, Yuki?"

Lips thinning, the hero closed her eyes shut and centered herself for a second or two, slinking her arms back to her side and away from the innocent desk.

She stayed like that for a moment before glancing away. "...Naruto, do you want a peaceful life when you're older?"

Quirking an eyebrow, the shinobi crossed his arms. "Well...I guess that would depend on how the world looks like when I'm older, wouldn't it?"

Yuki nodded, raising her head again to meet his steady regard. "Peace, right? An admirable, if ambitious, goal for yourself. But, at the very least, you would want to have the option to back away from a life of fighting, wouldn't you?"

Naruto went quiet at that, considering the idea, forehead crinkling.

A time of his life that had nothing to do with conflict. Away from the constant fighting.

A period of time that excluded not just the vicious battles of his ninja career, but the mental and psychological ones that dotted his youth.

A time that could look just like the lives of the ordinary students from Kuoh Academy, where the most pressing of concerns revolved around teenaged hormones and part-time jobs.

He thought about it, all of it, and blinked. "That...actually doesn't sound so bad."

As soon as he made this statement, he felt his hands get cupped together by a smaller pair of hands, gripping him with surprising strength.

"Then you _do_ understand..." the hero's eyes were soft, but quickly hardened thereafter. "Then please, do me a favor, Naruto. Even if you don't like it, even if it's annoying, I want you to actually _go_ to school. To attend class."

Now Naruto was giving her an odd look, sounding a bit unnerved by this point. "Yuki, is there something wrong?"

She went silent, the barest twitch of her cheek indicating her restraint in speaking.

"Hey. _Hey_." the young man was officially leery now. "Come on, if you want to tell me what's going on, then I've got a spare ear, ya know?"

"No." Yuki's shoulder-length hair shifted a bit when she shook her head. "It isn't a big deal. There just seems to be a bit of a...misunderstanding back at the Hero Tribe HQ. I'm not sure what's going on, but it _should_ be cleared up soon."

The blond became more alert the more he heard, leaning closer to her with narrowed eyes. "What the hell do you mean by 'should' be cleared up?"

"...It's a bit complicated." the young woman admitted eventually. "But I received an...interesting message last night from the higher ups, in regards to my status in Kuoh Town. Now there's a group coming by apparently, and I'm hoping that I could speak with them to resolve this clear misunderstanding. That's all."

Honestly speaking, the hero had no reason to believe that this newest development was anything permanent, since this role was given to her from the Great Hero himself. She earnestly had no reason to believe that this directive was rescinded, at least not without being informed about such a thing beforehand.

Even if her adopted father was still trying to...come to terms with the fact that his son by blood was still kicking, he still would've spoke to her about something like this.

Right?

Doing her utmost to ignore the nagging pit in her stomach, the bluenette chanced a look at the silent blond in front of her, seeking to study his reaction.

As expected, there was a prominent frown marring his features, pulling at his lips. "I...see. Well, if that's the case, then do you need some-?"

"No." Yuki knew her friend well enough to foresee his desire to help her, and definitely appreciated the sentiment if the warmth spreading across her chest was to be believed. "Like I said, I'm sure that this was just a misunderstanding. And bringing you along might make things more... _complicated_ , what with your penchant for chaos."

Naruto flinched. "Uh...well...you're not _wrong_ , I guess."

"I'm not, I assure you." the shadow that clouded over her expression evaporated, replaced by a genuine smile. "That being said; I'm grateful for your concern, truly. I'll solve this, and if I feel like I need some help...well, I'll know who to turn to."

"Good." the shinobi nodded firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. "As long as you understand that."

Fiddling with her skirt as she glanced downwards, she breathed out her next words quietly. "...I already understood that."

The ends of the young man's lips twitched upwards minutely, a hint of bashfulness leaking into his almost-smile.

"Alright..." with that, Naruto smoothly stood up from his seat, grinning at his introspective friend. "I better get moving, I gotta meet someone in a bit for some-"

"Hold it."

The whiskered teen paused mid-action, grin frozen in place as he cursed internally. So sure that he was being discreet about his escape.

Yuki was looking at him again, pinning him down with a blank stare, and pointed her index finger at the unoccupied chair that he has recently left. "Nice try."

Bowing his head in defeat, the shinobi slinked back into his seat, glumly glaring at the series of papers in front of him.

So focused was he in his spiteful state, that he almost didn't notice his friend move up beside him, her own seat in tow.

"Here; I'll study alongside you." Yuki nudged right up next to him, not at all fazed with the complete lack of personal space between the two.

Naruto, for his part, couldn't help but be self-conscious about it, but didn't say a word. Of which, had nothing to do with the fact that he liked the waft that entered his nose from being close to her.

Honest.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

Blue eyes turned to meet yellow, his grumpy temperament melting away under the genuine care in those eyes of hers. So much so that she cracked a smile out of him. "Yeah...let's."

* * *

Koneko was waiting.

Waiting at the exact spot where, just the other day, her head had fallen and broken apart a piece of the roof's cement floor when she fell unconscious.

Apparently, her foolish sempai had been too slow to catch her when she knocked herself out while standing, if he was to be believed at the very least.

Sometimes she wondered though, after all, it was well known to her that the older teen could be a bully.

Even if he swore up and down that that wasn't the case.

Regardless, while she has yet to learn how to use the technique that the older teen was teaching her, she has still managed to make great strides in her training.

She has actually _formed_ the illusions by this point, even if they came out as haphazard messes that defied the human anatomy. She had never seen joints twist around like pretzels _literally_ before...until then.

And apparently, she had done quite a bit better than her sempai's first clone, much to his obvious chagrin.

Armed with this sense of growing accomplishment, the young devil was planning on keeping up this pace that she has made for herself.

To that end, she continued to wait on the roof, mentally going over everything that she has learned, seeking new ways towards her goal while her free period ticked on by.

At least, right until she heard the door leading to the roof creak open behind her.

"Oh boy…that took longer than I thought it would…" a familiar voice remarked to himself, barely under his breath. "Oh good, I found ya."

Koneko turned on her heel, a nearly unnoticeable twitch reaching the ends of her lips. "…Ready?"

"To get back to training? Yeah, I guess." the blond didn't seem like he was in such a hurry to continue though, if the tired sigh was something to go off of. "Just give me a minute…Kiba pretty much ran me over with his words a second ago."

Hazel pools within the whites of the _rook's_ eyes lit up at the mention of the formerly AWOL _knight_. "…What did he want?"

"Eh…" the shinobi airily waved away her interest. "Nothing really, he just asked me for a few tips in regard to his own training regimen. Apparently he's been a little too embarrassed to show up at the underground 'gym' at the same time as you guys."

The imperceptible twitch in the teenaged girl's cheek gave away her feelings on the matter. "…Shouldn't have to feel that way."

"I agree, but you know how he could be sometimes. For now, let's just give him his free space, eh?"

Koneko's stoic features didn't give anything away this time, even as she stayed silent about the suggestion, up until she met his eyes again. "Fine. Let's do this."

"Eager, are we?" the blond teased summarily, rolling his shoulders. "Not that that's a bad thing. That being said; let's not get too excited here. I'm only a clone here."

Eyebrows as white as snow inched higher up the loli's forehead. "…Where are you then?"

"The _boss_ is currently getting his brain stuffed with all manners of shit, and will probably malfunction in about an hour." the clone remarked with a straight face. He wasn't kidding, he was dead serious.

Which was why the younger teen didn't deign to react to his words, choosing to simply get the show on the road, already aware of his…quirks.

If anything, she was getting used to him.

…Maybe that wasn't a good thing though.

* * *

The final bell of the day was ringing loudly, allowing anyone within a large radius to hear the iconic sound that marked the end of the school day.

Its range was impressive enough to reach even the fallen angel in the sky, a feat which Raynare was grateful for.

Hanging in the air with her twin wings folded and her arms crossed, the ravenette eyed the slow outpour of students that were leaving the premises critically, moving from head-to-head.

She would keep switching until she found a set of hair that stood out like a splash of orange paint on a white canvas.

Specifically, a head full of spiky golden hair, which could have only belonged to the most eccentric of individuals. Or so she was beginning to believe.

She was told by the part-time genius and part-time fool that she was living with to wait for him in Kuoh Academy after the school day was over, probably so that their little plan could go off without a hitch.

And she could definitely see the logic in this, seeing as exorcists were generally trained well enough to have attributes beyond normal human capabilities.

If she trailed after Freed immediately after he escaped, there was a chance that he'd notice her high in the sky, ruining her chance to find his master's hidden base. A possibility that neither of the conspirators wanted to risk.

So she waited, and would follow the personification of chaos until he gave her the go-ahead and the directions.

There was no way that she was going to sabotage herself after getting so close to the goal. Even if it grinded on her to know that her ticket to that secret base was probably getting ready to move soon.

She just needed to be patient, even if she didn't have much of that to begin with.

Her violet gaze snapped back down towards the school below, seeing a familiar flash of red running out of the building at top speed, like a madman. Or a madwoman, in this case.

Raynare was slightly curious about what could have possibly gotten over Naruse Mio, but quickly let go of her nascent curiosity in favor of closing her eyes in acquiescence. Already accepting the fact that she was going to wait a while for the blond to emerge.

She literally laid herself down on the air with her wings idly flapping to keep her afloat, keeping her senses open even as she relaxed, hoping that the sole human that she genuinely respected wouldn't take too long.

* * *

Emerald eyes peered inside the room where the mournful moans were coming from, just to check in one last time and make sure that the source of the noises wasn't actually bleeding out.

…

Alright, he was good.

The amnesiac hero rolled his shoulders as he began to walk away from the pitiful scene, not too surprised to see that nothing had changed since he had accidentally passed by it.

Even after he has gotten a tour around the school thanks to his childhood friend, he still managed to get lost in the massive high school.

The scarred youth frowned at the concept, a friend that he had during his childhood, which he couldn't recall for the life of him. At all.

It bothered him in some intrinsic way, to genuinely trust the word of someone that he wanted to trust, but whom he still considered to be a stranger. It was as if it was against what he was taught, if that made sense.

Still, he couldn't lie and say that the life that he led after waking up with nothing but fragmented memories was not…interesting, to say the least.

He was introduced to new people with quirky personalities, has forged a competitive streak with that perverted dragon guy, and was taken into the institution known as 'high school'.

If nothing else, Basara has been living a pretty fascinating life, as far as he could remember at least.

And now, he was meeting even more people, who seemed to be interested in him due to his sudden appearance in the middle of the school semester, as well as his close association with several notable students in the school.

As far as he could tell, this was the most relaxed environment that he has ever been a part of.

The amnesiac liked it, and he was pretty sure that he didn't like too many things.

He had the feeling that, while he was normally lax, he probably rarely had the chance to actually _be_ relaxed. So it was a little understandable that when he had the opportunity to wind down, that he'd take it, even if a part of him rebelled at the idea.

So it was in this state that he had gotten repeatedly lost, and had eventually walked past the new torture room that Yuki had co-opted for her own use.

Initially, while he had instinctively winced in sympathy to the mop of golden spiky hair, he had thought nothing more of it.

At least until he ran into a certain red-head, who had immediately asked whether he had seen said mop of golden spiky hair anywhere, and seemed a tad too delighted to hear of his fate.

Now curious, he went to check to see if the guy was going to die or something, and was pleased to see that one of his new acquaintances was going to live to see another day.

Whatever was going on, and he was sure there was _something_ going on, all he needed to know was whether everyone was going to come out alright by the end of it.

If something happened to these people who had let him live this nice life…then he wasn't sure what he'd do…

* * *

Mio was in a bit of a rush.

She had a limited time frame given to her so that she could get ready for her date, which would probably start as soon as Naruto actually got out of school. Thanks to Yuki.

While she pitied the blond, she was well aware that he was slacking in his schoolwork, so it was bound to come back to bite him in the ass eventually.

Mio may as well take advantage of the situation and prepare herself for the battle ahead.

In the end, this proved to be an unexpected boon, and he had to thank the new guy for giving her this vital piece of info. He was definitely going to fit right in to this ragtag group of theirs in her opinion.

Pink eyes lit up when she saw her home quickly come into view, becoming larger and larger in her field of vision, until she stepped in front of the front door and quickly unlocked the locks to get inside.

With practiced ease, she smoothly slipped inside and close the door behind her, giving a quick greeting to the surprised succubus that was in the middle of dusting the off the countertops before she disappeared into her room.

Taking a calming breath, the young woman divested herself of her school bag and took a gander at herself through her full length mirror.

She smiled at herself, sliding across the room towards the chair where her clothes were neatly folded upon, feeling the comfortable texture as she thumbed the fabric.

Mio owed her sempai big time for this, _that_ was for sure.

* * *

"Ok, I suppose that we can finish up for now."

"Thank you!" Naruto cried out, lying back onto the seat's backrest as he stretched his arms out. "That was…more brutal than I remembered it to be."

"At least you've caught up with yesterday's workload." Yuki remarked without a hint of sympathy, peering at him through her long lashes. "You _might_ not fail this semester at this rate."

"Always looking at the bright side, eh?" the shinobi collected the books and papers scattered across the table, organizing it so that his friend could get torture devices away from him as soon as possible.

He didn't want to read or even _see_ a book ever again, if he were honest.

The hero smiled faintly before she slid her gaze towards the opened classroom door. "It seems to be pretty quiet outside…"

"Of course it is." the shinobi grumbled, raising the stack of papers and books and offering it to her with a distasteful expression. "The school day ended already, and everyone probably went back home by now."

He paused then, raising his head to look at the ceiling, wondering whether his clone was still working with Koneko on the roof, where they ostensibly were.

Probably, since he still felt the slight tingling sensations of chakra being used, even if it was pretty faint.

"Really?" Yuki sounded genuinely surprised. "Time flies when you're spending time helping your friends, hm?"

"Sure. Let's go with that." was the blond's bland reply. "Got anything planned for today?"

Taking the stack out of her friend's hands before he dropped it out of principle, the young woman considered his query for a good second or two. "Not necessarily. I'm planning on keeping my days open until this mess at HQ is resolved, I don't want to leave it to chance. You?"

"Eh." Naruto moved at a snail's pace as he walked out of the room. "You could say that. I'm gonna meet up with Mio for dinner for some quality family bonding time, or something like that. Though we haven't exactly pinned down a time yet, so I should be getting home soon so that we could figure that out."

Mid-sentence, Yuki went rigid as she listened, smoothly relaxing her tensed muscles as she fell into lockstep with her sole friend. Not including her resurfaced childhood friend. "I see…so it's like a date, then?"

Naruto gave her an odd look, closing the door behind them when they left the classroom. "Huh? Of course not, a date is with someone you like, right?"

Both of the students continued to walk down the empty hallway towards the entrance, the hero glancing at her companion with a degree of confusion. "Do you not like her?"

"Wait, what? No! Not like that!" the shinobi waved his hands in front of his face rapidly in an effort to dissuade her of her notion. "You only date when you…ya know, _really_ like someone!"

"…Do you not like Mio?"

"Of course I do, just not in _that_ way."

"What other way is there?"

Naruto opened his mouth, slammed it shut, and crossed his arm with a pursed lip.

"Uhh…well, that's-" he was actually kind of stumped by the question.

What other way _was_ there exactly?

He supposed that his attempts at getting a date with Sakura-chan could be considered to be _that_ kind of 'like', but his feelings in regards to his teammate seemed to be…less compelling after all of this time.

But outside of that, what else could be considered the right kind of 'like'?

"If you're not sure, try and figure that out while you're out with Mio then." Yuki suggested, sliding her gaze towards her friend's profile. "Maybe you'll be able to figure out what kinds of feeling are necessary for a date."

She rubbed her hands against her skirt in a quick motion, dispelling the bit of nervousness that spring up just then. "…Then…maybe…we could try it out?"

Naruto turned to the hero, blinking. "What? Go out for a meal? Eh…sure, why not I guess?"

The ends of the young woman's lips twisted upwards, her disposition lighting up like a small star, somehow making her neutral words seem more lively. " _I see_."

Unnoticeably, even to her, there was an extra spring to her step from then onward.

Meanwhile, the shinobi felt sweat trail down from his forehead, his skin glistening a bit in the low light.

He didn't even want to entertain the idea, let alone actually compare and contrast the glaring issue that he had just noticed.

"C-Could it be…?" he whispered under his breath, his cheek twitching. "That I'm actually as bad as Yuki, socially…?"

Just the sheer thought of it created a storm cloud over his head, depressing him.

As they left the school grounds, they would both receive stares thanks to their diametrically different attitudes in comparison to the other. Not that they cared.

* * *

Maria was ready to move.

Her charge had returned back home a while ago, and had just recently left the house with her new dress, a bit of a nervous wreck.

She still seemed excited though.

Which worked just fine for her, since that provided her with plenty of chances to capture Mio-sama's embarrassed face.

Now all she really had to do was wait for the man of the hour to arrive and-

"Oi! I'm home! You here, Mio!?"

Speak of the devil. "Hey there, Naruto-sama! Sorry, you just missed Mio-sama, she left a little while ago."

Naruto walked inside and closed the door behind him, looking disgruntled. "Damn. Any idea where she went?"

"I think that she went out towards the commercial district for your time together, Naruto-sama." the succubus offered playfully, planting her hand on her small hips. "What took you so long anyway? Mio-sama got here nearly two hours ago. It's…what? Almost five-thirty now?"

"Seriously?" the blond whipped out his phone, checking the time. "Damn. Yuki outdid herself this time."

"Did she now? I guess she aims to please, eh?"

"…No."

"Hm?"

A glower was pointedly aimed at her. "I know you. Just…no. It isn't like that."

Maria giggled. "If you say so~ Now try and change into something nice for your cute sister, otherwise I'll have to sneak into your bed tonight and steal your underwear!"

Naruto grimaced visibly at the idea. "I was gonna do that anyway, so please don't get any strange ideas."

"No promises!"

A roll of the eye later, and the shinobi was grumbling as he retreated into his room, intent on changing into something more comfortable, at the very least.

He doubted the silverette was serious when she claimed that Mio had changed into a nice dress, after all, why would she? They were just gonna get a bite to eat, that was all.

Shrugging loosely, the blond entered his private domain and started stripping, prepared to look at least a little presentable.

If only to get the loli off of his case.

Said loli was grinning from ear-to-ear, fingering the video recorder in her gothic skirt pocket, waiting for the memorable event to begin.

* * *

"Don't look so glum, Irina. I'm sure you'll see your childhood friend before we leave Japan."

The chestnut-haired exorcist returned her friend's encouragement with a grateful smile. "Yeah, I hope so. Honestly, I completely forgot that we went to Issei-kun's house while school was still on."

"That explains why we haven't seen much of those devils around either." Xenovia remarked, nodding reasonably at the idea. They weren't exactly in know about how the public education school system worked, seeing to their rather…unique backgrounds.

Both girls were casually walking back towards the commercial district after they visited one Hyoudou Issei's home, with nothing more than a reunion with his parents to show for it.

Of course, Irina was happy to see them again, but…

"Geez!" the twin-tailed girl blew her cheeks out in a pout.

Her partner just shrugged airily, eyeing the marked increase of people walking the streets around them as they neared the area of the town where all of the markets and restaurants laid.

Scanning through the crowds, she made sure to keep an eye out for the telltale signs of a trained fighter amongst the normal civilians in this inconspicuous town.

Even after these past few days of fruitless searches for the stolen _Excalibur_ fragment, she refused to give up in her mission, or even to relax.

As her training dictated, she had to remain vigilant, at all times.

Now if only Irina would follow suit…

"Hey, Xenovia…isn't that guy familiar?"

Ironically, that split moment of thought distracted her enough to miss the young man that her compatriot pointed out, much to her embarrassment.

That feeling dissipated as soon as she zeroed in on him, easily recognizing his features. How could she forget after all? "He is, Irina. He is."

She didn't say another word afterwards, instead, Xenovia briskly walked into the rising crowd, doing her best not to lose sight of the individual that she had yet to truly thank for his help a few days back.

It wasn't too hard though, even if he was traversing through the crowd like an expert. What with his golden spiky hair, which happened to act like a beacon amongst the crowd.

"Eh? _Eh?_ Wait! Where are you going, Xenovia!? Are you chasing after that guy!? Actually, now that I look at him again, I'm pretty sure that he looks just like that guy the other day-"

The blue-haired exorcist ignored her partner for a moment, aware that she was following her as she chased after the set of golden hair that was getting more and more distant.

"Ah-!"

A grunt later, Xenovia was forced to blink as a man accidentally pushed his elbow against her in his rush, offering a hasty apology as he continued his run.

Cracking her eyes open, she scanned the crowd; seeking the locks that stood out like she herself did amongst this Japanese population.

She scowled when she couldn't find any trace of it. She lost him.

Damn it.

"…Soooo." Irina let her words hang for a second. "He was important, right?"

Her partner groaned beside her.

* * *

"Look! There she is!"

"Ara, I'm aware, Buchou. She looks good."

"Of course she does!" the voice sounded a bit offended at first, before it switched to blatant pride. "I helped her choose it after all, and you know that I don't mess around with this sort of thing."

"No, you certainly don't." Akeno chose to humor her.

Both; Rias and Akeno were hanging around the commercial district for a relaxing day out, and were generally having a good time, even if they were occasionally interrupted by groups of horny boys.

And the occasional flirty girl every now and then.

Outside of those incidents, they were able to enjoy their time as teenaged girls, a rare occasion where they could wind down by hanging around in cafés and bookstores.

Now? They ran into the person where they were hoping to run into.

Mio-chan was minutely smoothing out her skirt, obviously trying to get rid of her excess nervous energy as she waited for her date at the transitional area between the residential area and markets within Kuoh Town.

Rias already made sure that the dress that the younger red-head was wearing was perfect for her, but she still had to admire her friend's look.

Mio was wearing an emerald-colored dress with a light flower pattern emblazoned on it, a style which contrasted nicely to her vibrant red hair and pink irises.

The dress extended right above her knees, leaving bare just enough legs to be a bit daring without coming off as too desperate, and the straps which held her clothes up hanged off of her thin biceps, allowing for her to show off a little bit of cleavage.

To top it off, due to cooler weather, she was wearing a light white sweater that had the dual effect of; warming her up, and stylizing her look even further.

All in all, Rias was impressed on how well Mio turned out in this older dress of hers, especially since it was actually a short summer dress for the high-class devil.

Whichever it was; whether Rias was too tall, or Mio was too short, the dress turned out more tasteful than it was originally intended.

And she swore that her kohai's date had better appreciate the effort that she put into this, or she might just-

"Buchou, look!" Akeno piped up, eyes widening from behind the crates they were hiding behind.

Rias pushed her sunglasses down her nose so that she could get a clearer picture on her kohai, seeing her body stiffen and her lips twist into a wide smile.

The high-class devil followed her line of sight, squinting to see what she saw through the small crowd, excited to see the man that captured a maiden's heart.

What she saw threw her off, her mind stuttering to a halt at the visage that pierced through the crowd and waved openly.

"That's…!" her _queen_ breathed beside her, seeing the familiar young man.

There was no mistaking the blond spiky hair, the tanned skin, the cool blue eyes, or those _whisker_ _marks_.

"Naruto!?" Rias murmured vehemently, craning her head over the crates they were hiding behind, her brown wool beret sliding off of her long crimson hair. So dumbfounded that she didn't even care about how stupid she looked.

Or the weird looks they were getting for that matter.

"Rias…" the ravenette started slowly, blinking rapidly at the scene before her, watching the blond gape at his sibling, before making a comment.

Whatever he said, it made the young woman beam.

"No. He can't be Mio-chan's date." the crimson-haired princess shook her head softly. "He must've found out about it somehow. Maybe he's trying to sabotage it?"

It was definitely a possibility, if one considered his overprotective nature, but she still couldn't shake the sinking feeling in her stomach as she watched the pair join hands and walk inside the commercial area.

They looked like a couple. They looked like a _couple_.

Both devils watched the siblings walk past their hiding spot, so within their own little world that they didn't notice them.

Watching them go up until they completely left their field of view, Rias jumped a bit when Akeno smoothly stood back up and grinned at her. "Well, we've seen who's Mio-chan's date is, let's get going."

"Wha-?" Rias was flabbergasted as she shot back up on her feet. "Wait, so we're just going to ignore this!? Akeno, those two are brother and sister! Even if they're not _actually_ blood-related, that's still…that's still-!"

"Wrong?" the _queen_ offered easily. She didn't sound too perturbed when she said it either.

" _Yes!_ " the red-head hissed, unable to believe that she was even having this conversation.

Akeno inclined her head, peering up at her _king_ through her long lashes as her pink lips formed a challenging smirk. "And I, for one, will _relish_ in stealing him away from such a… _forbidden_ relationship."

Rias flushed crimson, sputtering. "You… _you!_ "

Shrugging, completely at ease with the unforeseen change, the other half of the famous 'Great Ladies' of Kuoh Academy sauntered away, garnering more than a few appreciative looks from some bystanders.

The Gremory heiress watched her go, grinding her teeth as she reigned in her infamous temper. Was there no one around her that was _sane!?_

Taking a moment for some deep breaths, Rias snapped her focus back towards where the two young adults were venturing further into their 'date', her features hardening.

She had to follow them, just to be sure that those two weren't doing something incredibly stupid.

And, silently, in her heart of hearts, to reassure her rapidly beating heart that she didn't just make a big mistake in helping her kohai out.

* * *

Naruto glanced at Mio through the side of his eye, a bit of sweat trailing down his forehead.

He had no idea how he should be acting right now.

When he followed Maria's directions and came to the commercial district, he was not expecting to see his sister dressed as she was. It seemed that the succubus' words in regards to his imouto's state of dress.

He hated it when she was right.

Still, he couldn't lie and claim that he wasn't left temporarily breathless at the sight of his sister, whom had _definitely_ cleaned up nicely, and that honestly worried him a bit.

After he recovered enough to work his brain again, he waved at the younger teenager and complimented her looks, as he felt like he should. Not that it was in any way a lie.

The blinding smile that stretched from ear-to-ear made his earlier discomfort worth it.

Afterwards, Mio convinced him that they should hold hands in order to stay together, what with the crowd and all. And then went on their way to find something to do.

In the end, they never planned for anything for this event, which meant that they had to wing it.

Though, if he were honest, he suspected that neither of them really had a problem with this.

So there they were, walking hand-in-hand through the streets, ostensibly checking around for a nice restaurant to dine in.

Well, it turned out that only one of them was _really_ looking for a restaurant. "Hey, Naruto? Are you familiar with this district?"

Hm? Small talk? Well…it wasn't a bad idea; they could kill some time as he looked around. "Not really, I don't usually hang around here dattebayo. I don't really know what we could eat around here off the top of my head. Sorry."

Unknown to him, she didn't exactly look too disappointed with that fact. "Hey, no worries! We didn't really plan this out or anything, so it's not like I expected anything mind-blowing."

Squeezing her brother's hand a bit, Mio smiled at him fondly through the side of her eye. "So…since no one is around, do you mind if we make a quick stop? I saw something online that I'd like to check."

"Hoh?" the shinobi met his family member's gaze, interested. "Is there something that you're hiding from everyone else?"

The red-head did nothing but offer an enigmatic smile, tugging at Naruto's hand to veer him away once they reached an intersection.

* * *

"…What are they doing?"

It was an honest question that Raynare muttered to herself, gaze shifting upon the numerous actors that were trailing a certain blond and his sister, feeling embarrassed on their behalf.

Is this what they called 'being embarrassed by just watching'?

If so, she wanted nothing to do with it, since their activities, at least when looked at from above, were just plain stupid.

The Gremory princess was following them from the ground, using her sunglasses and her fashionable beret to hide her identity, even if her long crimson hair acted like a blaring siren that cried out 'Rias Gremory!'.

A loli was hoping from building to building wielding some sort of device with a sloppy grin, looking as if she was about to squeal any second now, a bit of drool leaking from the edges of her lips as she occasionally giggled.

Finally, there were the subjects which had gained such scrutiny in the first place, both of whom seemed to be blissfully unaware of their stalkers.

Taking a glance at the animated teenagers that were jogging through the streets; one of which had the widest and most carefree of smiles in the world, and the other who was looking extraordinarily indulgent, she had to glance away. Clicking her tongue in disgust.

"Whatever." she dismissed, closing her eyes shut as she lackadaisically floated above the clouds, waiting for the signal to get the _real_ evening to get started.

Unknown to her, if she had continued to pay attention towards the happenings down below, the fallen angel might have found another group that ended up stalking the pair later on.

* * *

"…What the hell is this?"

"Hm? This? Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really…"

Mio grinned at him then, eyes lighting up at the perfect opportunity presented to her. "Alright then, while I'm also new to this kind of place, I know enough to show _you_ around for once."

Still clinging onto his hand, the shinobi was limply dragged inside the strange place they found themselves in, his eyes taking in the sights.

Within the building's walls were machines as far as the eye could see, it's screens displaying strange things that he had never seen before.

They weren't television shows; that was for sure, the strange sticks and buttons on the machines belayed that notion neatly.

More than that, there were quite a lot of people animatedly using these machines, sometimes in groups where loud chanting and cheers rang out every now and again.

Naruto's eyes lit up in recognition. "Mio, are we in a casino!?"

If that was the case, then this would be a perfect chance for him to reinforce his finances. He was looking a little low.

Then again…his bed was a little more comfy now that he had spent so much money.

Thinking on it, he should probably find a better spot for all of his somewhat-legally acquired yen.

Craning her neck to look at the blond behind her with a confounded look, the devil hybrid had to seriously wonder what kind of life he led to know what a casino was when he didn't even know what _this_ was.

Pink eyes sharpened in determination at the prospect of finding out.

"Not quite." Mio eventually replied, digging her hand into her small dress pockets to fetch her wallet.

Refusing to elaborate further, the younger teen placed money into one of the machines which, for whatever reason, didn't have a screen like the other ones.

Naruto frowned when the machine took her money, spitting out coins in return. "Are you _sure_ this isn't a casino?"

"I'm sure." the red-head inspected the coins she had before scanning the series of machines, grinning when she spotted a specific one. "Come on, let's try that one."

Naruto followed her gaze, raising a brow at the name emblazoned dramatically on the side of the machine. "The hell is a 'Mario Kart'?"

"Not sure!" the hybrid piped without shame. "I'm new to this kind of stuff too, so I'm excited to see what it's about!"

Mio was definitely excited, that was for sure. After trying her sempai's video game console, Mio found herself engrossed in the virtual reality that the machine presented, so she found herself curious...

So she ventured to try one of these arcades, with her blond in tow, if only to get him to give it a try.

Nudging him a bit, the young woman moved into one of the seats and input some coins; patting the seat beside her once she was ready.

Glancing at the machine doubtfully, but complied with insistent patting on his chosen seat, plopping down as the red-head pushed coins into his own 'Mario Kart'.

Inspecting the controls for a few moments, especially the steering wheel and the colorful buttons, the blond just gave in with a shrug.

What was the harm in trying this thing out?

* * *

"Wait! _Wait!_ What is that annoying sound? What is that red-!? _Gah!_ A red shell!? What the fuck!?"

Naruto jammed his foot onto the pedal, his fingers digging into the rubber of the steering wheel as he saw his character; some sort of green dinosaur, tumble as a red turtle shell smashed into him.

He was trying _really_ hard not to break this machine right now.

Who in their right mind would play this thing!? It was frustrating as all-!

"Wha-? No. _No!_ That fucking princess! She threw that, right!? She's about to-!"

The grandiose letters that spelled the word 'Finish' occupied the center of his screen, announcing the end of the race as a list of the players involved scrolled down to reveal who was in what place.

As was typical, the blond found himself in last place, in no small part thanks to that damned red shell thrown by that damned pink princess.

"Oh! I managed to get seventh place!"

Naruto felt like he was having whiplash after he snapped his head to the side to gape at his sister. "Wait, so that means that that was _you!?_ You threw that red shell!?"

Mio blinked, and then opened her mouth with an expression that displayed her surprise. "Oh…so that was you?"

"Bastard!" the shinobi was incensed now! "I demand a rematch on a different game dattebayo!"

* * *

" _Nani!?_ "

"Ha! I won again!"

Naruto's cheeks twitched viciously, his rising blood pressure forcing him to take a deep breath lest he smash the machines.

Why couldn't he beat her in these arcade games of hers!?

First it was Mario Kart, then it was some sort of dance-off game, and then it was this Street Fighter game.

Ever since that dancing game they had somehow garnered some attention from the other patrons, probably due to his exacerbated grunts at losing time and time again. His competitive nature getting the better of him as he challenged his sister again and again.

He had to wipe that borderline smug smile off of her face, as was his duty as her older brother.

The shinobi failed in that duty utterly, and was so frustrated with his failures that he had basically dragged Mio to another game.

Now? The blond was glaring at the screen as his character with the white gi jumped over the low kick given by Mio's avatar, prepared to quickly jam the jab button to begin his newest combo.

But before he could time his attack just right and whittle down the fighter's health a bit more, he saw the background darken and a blue energy begin to concentrate on the enemy avatar.

He hastily punched the jab attack button as Mio's fighter; a Tenten lookalike, swiftly moved forward to attack, some weird blue afterimages following her movements.

His character summarily smashed around with the ensuing combo, forcing him to watch whatever little health his character had left whittle down to nothing.

The machine's following declaration of a _KO_ only cemented his latest defeat, much to his eternal humiliation. He could practically _sense_ the borderline concieted look that she was throwing at him.

Not that he could really blame her. He couldn't remember the last time he was bested so completely before.

"This is bullshit." he growled lowly, crossing his arms as he leaned back into his chair, ignoring the cheers going off behind him.

"Oh come on, don't be like that." the young woman patted his back soothingly, her tinkling laughter making him twitch. "If you want, we can take a break from this-?"

"Let's do that." Naruto cut in, looking at her seriously. "My pride can't take much more of this."

Mio smiled teasingly. "You got it, but I can't lie and say that it wasn't nice to beat you at something for once. Come on, let's check the food stands. I'm pretty hungry."

Not seeing anything wrong with this, the blond took the red-head's hand and pulled her with him as he veered away from the crowd that they had inadvertently made, neither of them aware of the pair of eyes that were unerringly focused upon them.

* * *

Rias sighed for what must have been the umpteenth time, decidedly annoyed with her own behavior as well as the overall behavior of the two individuals she was following.

She felt stupid right about now, to be frank.

The Gremory heiress was very much concerned about her kohai's 'date', a feeling that was magnified by several leagues once she saw the boy she was helping her seduce.

So she followed them, watched them, and studied them. All of this so that she could intervene at just the right moment to stop the two of them from making a _very_ big mistake.

But now that she had watched them…she wasn't sure if she had anything to worry about anymore.

They haven't really done anything that seemed too outlandish, if anything; this seemed like a friendly time between siblings.

Thus; Rias was relieved, but was also irritated with herself for letting this outing get to her like this.

This looked harmless by any stretch of the imagination.

Pushing off of the arcade machine that she was hiding behind, the young woman tried to retain her dignity by backing off. Using the chance to leave now that she had the chance.

Taking another glance at the two teens that were moving towards the other end of the building, she felt her features tighten once again, a coil in her belly becoming tauter the longer she watched them.

The crimson-haired woman had a clue of why, buy she felt that the answer was one conclusion that she didn't want to reach. It would bring in more problems than it would solve.

Hesitating only minutely, Rias turned on the spot and began her trek out of the building, doing her utmost not to look back.

She was resolute in this, even if the idea of what those two could _possibly_ do alone tasted like bile in her throat.

Rias trusted them that much was true, but they were still teenagers; and teenagers were prone to doing stupid things. And the idea of them _doing_ said stupid things did an excellent job in raising her blood pressure.

With another sigh, she recalled how Mio-chan smirked victoriously as she won another game against the blond in Mario Kart, laughing at the half-hearted glare he shot at her.

And the crimson-haired princess couldn't help but see _herself_ in that same exact spot, laughing at the petulant look that crossed the young man's features, before she slid her hand inbetween his and squeezed in reassurance right as she leaned in to-

Oh dear.

 _Oh dear_.

Rias shuffled out a tad faster now, praying –ironically- that her disguise would mask her steaming cheeks.

She had some things to think about, and staying where she was only made 'thinking' in general more difficult a concept.

* * *

Mio took a moment to appreciate the situation she was in.

The red-head was in an arcade, sitting in the restaurant portion of said arcade, and was wearing a pretty decent dress for the occasion.

Put bluntly; she was overdressed for the occasion, and the strange looks she sometimes received proved that.

And yet, for all of the preparation she set into looking just right for this date, they haven't really done more than have some simple fun. This far more casual than she thought this could be.

She couldn't find any fault in that, to the contrary actually. The hybrid preferred it.

Turning towards her date, she found her lips twisting upwards fondly at his almost clinical interest in the gooey cheese that was slipping off of his western-styled pizza.

"Is it supposed to be like this?" Naruto questioned her, pinching the cheese and pulling it, eyes going wide as it stretched like rubber.

"Yeah. Smells a little funky, but it's good. Try it." she prompted, raising her own pizza and chomping on the tip without reserve.

Following her lead after a brief pause, Naruto plucked the melted cheese off of the food and popped it into his mouth, chewing it experimentally.

He blinked, a series of emotions flittering through his blue orbs, before settling onto glee. "Hey! This is pretty good! I mean, not as good as ramen, but pretty high up there!"

Digging in with gusto now, the young man inhaled the tasty junk food, savoring the mix of flavors that touched his taste buds.

Mio stopped eating to stare at the spectacle in front of her, marveling at the sight that she should've been used to by now. "You've really never had pizza before now?"

"Uh-uh." the blond managed to speak despite stuffing his face. "Only ever had food that I was used to back at the village. I'm a bit of a picky guy dattebayo."

The red-head jolted a bit, her eyes widening before she forced her features to smooth out into a mask of neutrality, not wishing to push too hard. "So…I guess that the village you lived in was pretty isolated, huh?"

About to take another bite into the pizza, the shinobi's teeth froze right before they were about to make contact, the light of recognition flashing through his irises.

Placing his food down, the young man met his sister's gaze steadily, staying quiet for a moment. "Now that I think about it, I've never talked about my village, huh?"

Mio shifted in her seat, lowering her head so that she may peek up through her bangs. "Not really…and…you know, I'm kinda curious. Especially ever since-"

"Ever since that time you went into my room without asking?" was the shinobi's dry reminder, crossing his arms.

"Well, yeah."

Arms still crossed, the young man leaned back into his seat, not saying a word as he studied the teen on the other side of the table. A rare serious tint in his silent regard.

Mio couldn't help but squirm a bit under his stare, unnerved, yet unwilling to stand down. Not this time.

She recalled how he asked of her to be patient with him before he told her anything about his past back when she checked his room in what felt like a lifetime ago. Remembered how she acquiesced, for his sake.

This time around she wasn't going to back down quite as easily.

Naruto must've seen her growing resolve, which stood in sharp contrast to her occasional nervous twitch, because he sighed folded his arms over the table. "…Alright. I guess you've been patient enough, huh?"

Mouth dry, the devil hybrid almost couldn't believe what she just heard. "…Are you sure? I don't want you to force yourself…"

"Nah, it's fine." waving away her concerns, the shinobi huffed. "The time feels right anyway, since everyone seems to be curious about my time before Kuoh recently, for whatever reason."

Squinting at this piece of information, unaware of this factoid, Mio took in stride afterwards and shrugged. "Maybe we just care?"

"Maybe." cerulean eyes lit up in amusement, and then narrowed a bit. "That being said, I don't want to go into specifics too much. That's not gonna change."

"Fine." while learning everything about this incredible man in front of her would be preferable, she wouldn't risk learning _anything_ about him for…well…anything, frankly.

Nodding, the whiskered teen took a second to check his surroundings, finding it suitably isolated, and then took a breath. "…Alright, I guess I should give an overview, or something?"

Licking dry lips, the red-head nodded, unconsciously leaning in.

"…I guess, to start with; I was born on the tenth of October in my home village, where children are trained at an early age to harness the power that I use to this day." Naruto began, eyes glazing over as memories flashed him by. "My childhood wasn't…easy, to say the least."

Ignoring the marginal widening of his listener's eyes, he continued. "I was a little prankster, always doing as much as I could to get everyone's attention in the village, even their complete derision. As I'm sure you can tell; I wasn't very popular with the average villager."

Mio's face tightened, taking in every piece of information, storing it to go through later. Choosing to connect the dots later in order to listen _now_.

"Because of the lack of…respect the villagers showed me, I would dedicate my life to make them see me as one of their own. To prove myself to them, no matter what." the shinobi sounded wistful, staring ahead at things that only he could see. "No matter how hard the task."

For the first time since he started his story, his attention snapped back into the present, a wry grin being formed upon his lips. "To be honest with ya, I've been through things that I had no right to get through in one piece. I think I'm pretty badass for even being here dattebayo!"

He chuckled after that, meaning for that little tidbit to serve as a bit of light self-deprecating humor.

But the suddenly dry mouth that Mio had could've informed anyone about her opinion about his 'joke'.

She didn't necessarily want to think about it then and there, but this little bit just couldn't be ignored.

For all intents and purposes, Naruto had just expressed that he has been through things that _should've_ taken him down. Something that, by itself, would've been alarming to hear at best.

But the simple fact that he said that as a teenager…could've only meant that he faced extreme violence as nothing more than a child. A _child_.

"You…" the younger teen shook her head at a snail's pace. "Just…how… _how_ can you say something like that so casually?"

What child ever had to prove themselves to their community? What child ever faced such violence as to be 'lucky' to even be alright as a teenager?

It was mind boggling. No, actually it was downright infuriating.

"…Circumstances." Naruto replied solemnly, setting his sights on the hybrid. "Sometimes you can't do shit about your circumstances, so all you _can_ do is deal with it. I'm sure that you, of all people, get that, right?"

Taking a deep breath, images of an easier time dancing in her head, the daughter of the Original Lucifer turned away. Uncomfortable. "…I guess."

She went quiet after that, in her own little world as she contemplated all she heard so far.

Meanwhile, the blond leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms behind his head. "Well, it wasn't all bad."

Raising her head, Mio frowned, waiting.

With a new genial air, the whiskered teen smirked. "I found people like you, right? I found people who accepted me, and to me; _that's_ what's important."

Mio flushed turning away again, grumbling. "How can you say something so cheesy with a straight face?"

Naruto's smirk grew wider, giving her a knowing look. "You should know why, Mio."

She did. She did know.

He told her a while ago, in the middle of a forest owned by her fellow red-head after she followed him out of curiosity.

Her sibling called them; _precious people_ , and counted her as someone that deserved such a distinction, having no shame in saying as such.

Just recalling it made her feel lightheaded and brought a smile to her face.

She knew that he held such people in the highest regard, but now she was a little curious about what he defined as 'precious'. "Hey, Naruto? What exactly did you mean by 'precious people' back then? Like…am I family to you? A friend? What exactly?"

Eyelids fluttering, the blond cupped his chin in thought. "Ah, I suppose I didn't clarify that, did I? Well…I suppose that, for me, a precious person is someone I am emotionally attached to. A friend, really. And I consider my friends to _be_ my family, since I didn't really have one to begin with."

Mio released her breath, clenching her fists. "You once called me that; a precious person, so what am I to you, exactly?"

"A friend, of course! Which just so happens to technically be my adopted family." the shinobi didn't hesitate in his characterization, not seeing anything wrong with it.

Mio felt a little differently. "…And is that all you see me as?"

For the first time in this conversation, her brother faltered a bit. "Uh, well…what else is there?"

Slipping out of her seat, the young woman grabbed her seat and began walking at a steady gait around the table. "I mean, surely there are people that you consider precious that _aren't_ in those categories?"

"Are there?" Naruto sounded out, doubtful, not really minding the fact that the red-head was dragging her seat around the table towards him. "I mean, what's more important than family dattebayo?"

Reaching a spot by his side, the half-devil sat on the seat that was a little too close to him for comfort, her gaze unwaveringly upon him. "…Haven't you loved anyone before?"

The ends of the shinobi's lips twisted downwards. "Loved? I mean, I loved my friends, so-"

"No. Not that kind of love; I mean the love between a man and a woman."

Whatever words Naruto could've given her died before they came out.

He was about to mention a pink-haired teammate of his as proof that, yes, he _has_ loved someone before. Who hasn't after all?

But thinking about it, was those emotions _that_ kind of feeling? Was it really?

He cared for her, he knew that well enough. But it suddenly felt…premature to call that _love_ of all things.

"So you haven't?"

Naruto jolted a bit, taken aback when he veered his attention back onto his sister. His _–adopted-_ sister.

Mio was leaning closer to him now, pink eyes wide, shimmering with _something_ underneath those pink orbs. "Naruto…I want to know; is brother and sister the only thing we can be? The best our relationship can go?"

Now officially uncomfortable, blue eyes found the décor of the floor interesting all of a sudden. "Ok, I don't know what's going on, but from my experience; a family relationship is the best thing we could hope for in our relationship with one another. So there's no need to-"

"We can still be family." Mio's cheeks were red now, face inching closer to him, breathless. "But maybe there's something… _better_ than friendship."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. But I'm willing to find out."

"And how exactly are you going to-?"

Naruto's words were cut off when he finally turned away from the table, finding Mio's face so close that he could easily bump noses with her.

Hell, he actually considered it for a split second.

"L-" the young woman faltered now, her words caught in her throat as she tried to stifle the extreme heat she was exerting. Though, she eventually managed to stutter out her last words. "Let's figure that out; if there's… _more_. Together."

The shinobi's breath quickened a bit, saying nothing as he stared at the pink eyes that were inching closer, throat dry at the implication. "Well…that's-

Licking dry lips, Mio offered a small smile. "Scared?"

This time their noses were touching. "…Actually, a bit, yeah."

"Good." she murmured, swallowing her doubts and hardening her resolve. "I am too."

The hybrid surged forward, and she jolted a bit from the electricity that coursed through her following her actions.

It was the mildest of touches, the slightest of brushes, but it happened. She had just done _it_.

Her lips were lightly pressed against another pair, earning a jerk from her blond fool as he inhaled, unable to believe or comprehend her audacity.

Not that she wasn't about to die from embarrassment or shame or anything, and her heart rate was definitely beating a rate that was generally considered unhealthy.

But, oddly enough, or not so oddly enough, she didn't care. Not now, not with the pleasant tingle that ran down her spine.

And especially not when Naruto recovered from his shock and leaned closer, tentatively brushing against her lips just a _bit-_

 _"Hold it!"_

The magic died.

Naruto yelped and scrambled away as if he was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, snapping his gaze towards the source of the voice with the intent on explaining away what had just happened.

His words died before he could even begin to formulate them. "Y-You…!"

Mio was nowhere near so kind, as her underlying shyness and embarrassment was quickly being overturned by self-righteous anger. "…Who the hell are _you?"_

* * *

Xenovia grabbed Irina's arm and, with a quick jerk, dragged her into the side of the small store that they were about to pass, cupping her partner's mouth before she could yelp.

The exorcist didn't say a word, she only narrowed her eyes at the sight of the long crimson hair that was trailing past them, head down, in her own little world.

There was no way that either of them could forget that incredibly distinct hair anytime soon.

"That's…Gremory-san!" the chestnut-haired warrior gasped after pulling her friend's hand away from her mouth. "What's she doing here?"

"I don't know." dark yellow eyes slid towards the building that the devil was walking out of when she spotted her, suspicious. "She came from that building, whatever it is."

"Ohhh…" the other woman looked at it in wonder. "It looks like a funhouse!"

"Funhouse?"

"I don't remember what it was actually called, since it's been so long since I've lived in Japan." Irina admitted, studying the building and the lights that were flaring inside. "But I remember wanting to try it with Issei-kun, and that everyone who went inside said it was fun. So that's just kinda how I remember it."

"I see." the bluenette nodded reasonably, understanding the logic. "Then let's check this funhouse for a second, just to see what Gremory-san is up to. After that; we keep looking for that boy from before."

"Right!"

Walking up to the funhouse entrance, both women openly gaped at the flashing lights and loud noises that were coming from the numerous machines laid about haphazardly.

The general chaos of the building's interior was only amplified by the groups of young adults that were congregating in large and small groups, their conversations lapping over the noises coming from the many devices in the large room.

It was quite the sight, and Irina was wholeheartedly taking it all in, in awe of it all.

She was pretty sure that it wasn't like _this_ when she was a kid!

Xenovia, on the other hand, had recovered her bearings enough to focus on her task and check the area, seeing if there was anything that could have possibly interested a devil of such high-standing.

At first, outside of the generally loose morals that were sometimes in display due to some drunken groups of young adults, there didn't seem to be anything too suspicious. Which was why she moved to open her mouth to call her partner, ready to announce her findings.

Right until her dark yellow pupils made contact with a shock of golden spikes.

She recognized those spikes anywhere, even in the din of the darkened funhouse of debauchery.

As soon as she noticed that boy's unique hairstyle though, she noticed something else that stood out just as much.

A flash of red, near crimson really, made the young Church-aligned warrior tense in recognition.

It wasn't the Gremory girl, it was someone else. Someone that looked similar to her, yes, but also _felt_ similar to that woman as well.

Thanks to her training as an agent of the Church, Xenovia was somewhat skilled in telling the difference between humans and devils. This was only the case if she was alerted to their presence, however.

And she was currently _very_ alert. If this woman wasn't a devil, then she was, at the very least, around them very often.

Taking in the scene that the two young adults were in made the teen with shoulder-length hair narrow her dark yellow eyes, newly suspicious.

Why was that Gremory devil in this building in the first place? Surely a devil of her stature didn't go anywhere unless it was to her benefit…right?

It was in that moment of thought that she saw the red-head move her seat next to the blond, leaning closer to him as she whispered something with a red face.

Something clicked in Xenovia's head when she registered the dazed look in the blond's cerulean eyes.

"She must be trying to control him…!" she whispered vehemently, her fingers digging into the cold surface of the machine she was hiding behind.

Seeing the woman lean ever closer to the man who aided them when they were near starvation when he didn't have to, all while aware that this woman didn't have the best of intentions brought forth feelings of righteous anger.

While this man obviously wasn't a Christian like she was, he helped her in her hour of need, even if he was a bit resistant to it.

Such generosity, even from a non-believer, could _not_ be allowed to go unrewarded.

Striding forward with intent, Xenovia moved across the building and moved into the small restaurant portion of the 'funhouse', hands clenching into fists when lips met.

Slamming her hand against the flat end of the table they were on, Xenovia barked. " _Hold it!"_

As if a spell was broken, the spiky-haired youth that she personally owed jumped away from the _–possible-_ devil, breathless and shaken.

His eyes snapped to her, looking far more vulnerable than she figured someone as confident as him could be. " _Y-You…!"_

The suspected devil on the other hand, changed from an innocent fifteen-year old girl into a very, _very_ angry woman in an extremely short time. "…Who the hell are _you?"_

"Someone that will not let you have your way." the exorcist retorted, glaring at the other woman openly. "I know what you're doing to him, and I won't let you have your way."

"What the hell are you talking about!?" the girl growled, her flushed features full of repressed anger. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're butting in our date. So if you can leave, that'd be _really_ appreciated."

The human woman didn't say a word right up until she saddled closer to the table, specifically; to the suspected devil. "Not until you leave him alone, _devil_."

Inhaling sharply, the other woman visibly gaped at her now. "H-How did you-?"

Smirking in triumph at this correct presumption, Xenovia leaned even closer to the devil, placing her hand onto her shoulder as she spoke to her quietly. "I don't know what you're up to, devil, but whatever it is; it stops now."

"I'm not-" Mio jerked away from the hand, trying to shake away from the unknown woman's grip. "-doing anything like that! Let go of me and leave us alone!"

"Hey!" Naruto finally cut in, alarmed by the physical altercation that was brewing right in front of his face. "Look, I don't know how you two know each other, but I need you two to calm down! And you…wait, I know you, right? Why the hell are you-?"

The shinobi's words flew right over both; Mio's and Xenovia's heads, busy with one another as the red-head grunted once she sharply pulled away from the blue-haired menace.

Refusing to let go, if out of sheer stubbornness, the exorcist felt her balance slip at the abrupt movement, resulting in her hips slamming into the edge of the table.

As a result, the table was literally pushed over to its side, spilling its contents onto the floor and anyone that was in its way.

In this case; all over Mio.

Feeling the shock of something cold splash over her, the hybrid gasped as she took a couple of shaky steps back from the topped table, shivering.

At first, she shivered out of abject shock.

That shock evaporated quickly when she gazed upon her ruined clothes, sticky thanks to the soda that was now all over it.

Naruto also stared; quiet, before rounding viciously onto the newcomer. "What the hell is your problem!?"

Even Xenovia looked a little taken aback by the scene.

Growling at her silence, the shinobi was about to start a tirade at her. He may have been frustrated by his sister's actions, but this woman, even if she was familiar to him, still had no right to talk to his family like that.

"…you."

Hearing the quiet voice brought a chill down Naruto's spine; partially because of who it was coming from, and partially because there was something genuinely… _malefic_ in her tone's undertone.

Turning as one, the two teens watched the red-head warily, her visage blocked by her bangs as her form shook in mute rage, looking for all the world like she was a ticking time bomb that was about to _explode_.

Oh, how right that observation turned out to be.

Everything about the situation around her had rightly angered the red-head, pushing her buttons so successfully that she couldn't even _see_ straight let alone think properly.

But it was more than the humiliation. More than the rude behavior.

It was the timing.

More than anything else in a while, the hybrid was looking forward to this date of theirs. Looking forward to see more of the man that she trusted so readily.

Eager to have a fun time with him. Just the two of them.

And more; so much _more_.

That first tantalizing taste of what _could_ be; something that she didn't even know she desired right up until she was leaning closer to the blond.

All of which was cruelly stripped away by this random _bitch_.

Perhaps it was the culmination of all of the stress she had managed to accumulate, as well as all of the private fears she was nursing…

But something, deep inside, something primal just sort of…took control.

This explained why the blond among them looked like he was stepping on eggshells as he shuffled closer to her. "Mio…"

"…dare you…"

Xenovia suddenly felt glad that she had access to her _Excalibur_ piece, as she was intensely aware of the build-up of power coming from the devil.

And then, Mio _screamed_. " _How dare you!"_

It was as if a wave of energy had followed after her scream, bodily slamming against Naruto as he gasped, forcing him to stick his feet to the ground using his chakra.

Or, at least, to attempt to.

To his astonishment and confusion, instead of sticking to the ground as he normally would, he found himself...adrift. Floating. Bereft of all weight. Something that's never happened before, even if he was a little slow to react this time around.

It wasn't just him either, all around him, everything and anything had suddenly lost its grounding, floating in the middle of the air as if they were in a simulation in outer space.

And the source of this phenomenon was not too hard to find.

Standing in a limp fashion, Mio's eyes were wide open as she blankly gazed upon the world in front of her, the laws of physics being disobeyed blatantly without repercussions.

Despite such incredible sights being available to her, her expression didn't move away from her default blank look. It was as if she wasn't even aware of what she was looking at.

A conclusion that the shinobi reached after getting one clear look at his sister's face. "M-Mio? Are you ok?"

Silence and a blank look that wasn't even aimed at him was all he received.

 _"Mio!?"_

A twitch of the lip, barely a response, really.

It was enough.

The aura that surrounded the hybrid; some sort of ethereal blazing outline that emerged following her scream, collapsed. Fracturing into nothing as soon as she gasped.

With its departure, Mio fell.

Everything else around them fell right along with her.

Cries of astonishment and fear echoed across the establishment, disoriented due to the strange phenomenom that affected everyone inside.

Screams about earthquakes and the like were bandied about, using conventional knowledge to explain the impossible.

Naruto didn't have time for that, too busy as he was catching his family member before she slammed head-first into the ground.

Carefully propping the young woman using his forearm, blue eyes peered down on her peaceful looks, wondering what the hell had just happened then.

Then he turned to the cause of this mini disaster and glared at her, words biting. "I suggest you leave now. While you still can."

Xenovia visibly straightened her back, but didn't say a word, glancing away. Chastised.

"…Yes." she eventually conceded, turning on her heel to leave the way she came with her cloak billowing about her.

Watching her leave for a few more seconds, Naruto turned all of his attention onto Mio, combing some stray bangs away. Wondering why she did what she did.

He wasn't just thinking about the whole 'defy physics' part.

"Naruto-sama!"

Brows raising, the shinobi tilted his head to see a familiar face running up to them, somehow not surprised to her at all. "Were you following us?"

"Y-Yeah, sorry." Maria sheepishly apologized, before focusing on her unconscious charge. "What happened? What set Mio-sama off?"

"This happened before?"

"Yeah. Once. When Mio-sama watched her adopted parents get killed."

Sympathy bled from blue irises, leading into a hollow sigh. "…I see. Well, I guess that means that this dinner of ours will have to be cancelled for now, huh? Care to take her home for me, Maria?"

"Sure." the succubus smiled slightly, before frowning. "What about you, Naruto-sama?"

"Well…" his frown deepened. "Originally, I was going to use this time to have fun with Mio, but since the rest of my day is free; I may as well get that Underworld problem over with now that I've got free time. Besides, I think Mio needs some space as it is 'ttebayo."

"Ohhh, gotcha. Alrighty then, I'll just take Mio-sama back home with me then!" Maria, for some reason, felt it necessary to announce her intentions loudly.

Somehow, the blond wasn't particularly surprised.

"Oh, by the way, Naruto-sama?"

Eyeing her as she made her way out, Maria grinned cheekily at him, as if she was sharing partaking in an inside joke between the two of them.

"…Nice job reaching first base, player~"

Naruto choked on air as the succubus ran out with her charge in tow, cackling up a storm, ignoring all of the looks she gathered from the rest of the civilians that were recovering from the 'earthquake'.

Grumbling at this low blow, Naruto also made his way out, wondering how the hell that damned loli managed to follow them without his knowhow.

…Actually, maybe that wasn't so hard…

It didn't help that that damned Maria had the ability to smother her energy signal though, since it only made it _that_ much harder to sense her.

Off on the distance, he marginally felt the usage of demonic energy, barely. Something that assured the blond that the silverette had just probably used a transportation circle to get back home faster.

Now outside, Naruto felt something click in the back of his head at the thought, making him squint.

…There was something about that idea that gave him pause.

It was as if he saw something like that before and-

Naruto froze, the idea of Maria's ability to cloak her power being linked to…something far less benign.

Didn't…someone else have a power similar to that?

Didn't someone else have the ability to cloak their energy? Right up until they used demonic energy?

Unbidden, the haunting words spoken to him by a certain fallen angel came roaring back to him, questioning him. Wondering what he knew about Maria.

Whether he knew her at _all_.

The shinobi shook his head, the implications of such a link giving him a lump in his throat that refused to be ignored.

Thankfully, something else came along that gave him some reprieve.

Snapping his head into the air, he felt something…familiar.

Intimately familiar.

"Well…it took that bastard long enough to move." the shinobi murmured under his breath, moving to the side of the road so that he could grab an item, any item.

He chose a plank that was sticking out of one of the stalls.

Grabbing it firmly, he gandered a look around to make sure no one was looking, and then _chucked_ it into the sky. Aiming at something specific.

Waiting for something to happen, the young man turned back towards the direction he knew his home was. Mio's home was.

Maria's home was.

He trusted her. She was trustworthy, he knew that.

But damn did he ever have some questions for her.

"What's with you and your penchant for throwing things at me while I'm in the air?"

Naruto grinned at the irate voice, turning his head just enough to glance at the cross woman that was standing on the ceiling of the building he was next to, glaring down at him.

Hm. He could see her panties from this angle.

Better not tell her that. "How else am I supposed to get you down here?"

Raynare flattened her lips together, obtaining an expression that made it look like she just swallowed a lemon. "...Whatever, there's no arguing with you anyway. So, where is he?"

Naruto jabbed a finger at the general direction. "Go that way, my clone is following Freed right now, and that's the way that they're heading. You should cross paths with my clone if you hurry."

He felt that using a clone was the best way to track the looney priest, mostly because he knew that the clone could talk sense into the fallen angel above him if she did something…regrettable.

So he had a clone _henge_ into a common household object and wait for Freed to escape, following him and alerting Naruto by releasing his chakra as soon as he got a general idea of where he was heading.

Now? Now they could get that guy; Kokabiel, and his hidden location, all while the real him dealt with whatever was going on in the Underworld.

As soon as he got back? He'd raid the damned place, and probably drag his sorry ass to the fallen's sorry excuse of a leader.

Two birds, one stone. Just how he liked it.

Raynare also looked pleased with the turn of events. "Thanks for the tip, I'll be seeing you later then. Try not to get another dinner date until I get back though, would you?"

"It wasn't a-" the shinobi grunted, realizing arguing such a thing after what had happened was a lost cause. "…Whatever, what does it matter to you, anyway?"

The fallen smirked a bit, almost roguish in appearance now. "Because I might treat you for this after this is over."

Blinking, Naruto watched the woman with raven wings soar into the air, moving beyond the clouds to find his clone.

"…Did she just ask me out to dinner?"

* * *

"What the heck happened in there, Xenovia!?"

Xenovia wish she knew the answer to her apoplectic partner's query, but truthfully, she had no idea. Not a single clue.

One minute she was sure that she was foiling a devil's plan for the kind man that helped the Church duo in a pinch, the next?

Pandemonium.

Even worse, she was pretty sure that that man hated her now…a prospect that was made even worse when she realized that she failed to save him from that devil's claws.

How infuriating.

"I'm not sure." she readily admitted. "But let's move on past that for now, we can deal with that later. For now, let's refocus our effort onto finding the _Excalibur_ fragments."

"And how are we gonna do that?" it wasn't a sarcastic statement, it was a genuine question. Irina was just that kind of person. "We don't have a clue where they are! Not one!"

"I know…" the blue-haired warrior raised her head to look at the sky, frustration lacing her tone. "But we have no other choice. This is our duty, and we _have_ to do what we can for our Lord. We simply have to keep our faith-"

Xenovia paused, dark yellow eyes widening to the size of saucers.

"…I think our faith has been rewarded, Irina."

"Eh?" the twin-tail haired teen followed her friend's lead, gasping at what she saw.

Both exorcists had their natural abilities heightened beyond the realms of normal human beings, thanks to their training in the Church. Mostly so that they may deal with the supernatural.

And it was a good thing for them, since their beyond normal eyes was what allowed them to see something flying high above the clouds, something far bigger than normal birds.

Something that had _black_ wings.

"We're moving, Irina!"

"Right!"

* * *

Freed was on a roll.

He had waited for that pretty boy prick and his bitches to clear out before he finished off the last strands that were holding him together, thanks to that little tidbit he heard about them all clearing out earlier today.

What idiot told their prisoner that they were gonna be unsupervised!? The priest still got a kick outta that! A blond dipshit that turned out to be all brawns and no brains?

Hilarious!

Now that the exiled priest had created a decent amount of space between himself and his captor's home, he now had the chance to wind down from the stressful environment he was in.

And what was the best way to wind down while on the run for a man such as himself? Why, by butchering random heathens of course!

Too bad that the streets he was passing by were mostly residential, and it seemed that almost everyone was outside hanging with friends and family due to the weekend.

If he could just get _one_ kill then he could wait for later to get more bloody teddy bears…made out of human flesh.

Insane red eyes trained ahead, in his peripheries, he noticed movement coming from the edge of the building he was about to pass.

Someone was coming, and whoever it was, they had _no_ idea that he was coming.

A sick grin split his face at the unpleasant surprise that was about to be sprung, not unpleasant for _him_ mind you.

Taking a step into the crosswalk was a young frail-looking man, boy really, with jet black hair and wide blue eyes, all while wearing an unassuming black uniform.

A person most people would miss in a crowd.

A person that most people wouldn't even notice was missing.

 _Perfect_.

The boy turned to him, his wide smile belying the idea that he had any idea of what was about to happen to him.

Freed was sure that he was about to speak, maybe to ask him a question? Or maybe he was about to engage him for small talk?

It didn't matter, since the blade of light that had just been materialized from his hilt had stopped the teenager cold, slicing right through his throat in a gory display.

Eyes widening, the boy cupped the gaping cut in his throat with his hands, vainly trying to stop the blood spurting out like a hose.

He failed in his endeavor, falling over, motionless, with that smile still present as the last thing he would ever do.

Freed was satisfied with that kill, and was very hopeful that he'd get to do something similar to that blond fuck later.

Now _that_ sounded like something he could jack off too!

* * *

"Shit, shit, _shit!_ "

Naruto was careless.

Or, rather, his _clone_ was careless.

The blond copy was given the task to follow the insane priest to his boss' secret lair, and to give out a signal to the original so that Raynare could join him in his hunt.

That being said, when he gained a rough idea of where the other man was heading to, he slowed down and pulsed out his chakra, giving the boss the signal.

He didn't get an answer, probably because the boss assumed that he; as his clone, would be well aware that he didn't fuck around with things like this.

Too bad he didn't think of that at the time, so he slowed down and continued to pulse out his chakra, just in case the boss missed it the first time.

That lull in the chase allowed Freed to gain some distance.

Which was why the clone was gazing down upon the fallen body of an innocent teenager, slain by the insane priest for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

With blood pooling around him, the copy vowed to make sure that this boy's death wasn't in vain-

「Owwie…that hurt. Did someone get the number of that car?」

'Naruto' snapped his head down onto the talking corpse, watching him -it?- rise up, scratching the back of his head airily.

"W-What-!?" the clone squeaked, shuffling back, pointing a shaky finger at the boy that was very much alive. "How the hell are you-!?"

The boy looked at him, tilting his head in wonder, mouth opening to make an 'o'. 「Ah! It's the main character!」

"Hah!?"

Ignoring the blond's befuddled look, the scrawny youth pushed himself up onto the balls of his feet, wiping away the blood that soaked his uniform red. 「Aw man, and I just washed this, oh well, I suppose that this is to be expected when meeting the ever-unfortunate Naruto-kun.」

"…Are you off-handedly insulting me?"

Wide blue eyes finally faced narrowed blue eyes, only widening even further.

「What's wrong, Naruto-kun? You look like you've seen a ghost.」

'Naruto' stared at him, slowly panning his attention from the boy that was alive and well, onto the pool of blood that he left behind, and back again. "Gee, I wonder why. Also, how do you know my name?"

「Ah, yes!」 the strange boy popped his fist onto his palm. 「Naruto-kun…this may sound crazy, but I am your friend's son from the future, here to warn you about two androids that will appear in three years' time to kill you! Please believe me!」

The amount of effort and life given to his words almost made the clone consider his words. Almost. "That's bullshit."

「Ehhh? That's weird…」 the raven-haired teen looked genuinely shocked. 「That line always works in Shonen Jump…it always starts a new storyline too…」

"Alright." the shinobi wasn't amused. "I'm in a bit of a hurry, so if you're done being a loon, I'm just gonna be on my way…"

「Ah, wait, Naruto-kun! I'm sorry! I played around too much!」 the mysterious youth scratched the back f his head sheepishly. 「It's just…I've heard so much about you, Naruto-kun. So it's nice to see you in person, and I got a little carried away. That's all.」

The clone's gaze softened a bit, but still studied him through a critical eye. "…Alright then, how _do_ you know me?"

The boy smiled then, his friendly curvature of the lips seeming a bit…enigmatic. 「Through Medaka-chan, of course. Let's just say that there is quite a few people in that faction that have…quite the interest in you.」

Watching the blond's eyes widen, then narrow, he could easily see where his next query would lie. 「As for me? Well, let's just say that I'm more interested in seeing what makes you tick, Naruto-kun. Unlike my older brother.」

"Older brother?"

Somehow the wide and innocent blue eyes of the scrawny teen managed to become downright pure in his concern. 「I; Kumagawa Yuki, and here to warn you about the evil that my twin brother; Kumagawa Misogi, represents! Trust me! He's bad news! He's someone that would hurt anyone and everyone just to see if he can! He's no good and rotten to the core! Whatever you do, Naruto-kun, you mustn't entertain his delusions!」

'Naruto' started at the boy that apparently had the same first name as his female hero friend, blinking slowly as he compartmentalized the information he had just heard.

He felt like this guy wasn't necessarily lying…and yet…he felt like he shouldn't take this guy's words at face value.

It was times like these that seriously made the shinobi wonder how he attracted all of the weird people. Only made worse when he factored in how strange this guy sounded.

「I see that you don't believe me, Naruto-kun. That's fine! I expected as much!」 Kumagawa puffed his chest up, the glint of determination lighting in his innocent eyes. 「To prove my trustworthiness, I'll join you in whatever quest you're on and help! Basically; you'll get another heterosexual life partner to help you slay the demon lord…without needing to help me with any personal problems to boot! Now come! Let's do Shonen Jump stuff!」

The clone watched Kumagawa charge ahead, running after the insane exorcist that, he was pretty sure, killed him before.

…Why did this shit happen to him?

* * *

 **AN: That's a wrap! Ok, now we get to the good stuff next chapter. Personally don't have much to say about this chapter, except that strong feelings are definitely beginning to crisscross here and there, and is probably going to cause quite the bit of friction between certain people.**

 **Who knows? Maybe someone might try to use such friction to their advantage? :3**

 **Ah, well, story aside, I have another Reading story for those who are interested; 'To Understand Our Legacy' is the story name, and I personally found it very enjoyable. So check it out if you just don't have enough of this fic as it is. (Idk how that's possible but... *Shrug*)**

 **Alrighty, I think that's it for now. Cya all next time, hope this met everyone's expectations! :D**

 **-RekkingPride**


	45. Chapter 45

**Merry (Early) Christmas everyone! :D**

* * *

 **Recap: Naruto went on a date with Mio and ended it with a sweet lil' kiss, but certain exorcists fucked that up.**

 **Mio knocked herself out after getting pissed off at said exorcists, leaving Naruto with free time to deal with the shit going on in the Underworld.**

 **Naruto makes a clone to chase after Freed after he escapes and Raynare follows the clone, with the exorcists following her in return.**

 **And Kumagawa butts in to join the fun! What the hell does he want!? No one knows!**

 **Recap: Over!**

* * *

"Yo, what's up, Rias?"

Blue-green eyes, which had a similar shade as the clear oceanic surface during a bright sunny day, blinked openly in confusion. A reasonable response to seeing a friend ring her doorbell at this time of day. "N-Naruto?"

"Yep, who else?"

Rias took a step back, arms crossing over her body, suddenly feeling vulnerable. "Ah, yes, of course! Good afternoon, Naruto! How are you?"

Blue eyes narrowed a bit, not quite suspicious but still interested in her reaction to his presence. "You…uh…you ok?"

"Fine. Just fine." the red-head turned away, calming her beating heart. "What brings you here?"

Lighting up at the query, the blond smiled brightly, though his friend definitely couldn't see it. "Well, I was hoping that you could help me out by taking me to the Underworld, if you've got the time that is."

The Gremory princess craned her neck to glance at him, eyebrows rising. "Wait, what? Why would you want to do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to get this issue in the Underworld over with since I'm free for the rest of the day."

"You are? But what about-?" Rias clamped her mouth shut, aware that she wasn't supposed to know about his date. "Never mind. Why do you want to do this now though? Wasn't this planned for later?"

"It was, but things just kinda…changed. Like I said; I've got free time now right now, so why not use it?"

It was a genuine question, and the crimson-haired youth was at a loss on how to answer it. Why not indeed?

"I see." Rias pursed her lips, considering what she had heard and, more importantly; what has been implied.

She smiled after a period of thought, an idea popping at the back of her mind as she spoke again. "Alright then, give me a second to change, no peeking, alright?"

"I won't." Naruto sounded exasperated as he took a step back from the door in order to lean against the wall next to it. "I'll wait here, that alright?"

The shinobi didn't miss the playful shot sent over the heiress' shoulder. "Good boy."

Ah, she was acting like a mature 'onee-sama' once again. Huh…been a while since she did that.

Bonking his head against the wall with a dull ***thud*** , the blond idly wondered how his two clones were doing.

Of course he was referring to the clone sent to follow Freed, but he also had in mind the clone that was in the midst of training Koneko, helping her perfect the _bunshin no jutsu_.

They were still going at it, if his senses were telling the truth.

He could only hope that those copies of his weren't as stupid as he was sometimes prone to be.

* * *

Raynare was keeping a lookout for a very specific set of bright hair from her elevated position high above the clouds.

It was not lost on her that only a supernatural entity such as herself could really call an area so high above the earth 'elevated'.

Such heights were natural to her, as natural as breathing as a matter of fact, and it was purposeful for today.

She had no illusions about who she was following was an _exorcist_. An insane man, probably a stupid one, but an exorcist nonetheless.

On a usual day, she kept herself right above the clouds, but today she opted to play it safe and elevate herself higher the further away she flew from the original Naruto.

An extra precaution, who knew whether Kokabiel had lookouts posted around his secret base? One could never be too sure.

At least, that was what Azazel-sama drilled into her. Among other things, to her chagrin.

Her mind drifted over to the shit that she had to deal with while being taught by a man that could kindly be called 'eccentric', leaving her instincts active as she continued her search.

It was those very instincts that allowed her to retroactively tuck her twin set of wings and veer to the right to dodge a flying object that nearly slammed her in the face.

She growled, violet eyes narrowing into daggers at the near clean shot that her friend's copy managed to achieve.

He really was doing this on purpose, wasn't he? There was no way that he _wasn't_ trying to knock her out of the sky with random objects.

Folding her wings, the fallen descended down towards a building carefully, making sure to keep herself discreet as she eyed the smug look that was aimed her way. "You're annoying, you know that?"

Naruto's clone, for his part, just smiled wider. "You love me anyway."

Raynare glanced away once she stepped onto the roof, refusing to answer as she crossed her arms. "Whatever. Where's Freed Sellzen?"

"He just waltzed into that gym over there." the shinobi flicked his thumb towards an expansive building near a bunch of other commercial buildings. "It kinda looks like a gym to me, and it's obviously been closed for renovations if the signs on it say anything about it."

Checking out the large building with the giant 'closed' sign hanging on one of its doors, Raynare could clearly see that the pair of double doors had been ripped open despite being locked in with wooden planks. It was recently tampered with, obviously. "It looks like a place where a loser like that would hide in, that's for sure."

「Aww…don't be mean to him, crow-chan. Maybe he's just shy?」

The fallen would never admit to jumping a foot into the air in surprise, never in a thousand years would she ever admit to that.

But she couldn't bullshit to someone that saw it. "Oh, right…I got a new friend by the way."

"…So I've heard." violet pupils flicked back towards the source of the strange voice, scowling at the face that was smiling innocently at her. "And what kind of circumstances brought this guy under your wing exactly? He's kinda creepy."

「Ohhh!」 the scrawny teen shivered, his smile widening. 「I'm being acknowledged by a pretty girl! This is beginning to look like one of those erotic dreams I had! Is this the power of the main protagonist that I've read so much about!? 」

Lips flattening, the supernatural entity moved her regard towards the blond that was hiding his features behind his hands. "…Just try and ignore him."

Pinching the bridge between her eyes, the fallen had to mentally count to ten in an effort to reign in her annoyance. "Naruto…if he's such an annoyance, why not get rid of him?"

"Can't. This guy knows something about the woman that targeted me when I returned from Kuoh Town. Apparently he learned of me through her. More than that; he came to warn me about some kind of plot against me by his brother."

「Kumagawa Misogi is a baaaaaad man, Naruto-kun.」

The blond twitched, but didn't say a word in regards to the other male's words. "…I'm gonna question him thoroughly in a bit, after we're done inspecting the area."

"I see." Raynare didn't particularly like the idea of another human hanging around them as they studied the building and the surrounding area, but she swallowed her misgivings and focused on the task at hand. "Learned anything about this so-called 'gym'?"

"Nope, it looks like an average public gym where normal people play sports in. Or, at least it used to, what with the closed signs everywhere." the Naruto clone crossed his arms, frowning at the large structure from his spot at the edge of the roof. "Why do bastards like to hang out in these creepy places?"

"That's a question that I've been wondering about myself, but when it comes to that creep; Freed…well, such places fit him like a glove." the ravenette obviously had no love for the insane man, and even less respect. "You want to take the split second to scout the area, or should I?"

"I'll do it. That insane bastard might have friends in there that specialize in finding supernatural beings such as yourself. Besides, I'm pretty good at sneaking around dattebayo."

"Ain't that the truth…"

Ignoring Raynare's snarky reply, the clone bent his legs in preparation for a jump, pausing for only a moment to turn towards the smiling visage of the strange addition to their group. "Try not to annoy the scary lady in the corset while I'm gone, alright guy?"

Not even waiting for a response, the blond blurred away, his exit so silent that the fallen had to take a moment to blink to register it.

It really was incredible how powerful that boy was, especially for a human. She had to wonder how he had achieved such strength…

「Naruto-kun is really amazing, wouldn't you say, crow-chan?」

Eyes flickering to the abnormal tagalong, Raynare couldn't help but scowl, unable to shake away the feeling that he evoked from sight alone.

Not taking the hint that her silence was supposed to convey, the scrawny boy turned his bright blue eyes to her, a practiced smile gracing his soft features. 「Say, what brought you into this situation anyway?」

His attempt at small talk wasn't working, evidenced by the entirely one-sided conversation.

A fact which, apparently, didn't dissuade him in the slightest. 「I know that Naruto-kun has an interesting ability to corral the people around him to do things that they normally wouldn't do. Is it his empathy that allows him to do this? His strength? His charisma? I have no clue. But did he, maybe, get you with that ability too?」

Despite her best judgement, Raynare found herself facing the strange boy next to her with a sharp gaze. "He didn't corral me to do _anything_. This was my idea from the start, so stop thinking up weird shit."

「Ohhh, I get it.」 Kumagawa smiled. 「So Naruto-kun is helping you out? That's nice of him, isn't it?」

"It is."

「…You don't seem to like me very much, crow-chan.」

"Very astute of you."

「Why?」

It was one word, and Raynare hated the fact that it managed to force a response out of her. "I don't really like humans in general."

「But you like Naruto-kun though.」

"He's different, that's all there is to it."

The human dressed like a typical high schooler didn't say anything, his smiling face still present, as if mocking her.

Newly aggravated, she didn't realize just how much her composure had slipped in this conversation. "He helped me with a situation which I couldn't crawl out of. Put simply; he saved the one woman whom I had poured my life into from doing something irreversible. Then convinced me to help her, despite what she's done. So yes; he's special."

「Hooooh?」 Kumagawa's expression didn't change, even as he scratched his cheek. 「Pouring your life into someone…I don't really get that. But that sounds like something Naruto-kun would do too.」

"She was… _is_ family." the ravenette had no idea why she was telling this stranger this, but she felt compelled to explain herself. She felt…defensive, almost.

「So you'd do anything for her, because she's family?」 even after all of this time, the boy's face remained stagnant, but it still felt… _darker_ somehow. 「Personally, I don't really see it. Are you sure that you want to help her because she's family?」

That feeling of defensiveness, which was building up for a while, had suddenly been cranked up to eleven. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Kumagawa's smile widened, somehow becoming more unwelcoming as it twisted up more.「You remind me of a story that I heard of a while ago. Of a boy that would also do anything for 'family'. I know only a little bit of his story, but my impression of his obsession is this; he wanted companionship, regardless of how he got it.」

He leaned towards her now, the edges of his lips managing to climb further up his cheeks, providing an almost cheshire-like grin. 「Could it be that you're just like that boy? Seeking affection when there's none to be had? So desperate for love that you'd want it from anyone?」

Unknowingly, Raynare shuffled back, her body tensing, cheeks burning in as she choked in raw anger.

Yet he continued anyway. Doing nothing more in response to the clear antagonism that he was inspiring than giving a cock of the head. Managing to transform the entire look that he was giving the supernatural woman into something bordering the malevolent. 「Don't worry too much about it though, I'm sure that Naruto-kun appreciates being a conduit from where you get your affection and care.」

The fallen shook, her breath short as she glared venomously, feeling violated on some level that she couldn't verbalize.

「Eh…you look hurt.」 Kumagawa's features switched back towards the innocent, removing any traces of the darker undertones without preamble. 「Was I wrong? Did I hurt your feelings? Sorry, sorry! I'm bad at this sorta thing, ya know?」

"I-I can't even-" Raynare really couldn't even. "What kind of bullshit did you just spout!?"

「Oh no! I am wrong then!」 the scrawny boy gaped openly, eyes wide with unshed tears. 「Please don't commit suicide because of me! I'm sure that okaa-chan will love you!」

Whether the ravenette cared to admit it or not, even she couldn't deny the air that was blown out of her lungs at the implication that was being thrown at her.

She really did crave her mother's affections, this much was true…but the idea that she wanted to be around Naruto just for that was…

It was _wrong_ , it had to be. To regard that blond as nothing more than some kind of _surrogate_.

Yet she couldn't defend herself, blind as she was with such unrelenting anger that she couldn't even formulate a proper sentence, let alone refute the words that threatened her in some intrinsic level.

But…even as she tried, she recalled how warm she felt when around that weird human.

How comforted his words were when he confronted her right next to her unconscious mother, giving in a valuable favor towards the leader of the fallen angels; Azazel.

How much she wanted to see him again afterwards, and tried to be around him, even for a little bit.

Then a doubt crept in her mind, wondering, _fearing_.

All of that happened in a flash, before she pulled her head back to shout out her frustration-

「That's ok though! You look cute, so Naruto-kun will definitely give you lots of love!」

Then it petered out, leaving the fallen uncomfortably between wrath and embarrassment at the idea of being given 'lots of love'. "Y-You…"

She said no more after this, the human boy -was he human, really?- also turned away from her, smiling brightly as he inspected the area with blatant curiosity.

Raynare didn't do anything for a second, reigning her rampaging emotions in, and then raised her hand for inspection.

She was shaking, violently. Sweating too.

Just a few minutes of conversation, at most, and she already felt that her prior beliefs in her reasons for being here, in seeing _that_ blond, and her own intentions…were shaken.

Drawing back into herself, taking a defensive posture, she decided not to speak to the boy beside her again until the blond clone returned.

* * *

"Ok, you can come back inside, Naruto!"

Already moving inside as soon as he heard her voice, Naruto waltzed inside and checked his surroundings, idly recalling that he had never actually been to Rias' home before.

By all accounts, it was grandiose. A western-styled mansion that contained clean white tiles for the floor, styled walls with beautiful designs lining with the numerous columns that were there for style as much as to hold the floor above up. Hell, she even had a large chandelier hanging from what looked like the _third_ floor in the middle of a gigantic first floor.

Another reminder that this woman was so disgustingly wealthy that she could probably put that bastard; Gato, to shame.

Beautiful interior décor aside, blue eyes swiveled towards the crimson princess and an eyebrow was raised. "I know we're going to see a bunch of important people, but is that dress necessary?"

Rias blinked, and then glanced down at her dress. "What are you talking about? This isn't that ostentatious, is it?"

The shinobi had to groan. The woman in question was wearing a dark red dress that hugged her voluptuous figure, it was being held up with a thin black strap that hanged over her neck, a fact that left her back completely bare save for the straps of her frilly bra. Her clothes extended down right above her ankles and contained a frilly black ribbon right above her heart for stylistic purposes.

Oh, and she used a scrunchie to tie her long crimson hair into a ponytail.

Overall, to Naruto at least, she was completely overdressed, especially when one considered that they were probably gonna see some old farts with sticks lodged into their sphincters for thousands of years.

…Or maybe he was feeling self-conscious again; it wouldn't be the first time that day after all.

Literally, all he was wearing was a plain gray shirt under an orange and black hoodie, with dark jeans and plain sneakers. In comparison, he looked like a common peasant, which wasn't too far from the truth, if he were honest.

"Feeling self-conscious?" Rias smiled at him, as if attempting to soothe his ego. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure that your personality will do far more to provide a first impression than your clothes ever could."

"…I can't tell whether that's an insult or a compliment."

"Welp! Let's get started, shall we?"

"We're just gonna ignore that then, huh?"

Proving the blond's point, the devil heiress waved her hand and summoned a magical construct that had her family symbol emblazoned within, covering her home with an eerie crimson glow.

A transportation circle. "Normally, one couldn't just teleport into the Underworld without going through official channels. But my connection to one of the Great Houses of the Underworld gives me leeway in this regard, and lets me teleport inside my place of residence. So basically…we'll probably have to pass by my family before we see my onii-sama, Naruto."

"That's alright with me, as long as we get this whole shitshow dealt with as soon as possible dattebayo." the shinobi grunted, moving swiftly to stand beside her and grab her arm. "Ready when you are."

Feeling Rias jolt a bit at his touch, the blond couldn't fathom the idea that electricity coursed through her at the feeling, even if that was exactly what it felt like to her. Suppressed as it was. "R-Right. Let's get moving."

The glowing construct brightened further, coating them all in their totality, transporting the two teenagers into a world much different, and yet; so similar to theirs. At least, if the blond's impression of the Underworld was correct.

Unlike last time though; the young man found himself in a different place, in a massive room with windows that were roughly a story high, and with violet silk curtains that managed to drape over them.

The rug under his shoes, which had a similar shade to the curtains and the walls around him, conveyed their value through how ridiculously comfortable it felt just to take a step. The rug somehow transferred the feeling of its material through his shoes towards the soles of his feet.

It was beyond comfortable, and Naruto had to wonder what on earth this rug could've been made out of.

"…This is gonna be fun." Rias blew out some air, pulling some strands of her beautiful hair behind her ear. "Come on, let's go check the welcoming committee."

"Welcoming committee?" the blond echoed, not hearing an answer as she took a step forward, before pausing.

Arm snaking towards him, it wrapped around his bicep and tugged at him so that he stood right by her, forcing him to walk in lockstep as soon as she continued her gait.

Doing his utmost to ignore the soft feeling that his elbow was receiving, Naruto shot her a look. "What are you doing dattebayo?"

"Providing a united front." she murmured under her breath, slowing down in front of a massive pair of mahogany double doors. "Follow my lead, Naruto."

Not giving him any time to react, Rias boldly pushed the doors open in front of them, giving them a wide berth as they moved. Her swagger suggested that she was completely uncaring of the rows upon rows of maids and butlers that were assembled in formation on both sides of the literal red carpet that they were walking on.

"""" _Welcome home, Rias-sama!_ """"

The booming and heartfelt greeting nearly floored the sole human, as well as the sheer amount of people that came just to welcome them…or rather; the woman that was beside him. "Is this…normal?"

"Pretty much." the crimson princess replied, head aimed straight ahead, tightening her grip on his arm. "Let me do the speaking, if you don't mind."

Naruto definitely didn't mind. Just by taking a cursory glance, he could tell that he was out of his depth here.

Moving as one, the two teens moved forward across the long carpet, passing rows upon rows of maids and butlers who were bowing low enough to become horizontal to the floor. Obviously used to such behavior.

Though, thanks to personal experience, he could feel the heavy attention that was lent towards him as soon as he passed some of them. Searing him with their derision at the idea that their mistress was holding his arm close to her body, as if he was somehow her equal instead of her little doggy.

One would think that that would be a little much to assume from a couple of stares…but Naruto knew what those looks felt like, knew them at an intrinsic level.

They were leveled upon him all the time, once. And he could never forget them, no matter how much someone tried to hide their complete disregard of his humanity.

"Ara, Rias, isn't this a pleasant surprise visit."

Any more thought on the looks that were being sent his way was halted when a soft voice addressed the two of them, sounding kinda…familiar.

Raising his head an inch, he bore witness to something that kinda threw him off for a good few seconds. "…A twin?"

"Not quite." the smile in the mysterious woman's voice was unmistakable, the motherly look she was providing enhancing it as she descended from a massive flight of stairs that the red carpet was leading to. "But I do appreciate the compliment, young man."

Blue eyes flickering to the cyan of his friend's, he carefully regarded the curvy bruenette that had taken her first step on the floor that they were standing on, seeing a reflection Rias' features in her. "…I-I'm sorry then, you must be Rias' older sister then, right?"

A light groan escaped from the devil heiress' mouth beside him, earning her a side glare from him.

"Closer, but not quite." the Rias lookalike loftily remarked as she reached the two of them on the red carpet, her matronly smile still in place. "I'm sure that you could guess it correctly next time though, if you're willing to try?"

Pursing his lips, the young man squinted, trying his utmost to figure out this puzzle laid out for him, all while ignoring the look that Rias was throwing his way. "…Aunt?"

The unknown woman's lovely smile broke apart into a tiny fit of giggles, something that was explained when the red-head finally deigned to correct him. "That's my mother, Naruto."

Something spoken so dryly conveyed to Naruto that the answer to his question was obvious, an idea that he _thoroughly_ disagreed with. "Wait, wait, wait! She's your _mom!?_ She looks just like you!"

"Ara…" cupping her cheek, the woman that was apparently his friend's mother looked quite flattered. "Thank you for your kind words young man, I do like to take care of myself. But she is correct."

Lips twitching upwards, the brunette gazed upon the two teenagers warmly. "My name is Venelena Gremory; Rias' mother. A pleasure to meet you young man, I've heard nothing but good things from you from my daughter."

"O-Okaa-sama…" Rias felt her cheeks burn, glancing away as she pouted.

Naruto, on the other hand, gaped openly. "S-Seriously?"

"Indeed." Venelena giggled. "Come, I'm certain that Zeoticus would like to see you as well."

Turning on her heel, the woman that no doubt held considerable influence throughout the Underworld then began to walk back upstairs, moving with a grace befitting her position as the Lady of her clan.

Squeezing the blond's arm a little, Rias murmured under her breath. "…Let me handle this, please. I'm sure that you can tell, but this is a different ball game from Riser. This time, there are going to be plenty of eyes watching your every move. Compared to your last visit to the Underworld, where you spoke to my onii-sama in private, and fought Riser, this will be very… _political_. Understand?"

Once more feeling the stares bore through the back of his head, Naruto nodded. "Right. I'll be more careful."

Figuring this to be the best she could get from him, the princess pulled his arm and tightened her hold over his arm, back straight and eyes laser-focused.

This was her field now, something which she had been taught her whole life to deal with.

Feeling the regard around him intensify the higher he climbed the stairs, he had to wonder whether his clones were having an easier time than he was.

* * *

Racing back towards the stakeout spot that he had artificially created, the clone of Uzumaki Naruto hopped away from the many sprawling buildings of businesses near the closed gym, making sure to create a little bit of distance before he crossed over back to his spot where his friend and…acquaintance were.

Honestly, he still had no idea what to think about that guy.

But it didn't change the fact that he knew something about Medaka, and more than that, had some sort of clue or inkling about some attempt by his brother to come for him. At least, so he claimed.

…More importantly though, he might even know something about the mysterious old man that Medaka spoke of, who was it again?

Shit, she never mentioned his name, did she?

Whoever he was, that guy was the key here, he knew something about his world and wanted to replicate the powers from that world. Replicate the powers of the shinobi.

He had to learn more, in any way possible.

The opportunity to learn more from this guy was too good of an opportunity to miss out on, even if he was kinda creepy…and annoying.

Reaching the roof of the building that he left Raynare and Kumagawa on, his face twisted slightly, perturbed by the heavy atmosphere that he had arrived to.

For one thing; there was a considerable distance between the two of them, and the fallen looked almost… _relieved_ to see him. One could attribute this to the idea that the atmosphere was awkward, but it felt a little more…charged than that.

"Naruto." Raynare walked up to the clone, her demeanor quickly relaxing in the blond's presence. "Good, you made it back. How'd the scouting go?"

"Enough. From what I can see, the gym has been closed pretty recently, though all of the windows have been completely boarded up for whatever reason. And I checked every nook and cranny for an opening too, at least, as much as I could without actually touching the building." the shinobi replied, shooting a look over her shoulder. "By the way, you…uh…you alright?"

Following his focus, she narrowed her eyes poisonously. "…As good as I can be."

Over her shoulder, Kumagawa was cooing over the sight of a little bird which had landed precariously on the ledge of the roof. 「Hey there, little birdie! Would you like to be my new friend?」

The little bird swiveled its head towards the boy, staring at him for a moment, before flapping its wings and soaring into the sky without looking back, leaving him with an unpleasant smile on his face. 「…Seems I can't win in the protagonist's town either.」

Gaze unfocused for a short time afterwards, the scrawny boy eventually noticed the two sets of eyes that were trained in his direction. 「Oya? Naruto-kun is back! Are you done with your uber-important mission now?」

"Yeah, you could say that." the copy smoothly replied, unsure whether he should feel disturbed or amused by what he had just witnessed. "Raynare, you've got anything left to do here before we head out? Remember; we're just here to scout the area and plan something more concrete once the boss gets back."

Taking a gander at the gym, violet pupils studied the structure with an intensity that she had tried to keep under wraps for a while now, only now just cracking through her carefully laid façade. "…You have everything you need to plan a proper assault if necessary, right? Should it come to that?"

"I do."

"…Alright then, I suppose that this is good enough for-"

The fallen paused, her breath hitching suddenly. Attention glued onto something with an almost trancelike quality.

Scrunching his brow together, the blond took a step towards the supernatural woman and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong. Something that was made evidently clear as soon as he locked onto what she was looking at.

There was no need for asking what was wrong, there was simply nothing _right_ about the duo that had somehow found themselves in front of the closed gym's doors.

Cursing under his breath, Naruto quickly brought his hands together to make a familiar symbol, already aware that the option of retreat had been stripped from his hands. There was simply no way that that asshole of a priest hadn't already noticed _their_ presence.

"Kumagawa, stay here with my clone, we'll handle this in a flash!" the shinobi ordered in no uncertain terms, creating two clones beside him.

"Naruto-"

"I know, Raynare. I know. But we can't just let them die!"

Raynare was clenching her teeth together hard enough to crush rock, watching in mute horror as the two idiot exorcists proceeded to smash the doors leading into suspicious building.

She remembered these two, she remembered them quite vividly. How could she not? These were the two bitches that threatened her after she met with the devil leaders of this territory.

The fallen could've sworn that they had left the area already, but apparently they decided to stick around and fuck with her one last time before they moved on. More than that; how did they even find this place!?

She had no idea, all she knew was that Freed definitely knew that these two exorcists were here. Raynare had heard that the _Excaliburs_ thrummed when they neared other _Excaliburs_ , disregarding the ones already near them. Something that tended to happen to fragments of a powerful magical item that sought to reform.

But if that wasn't enough to tip him off, the loud sound of doors getting ripped out of their hinges would definitely help.

Baring her sharp canines, the fallen could only growl lowly in her throat, even as the blond beside her urged her to action.

Damn them…they were ruining her chance to get to Kokabiel…!

" _Raynare!"_

" _I know!_ " she finally snapped, viciously curbing her temper following that slip. "Just…just lead the way."

Sparing her a sympathetic pat, the clone followed through with her suggestion and jumped to the air, moving quickly after the exorcists that had just entered the building.

Taking another moment to center herself, Raynare spread her wings out and also prepared to jump, unwilling to let the copy handle things on his own.

「Good luck, crow-chan!」 she heard the annoying human chime behind her, practically _hearing_ his near-but-not-quite twisted smile in his voice.

It was times like these that the ravenette had to wonder whether being a 'good guy' was all that it was cracked up to be.

* * *

Naruto was nervously walking alongside Rias, following her mother through a massive hallway decorated with various paintings from famous artists across the Underworld. As well as gorgeous drapes that lined up with the murals all around them.

Approaching another set of double doors, the third set since he's arrived at this massive mansion, the shinobi kept his wits about him as he stayed close to the young heiress of the House. This wasn't exactly his field of expertise…at all.

So when Rias' mother entered through that large gateway into another room, which just so happened to have a long and imposing table that stretched from one end of the large room to the other, he was understandably wary of what came next.

"Welcome home at last, Rias!" a booming voice rang out the second that Naruto took a step inside the room. "And greetings to you young man, your reputation precedes you indeed!"

Rias groaned next to him. "Otou-sama…"

"Zeoticus." Venelena's voice, soft and melodic, still retained a hint of steel when it was aimed at the owner of the booming voice. "Please retain your dignity when speaking to honored guests. If I recall; you still have the responsibility of representing the honored House of Gremory to individuals and organizations outside our clan. Please keep that in mind would you, dear?"

The shinobi zeroed onto the source of the booming voice that had fallen into a low chuckle, chastened a bit, and what he saw was someone that he could _definitively_ say was probably related to the rich heiress right by him.

His long crimson hair was a big giveaway.

Standing at the end of the table that was long enough to take up the entire length of an average house, was a handsome man with crimson hair that was tied into a loose ponytail down his shoulders, a well-maintained stubble, and shining blue-green eyes that very much reminded the blond of a certain woman in his life. "Come now, dear, there is no need to be so formal in our home. Especially when this boy is obviously not just a simple guest."

"Let's not make too many assumptions yet, dear." Venelena's focus drifted towards the sole human in the room, a faint twinkle within her violet orbs. "Though I must admit that I wouldn't particularly mind if this young man would call me 'okaa-san' from now on…"

" _Okaa-sama!"_ the squeak in their daughter's voice was unmistakable. "Please stop teasing me!"

"Ah…" the man at the head of the table bowed his head, deflating. "It seems that our daughter doesn't appreciate my humor anymore…"

"A shame, I'm sure."

Swallowing the retort that she oh so wanted to give, the devil teenager just attempted to move past the teasing that her parents were giving her. "Otou-sama. Okaa-sama. I'm sorry to say that this isn't…quite a social call, I'm here for a reason."

"Oh, we're aware." Zeoticus remarked, pushing himself off of his seat so that he may join his wife. "The young man standing by your side is proof of that. He's quite…the figure in the Underworld these days."

"We just wanted to have a little fun before we got down to business, call it a 'parent thing' if you want." Venelena folded her hands together in front of her white dress, lips curving in a tender fashion.

"You know then…" the red-head pressed the blond's arm closer to her. "How is it? The Underworld?"

"As well as it could be with protests springing up, it's a rather novel experience. The last time protests sprung up in the Underworld; it eventually kickstarted the fall of the Old Maou government." Zeoticus explained, stepping forward to stand in front of the teens with his wife behind him. "So you can understand that many of the elites are somewhat…wary."

His eyes, so much like Rias', flickered towards the silent youth with whiskers, inspecting him. "All aimed at the young man that defied the arranged marriage that I had set up."

Naruto's shoulders squared up, tensing at the possible threat. Something that Rias recognized and opened her mouth to quickly settle, lest it raise the tension.

"Dear, I hope that you're not actually _upset_ that this young man gave our daughter her freedom to choose her spouse, are you?" thankfully, the bruenette mother and wife of the two red-heads in the room intervened with her gentle and knowing look.

"Of course not!" the father and husband of the family cried out, eyes bulging at the accusation. "I'm simply stating the facts of the matter, dear!"

His comically large eyes fell back to realistic proportions as he faced the spiky-haired male again. "If anything, that incident helped me grow as a father. I thought that Rias was like Venelena and I, who were brought together by an arranged marriage and grew to love one another. But I never imagined that she would be so determined to break the arrangement that she would enlist outside help…it was quite the shock. I should've been more considerate of my daughter's feelings."

Nodding his head, the older man smiled. "So, if anything, I should be thanking you, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

"…You know my name." Naruto mumbled, uncomfortable with the praise given to him.

Perhaps realizing this, the Head of the House smirked playfully. "I've heard quite a bit of you from Sirzechs and Riser. Though the latter was quite unwilling to give you any compliments, for obvious reasons."

"Wait." Rias interjected, eyes sharpening. "Riser and Onii-sama? I think I recall Riser saying something about that…why are they working together, Otou-sama?"

"Oh, I suppose you don't know, do you?" Venelena walked up to her daughter, violet orbs trained on her. "If Riser is to be believed, he claims to have been manipulated to attack Naruto-kun here during your last time in the Underworld, leading to that little fight. By none other than Diodora, of all people."

Watching the two pair of eyebrows widen from the young adults, Zeoticus decided to drop another atom bomb on the conversation. "More than that; he claims that Diodora was affiliated with the Old Maou Faction, and that someone amongst their number empowered him to turn into that phoenix. Apparently the connection that empowered him allowed him to sense the user's intentions for chaos, or something along those lines."

"S-Seriously?" Naruto stuttered out, mind racing. He couldn't quite fathom the idea that a little shit like that could be associated with an actual faction.

Then again, considering the things he had heard about this group; he wasn't exactly too surprised.

"I see…well, then that man was more heinous than I originally anticipated." even the devil heiress didn't expect for that monster to fall _that_ low. "Anyway, moving back to the topic at hand; can you take us to my Onii-sama? We'd like to speak with him to deal with this…'problem' that Naruto spawned."

Feeling the human set his sights squarely upon her, she made a quick amendment to her statement. "Accidentally."

"Ah, so this was your…friend's idea, hm?" Zeoticus took another second to glance at the blond before taking a step back. "Very well, I'm sure that Sirzechs would like to speak to him as well. Naruto-kun, if you would?"

Inviting him to follow, Naruto turned towards Rias, unsure whether he should do so.

She didn't give him any words of encouragement; she merely hugged his arm tighter to her soft body.

"Alright, let's go." forging ahead towards the real reason for his visit, Naruto followed his friend's advice and took a step to follow after the man of the house.

"Ah, Rias?"

That move was halted when the high-class devil's name was called by none other than her mother, forcing her to crane her head to look over her shoulder.

What she saw was a pleasant smile. A familiar pleasant smile. "Do you mind staying behind for a moment? I'd like to speak with you, privately."

Pursing her lips at the look that she had learned to listen to for most of her life, Rias spoke to the curious blond without taking her eyes off of her parent. "It's ok, Naruto. Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

Taking one more second to study her, he nodded and did as she suggested, sensing that he shouldn't be here for the ensuing discussion ahead.

There was a reason why mother _and_ daughter were staying behind, and the shinobi wasn't keen on figuring out why. That was a family matter.

Eventually left alone with her mother, Rias exchanged looks with the woman who birthed her, already aware of what was coming, expecting nothing less from her. "You have something that you wish to say, Okaa-sama?"

"Oh Rias…" Venelena closed her eyes, adopting a woeful expression. "You know precisely what I have to say. Your display in front of the servants will spread across the Underworld, especially to the other clans that had a vested interest in setting you up with their sons. You know how much our lovely servants love to gossip, don't you?"

Her violet gaze then narrowed faintly, a new suspicion lighting in those orbs. " …Unless that was your intention?"

Rias glanced away. "…If word spread that Naruto was arm-in-arm with me when I returned from the human world, then the nobles that would want to do him harm would recognize that he had the favor of the Gremory Clan's heiress. It would buy him some immunity."

The Lady of the House took a step inside her daughter's personal space. "Rias…is that the only reason that you decided to hold your friend as if you were lovers?"

"I-"

"Please don't lie to your mother, Rias. I was once a young woman too, if you could believe it."

The princess of the Gremory bit her lower lip, glancing away from the prodding focus that pierced through her. "…Where are you going with this, Okaa-sama?"

"I believe that you know where, dear." Venelena softly placed her hand onto the younger woman's shoulders, squeezing in comfort. "Rias…you _know_ that it won't work between you two."

"I-" Rias' eyelids fluttered as she clenched her fists. "I just wanted to understand what it felt like, that was all. That's _all._ Naruto and Mio-chan have each other to-"

She choked on her words, a sharp pang disrupting her, leaving a horrid taste in her mouth at the idea of what she had implied.

"…Oh…Rias…" Venelena murmured softly, seeing Rias' eyes become glassy as she stood there silently, supercharging her motherly instincts. She took another step and brought her arms around her daughter, not meeting any resistance. "…Thinking about it, you always did have a fascination with heroes."

Feeling her beautiful princess jerk faintly at her last words, she continued. "Don't you remember? How you always loved to hear about the stories about the princess and her handsome knight in shining armor? How you always dreamed of your own knight as a little girl?"

Memories of times where Rias would rest her small head on a pillow, staring into the ceiling as her mother's soothing voice read her stories of brave devil princes rescuing their loved ones from the evil angels flashed through her head. She remembered opening her window by her bedside, staring up into the sky with wonder at how _her_ prince would look like.

The fevered dreams of a young girl that wished for a hero to whisk her off of her feet.

"Perhaps this is a bit presumptive of me…but maybe you still have such feelings?" Venelena made sure to be careful with her next words. "Grayfia told me about how Naruto-kun cancelled your arranged marriage, and I must admit; many a young girl would _dream_ of such an event. That isn't anything to be ashamed of."

"Are you saying that I'm shallow?" the red-head had to ask, voice nothing more than a whisper.

"Everyone is shallow when they're young. That being said; what if it was someone else that saved you that day? Someone else that became your 'hero'? Are you sure that you wouldn't have developed feelings for him?"

"I-" Rias shivered, the idea implanting itself upon her, refusing to let its grip falter. "I wouldn't go that far, after all; I didn't try and pursue him. He has someone else-" Oh, how it hurt to say that, even now.

"Which is probably the smartest thing you could have done, Rias." Venelena genuinely looked sympathetic to her plight. "He's human, dear. He won't live as long as you, and he will one day die; leaving you alone with a broken heart. And that's something that I don't want for you, as your mother."

Silence befall the two women, leaving the heiress to mull over the possibility, not liking it, but unable to dismiss it entirely. "…I don't know, Okaa-sama. I just don't know…"

"It's fine to be confused about all of this, dear." Venelena softly combed through long crimson hair, doing her best soothe her wavering daughter. "Just think on what I've said. I would normally indulge you with your…'romance', but I can see that this one will do more harm than good to you. Trust me on this. Even if you yourself can't see that you're truly attracted to that boy, I can. Recognize that fact…and deal with it properly, ok?"

"Yes, Okaa-sama." Rias managed to shrink into herself without moving a muscle, head bowed and listless.

Her mother's lips brushed her forehead. "I know this is difficult, Rias. But I have faith that you'll do the right thing. You _are_ my daughter, after all."

* * *

Xenovia kept her grip firmly clasped around the hilt of her piece of _Excalibur_ , hyper aware of her surroundings as she delved deeper into the inner sanctum of the -probable- enemy base.

She could feel her chosen weapon thrum in anticipation, alerting her to the presence of other _Excalibur_ fragments, though that feeling was beginning to die down. Just like her _Excalibur_ fragment's meeting with _Excalibur Mimic_ , held by her ally; Irina.

Speaking of which... "Irina, do you feel that?"

"Yeah." for all of Irina's flaws, she could still be a reliable partner when the situation called for it. "It feels like we're being watched."

After the two exorcists followed after that fallen angel and eventually lost track of her; they were forced to search the surrounding area for any clues. Eventually leading them to the general vicinity of the gym, which apparently contained other fragments of _Excalibur_.

At least if their own fragments were accurate. "Keep your guard up, Irina. We don't know what kind of crazy heretic we might encounter here-"

"Yoooo, what's up, bitches!?"

Xenovia whipped out her _Excalibur Destruction_ , who wielded it in a guarded position as Irina brought out a scrunchie that transformed into a katana; her _Excalibur Mimic_.

Before them; Freed emerged from the shadows of the stairs that led to the bottom floor, carrying himself like a man with class. "I knew I smelled some virgins around here! What does a couple of nuns want with little ole' me?"

"Freed Sellzen. Rogue exorcist of the Church." Xenovia refused to be distracted from her main objective; getting the _Excalibur_ fragment. "We sensed one of the fragments of _Excalibur_ within the confines of this building…and after choosing to inspect it, we find you. That can only mean that you, indeed, are associated with the Fallen Angel Faction, are you not?"

"Eh…why are you worrying about the small details, little girl?" Freed stuck his tongue out languidly, smirking even with it hanging out. "All you need to know is this; I'm gonna kill you and turn you both, cut you guys up, and then parade your bodies around like piñatas so that all the good little boys and girls could beat them with sticks!"

He cackled at the idea, red eyes glowing in anticipation. "And then I'll kill 'em! A happy ending for everyone!"

"…He's kinda crazy, Xenovia…" Irina liked to state the obvious, but this time Xenovia could understand her need to do so.

Even with the reports on the man's mental stability, or lack thereof, this was still more extreme than either of them could've predicted.

"Come on kiddies! Let's play!" from the depths of his dark coat, the insane man pulled a blade, it's material shining like stainless steel. Though that was really the only noteworthy thing about it; it actually looked quite plain. "Let's see how you like this! _Excalibur Transparency!_ "

Raising his sword arm, the blade simmered sharply for all of a second, almost like a mirage in the middle of a horrifying drought.

Then, as if choosing to complete that analogy; the blade _vanished_. And it just so happened to take the user right along with it.

" _Transparency_ …" the more serious of the pair of exorcists scowled, shrugging off her white cloak to reveal the standard exorcist battle suit that was hugging her impressive form. "This will be difficult, but not impossible! The sword cannot make a poor swordsman anything less than mediocre!"

"Exactly!" Irina followed suit, her own battle suit revealed, which covered just a tad more skin than her counterpart's. "With God on our side, there's no way that we'll lose!"

"Ohyo~! That's so fuckin' _cute!_ " their enemy's voice came from all around them, though they knew that to be impossible. "But it won't be me who will die from how adorable you're both being!"

Moving back-to-back, both young women watched their surroundings and took extra care to listen for any disturbances, aware that that was the only real way that they could fight their adversary.

For a little bit, there was nothing but silence that met the ears of the fellow _Excalibur_ users, raising the tension to a high that frayed on their nerves. In such things; it was always the wait that burned them.

So it was somewhat understandable for their hearts to nearly jump out of their chests when a blur barreled into the two of them without warning, sending them to the ground. " _Get down!_ "

The whistling sounds of a blade cutting through empty air became obvious to all, as well as the whine that erupted from an invisible throat.

That blur, which had left them as soon as they stopped rolling, solidified into a more solid shape, turned away from them and focused onto the area that the whine had come from. "Get up you two! I ain't looking to get popped by a nobody like this bastard!"

Forced to quickly right herself, Xenovia's eyes widened at the familiar sight that greeted her as soon as she recovered her bearings. "N-Naruto!?"

The boy that she had seen merely minutes prior was standing before her, facing away from her and towards the spot that they had recently vacated. "Yeah, that's me. Now help me out here; the bastard is nothing if not slippery."

"Wait." Irina stood back up, legs a little shaky at the rough tumble. "Weren't you back at the commercial area or something? What are you doing way out here?"

Her violet eyes widened, a smile blossoming at the idea that popped in her head. "Can it be that you're a spy for the Church!? Oh! That would explain why you helped us earlier!"

"Wait-what?" blue eyes turned to look at the two in bewilderment. "How the hell did you reach that conclusion?"

"Oh! That would also explain why he was with that devil earlier! He must've been trying to ingratiate himself into the devil's inner circle!" Xenovia chimed in, exuberant that she figured out this anomaly of a man. "That would explain everything!"

The clone didn't refute them, finding the entire thing too bizarre to argue against, besides, he was too focused on the whereabouts of their annoying enemy.

It was only thanks to the copy's focus that he was able to hear the soft and tiny ***click*** that came from somewhere to his right.

The shinobi's arm became a smear of movement; sending off two shuriken to the general vicinity of the noise at such speeds, that the whistling sounds that they made seemed to ring out at roughly the same time to the sound of them connecting.

A gasp later, and the sound of a man crumpling to the floor vindicated the blond's strikes. "Y-You blond son of a bitch-"

Blood mysteriously dripped from thin air, giving the clone enough of a hint to the exact location of their little adversary. "Give it up already, buddy. You're outgunned _and_ outnumbered dattebayo."

He heard nothing except an angry moan coming from the spot on the floor that Freed landed on.

Behind it, Xenovia leaned to her comrade. "…Dattebayo?"

Irina shrugged. "Sounds like a verbal tic to me."

"Let's not get that conversation started." Naruto groaned. "Back to serious shit; what did you want with this guy?"

"Oh, apologies. I didn't consider the fact that your stint undercover has left you in the dark. I'll tell you about our mission parameters now." smiling softly, the woman with short blue hair seemed to be all too willing to tell him everything. "We were sent by the higher ups to find and secure the _Excalibur_ fragments from Kokabiel; a traitor that we think is harboring them in the area. Considering that the criminal; Freed Sellzen, is here…I'd say that Kokabiel's presence is pretty much confirmed."

The clone of Uzumaki Naruto narrowed his eyes at the rush of information, hearing familiar and unfamiliar things all at once. Given a far clearer picture of what was going on. "Alright then, if you want; feel free to take the sword he's got. But leave Freed to me."

"That's acceptable." beaming, the serious exorcist seemed more than ready to accept the compromise. "You have our thanks, Naruto."

Taking a second to look at the groaning mess that was bleeding out, the blond felt a spark of hope that this entire fiasco could actually end up blowing over without any real consequences. That the amount of shit that was thrown his way could be counted on a single hand this time around.

That hope was dashed when a group of men emerged from the flight leading downstairs, freezing in their tracks at the sight that greeted them.

They were all wearing clothes fit for priests.

"…I'm gonna stop hoping dattebayo…" the clone remarked, bringing out a kunai to get this over with as quickly as possible.

The staredown, which commenced as soon as the new challengers appeared out of nowhere, would have continued if it wasn't for the insane scream of their fucked up leader. "What the hell are you bloodbags waiting for!? _Kill them!_ "

* * *

Naruto waited for something to happen, he felt the weight of the silence that had engulfed the room he has inhabited begin to grate on him.

Both; Naruto and Rias, were waiting for the go-ahead that they needed to access Sirzechs' palace. Apparently Lord Gremory needed to go through some kind of official channel to reach his own son, something that was necessary to prevent a conflict of interest, or something along those lines.

Quite a bit of time has passed since they went ahead and left to do just that, leaving the two teenagers in a guest room. By themselves.

With a strangely quiet Rias.

It took a while for the crimson princess to follow after him when Zeoticus told him about what he needed to do and left him in the guest room, but she was practically a different person when compared to when he last saw her.

Whatever talk she had with her mother must've left one hell of an impression on her, because he had never seen her so troubled before. It honestly left him kind of worried.

Something that was only made worse when he tried to talk to her, and she responded with only a strained smile, which she used to assure him.

It achieved the exact opposite. "Rias, are you sure-?"

"I'm fine, Naruto." she sure as hell didn't sound fine. "I'm just…thinking. That's all."

"Yeah, I get that. It's just that…well…you're kinda ignoring me. Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No!" finally, some life erupted from her eyes, removing the cloudiness that occupied it prior. "This isn't about you, I promise!"

The shinobi's frown remained, unconvinced. Which was probably why Rias stretched her hand out and moved to cup his cheek.

But she stopped as soon as her fingers brushed against his skin, her arm retracting as if she was just burned.

There was no way that she could've missed the flash of hurt that passed through his face. "Naruto-"

"Alright!" Zeoticus entered the guest room, boisterous in attitude and voice. "You two have been given express permission to teleport into Sirzechs' inner sanctum. You can leave when you're ready."

At first he smiled at the two teens resting in the room, but his positive demeanor faltered when he noticed the tense atmosphere. "Is…there something wrong?"

"Nothing." Rias remarked, swiftly getting onto her feet. "Let's get moving. Naruto?"

Standing up alongside his friend, he couldn't help but notice the distance she was keeping between them. "Yeah, lead the way."

It was painfully obvious that there was a shift in her attitude, and that belief was only hardened as their silence stretched on while they traversed to the waiting magical construct that would teleport them to their next destination.

Waiting for them by that very teleportation circle was Venelena, expressing a unique mix between maternal care and stern authority. "Rias, be careful while you're with Sirzechs. Last I checked; there were many powerful nobles that have been seeing your brother recently, probably to speak to him about the protests that have been inflicting our society. It's likely that you'll see some big names, so keep your chin high and remember your education."

"Yes, of course, Okaa-sama." used to her mother's tough love, the crimson princess knew full well that the older woman meant well. "I'll stay on guard."

Eyes that shared the same shade as the surface of the clean seawater tilted down to aim at the beautifully tiled floor, obviously troubled, even if they weren't verbalized in the presence of her friend and her parents. "I'll try not to disappoint you."

Even as she listened, the brunette's serious look melted right off, leaving the motherly love to shine through her eyes. "Rias…all we can do, as parents, is nudge you in the direction that we feel would benefit you. We can't control your actions. In the end; _you_ make your choice. That's what your friend won for you, didn't he?"

Soft lips pressed onto the crown of Rias' head, brushing away some of her vibrant red hair. "Whatever you choose to do in the end, I promise to support you in the end, ok?"

Before her very eyes, her daughter's mouth fell open into a perfectly circular 'o', before clamping shut and twisting into a smile. "I understand, Okaa-sama."

"Good." Venelena looked pleased, especially when she glanced towards the young man that was owlishly moving his focus between the two women, trying to read between the lines.

Even if she didn't particularly approve of a relationship, physical or otherwise, between this boy and her daughter…she still had to admit that he looked adorable. "I hope to see you again, Naruto-kun. Please take care of my daughter in the foreseeable future."

"I don't really understand what's going on, but you got it!" Naruto offered her a classic thumbs up as the two teens stepped into the magic circle, ignoring the groan that Rias let loose next to him. "I'll always try and keep the people that I care about safe!"

"Hear that, dear?" Zeoticus commented, a wry smile edging its way onto his lips. "He considers our daughter to be someone that he cares about."

"I know, isn't that cute?" Venelena cupped her cheek, flashing a teasing smile at the flushed heiress of their clan. "I'm not going to lie, Rias, you sure know how to pick your 'friends', hm?"

" _Okaa-sama!"_ Rias' embarrassed squeak rang out right after a crimson light enveloped her and Naruto, transporting them away from the Gremory estate.

That left the Lord and Lady of the House by themselves. "So, what do you think of our daughter's new friend?"

Zeoticus smiled at his wife, as positive as ever, a trait that was definitely passed down to their son. "I have no objections whatsoever."

"Of course you don't…" Venelena sighed. "Well, personally I hope that such a thing won't occur between those two. That being said…"

"That being said…?" her husband leaned closer to her, leaving a breathy whisper by her ear.

She shivered, suddenly wanting to move onto… _other_ subjects. "…He's charming, and if push came to shove, I don't think that I'd mind it so much."

"I'm sure." an arm snaked around Venelena's thin waist, bringing her closer to him. "Speaking of which; I'd like to move away from this topic and partake in a different _activity_ , would you care to join me, my dear wife?"

"Oh." the brunette giggled into her palms as her hands snaked across her Lord's chest. "I thought that you'd _never_ ask."

* * *

After being ordered to fall under the command of Freed Sellzan, the middle-aged man with the scar over the bridge of his nose; a former exorcist under the Catholic Church, figured that he would probably die within the week.

He had come to terms with it. It wasn't like he had any other choice in the matter.

But when he was signaled by his insane superior to fall in onto his position after waiting on standby thanks to that little device he had, he found himself face-to-face with a group of young adults.

They did not look like friends of the fallen exorcist at all.

Then he received his directive. "What the hell are you bloodbags waiting for!? _Kill them!_ "

And so their commander ordered them like dogs against a group of teenagers, whom all just so happened to be ready and willing to fight.

And yet the bearded man froze in place.

But that wasn't what made the man pause in the end, despite the vehement tone that was conveyed in their leader's order. It wasn't the fact that this small group of youths genuinely looked like they were able to fight like veterans. Nor was it the fact that their boss was nowhere to be found.

It was the fact that they all looked like a mere few years older than his sole daughter.

It shook him, and threw him off of his game for a moment, but he was able to swallow his misgivings. He didn't have a choice in the matter.

As one, he and his compatriots charged forward, aiming to take down the group that threatened their boss. Regardless of how they felt about it.

What happened next would burn itself into the mind of the bearded de-facto lieutenant of the group.

It happened so fast; one second the entire group of teens were staring at them as they made their attack. The next?

One of the teens just went up and vanished from existence.

It turned out that he didn't disappear; he was just fast.

To him; it felt like the boy was as fast as lightning, something which should've been impossible. But when he saw several exorcists around him suddenly fall over unconscious or get knocked several meters away, he began to feel his doubts wane.

With practiced hands, the leader unsheathed his blade of light and swung it at a wide arc around him, a roar emerging from his throat. "Don't let this speedster get close, men!"

Five men were taken out in a flash; but ten were able to follow his instructions and swing their own light swords to ward off their incredibly fast enemy.

This move seemed to be successful in keeping their enemy at bay for a bit, since the blond just so happened to appear in front of their formation in a crouched position; frowning at being thwarted.

He didn't seem particularly upset though…

A bad feeling crawled up the bearded man's spine when several of his men broke out of their formation to charge the solitary blond. Exactly five of them charged impetuously; with two moving towards the man's right, two going left, and one going headlong towards him.

All while a shadow of a smirk pulled at the teen's lips while he watched them come.

"Wait, everyone, it's a trap-!"

" _Haaaaah!_ "

Appearing in front of the boy with wild hair and strange markings on his cheeks was one of the swordswomen; her shoulder-length blue hair framing her fierce eyes as she caught the first light sword that attempted to cut down her comrade through the hip. Something which was accomplished by carrying her massive blade in a vertical guard position in front of her.

Falling back onto what must've been instinct; the young woman then lightly pushed her broadsword towards the two fallen exorcists on her right. Nudging the blow away, quintessentially.

Which just so happened to create a vicious whirlwind that bodily threw the two men back, planting them on the wall despite the soft nature of the 'parry'.

Forced to think fast so as to deal with this new threat, the exorcist that was stopped by the woman with the large and powerful blade attempted to spin around her guard and slash at her side.

Something which failed miserably when a foot rammed into his face, courtesy of the blond that jump kicked over the Church-aligned swordswoman, covering her wordlessly.

At the same time; the two fallen exorcists on their left were scooped off of their feet when they pulled out their light pistols, thanks to the other teenaged female exorcist that had just casually changed her katana into a rope.

Behind the leader of the group of exorcists, the rest of his men watched their allies get taken down methodically by the young adults, making them wary of overextending like their brethren.

One of them had the misfortune of backing up a bit, finding resistance when his back pushed against someone's body.

A whisper brushed against his ear. "Now that's not very nice… _friend_ …"

His body was literally lifted up off of the floor by a dainty hand and thrown against another poor shmuck; leaving only three exorcists, save for their leader and Freed.

Hearing the commotion, the entire group turned around to see nothing but pure leathery black in the form of two pairs of wings, which happened to be folded around the newcomer, cloaking them.

But no one could mistake the unique wings of the fallen angel. "K-Kokabiel-sama…?"

The fallen exorcist that muttered that out fearfully was slammed away along with his remaining comrades after the fallen's wings snapped open without warning, uncaring of the proximity of the humans.

With her wings fully extended, the ravenette glowered at the group that was blown away from her, grumbling under her breath at the mess she was dragged into due to the negligence and stupidity of the Church. At least to her point of view.

"A fallen angel…" the scarred man warily gazed at her, sending furtive glances back to her and her allies behind him. "For you to be here…have we been betrayed by Kokabiel-sama…?"

The supernatural entity's sharp pupils lazily dragged to the bearded man, barely bothering to acknowledge him. "…Sorry to say, I'm not with that man."

Chocolate eyes blinked, his form faltering. "Huh? Well then who are-?"

" _Diiiiiiiieee!_ "

"No."

The screech that could've only come from Freed Sellzen was halted prematurely when the blond, whom he had targeted, shot his leg out and caught him in the air. Only to bring his heel down into the floor, with the hapless man caught in between.

Just like that, Freed was brought low, and his legendary sword was knocked out of his grasp. Meaning that his body had finally rematerialized and became visible to everyone around him.

The scarred man watched all of this unfold with morbid acceptance. He had already guessed that Freed Sellzen would lead him and his men to ruin, it just happened to occur faster than he expected it to.

"Geez, Naruto…" the fallen angel growled, obviously displeased. "Instead of forcing me to jump in, you could've just taken them out on the fly, right? Even with their little formation."

"Maybe." the boy with whiskers apparently conceded. "But I didn't want to run the risk of getting hurt, so I played it safe. Nice job flanking them by the way, Raynare."

It seemed that the group of young adults were just ignoring the bearded leader by this point, too focused on one another to care about his presence. "Naruto…is that fallen angel trustworthy?"

"She's with me, don't worry." the one known as 'Naruto' eased the woman with short blue hair, squinting his eyes at her after a moment. "And don't think that I forgot about what you did to Mio, by the way. I'm just here because it looked like that you needed help."

"You really are a good person, Naruto-san! God really has smiled upon us for Him to send you as His messenger!"

"…I don't know how to answer that dattebayo."

"Um…" the oldest male in the room felt it prudent to try and defend himself before the group before him attacked him.

Unfortunately, now that he was the last one standing, he could feel the weight of their stares lock onto him.

"So, what do we do with him?" the fallen felt the need to look down on the fallen exorcist, seeing nothing of value. "I don't recognize him, so I doubt he's high up there in Kokabiel's hierarch."

She wasn't wrong. "I'm nobody important, just a soldier doing as ordered."

"And why did you do as ordered?" the blond questioned, openly interested. "What made you side with Kokabiel, exactly?"

"I doubt that this man has anything meaningful to say on that subject matter, Naruto." the swordswoman with dark yellow eyes scowled. "I wouldn't take anything he says seriously whatsoever."

Despite her voiced doubts, the enemy exorcist answered the query. "Like most of my men; I didn't really have a say in the matter, kid."

"Everyone's got a choice." Naruto retorted, refusing to back down, as usual.

"…Then I didn't have any _decent_ choices." the fallen exorcist amended, his dark eyes narrowing. "I could either do as I was ordered, or my daughter could face the consequences."

Many of the individuals who were involved with the Church also had family members who were involved with it as well. The fact of the matter was; the Church provided many under its purview with a massive safety net. It kept the families of exorcists and their agents fed and taken care of.

So, if a powerful bishop of the Church just so happened to have hidden sympathies towards Kokabiel's views, and just so happened to have control over your family's housings and general livelihood...well, there wasn't much that some could do.

Which was why the fallen exorcist was there; despite the fact that he was _technically_ supposed to be in France.

"Blackmail, hm? That does sound like something Kokabiel…er…Kokabiel- _sama_ would do." Raynare scowled, crossing her arms. "That doesn't mean that he's telling the truth though."

"I doubt that that monster could convince an honorable bishop of the Church to act in such a way…" the more serious of the two exorcists remarked, hoisting her massive sword over her shoulder.

"Then you don't go out enough, obviously…" no one could pretend to miss the sarcastic tone in the fallen angel's voice.

The target for her derision most certainly didn't, since she shot a dark scowl her way.

"Then let me give you another choice." Naruto cut in, ignoring the women that were glaring at one another next to him. "It may not seem that way, but Raynare over here actually has the ear of Grigori's leader; Azazel. If you help us, I'm sure that we could help you out by shining some light onto the situation…especially to the Church leadership."

The scarred man nearly broke his neck when he snapped it up, unable to fathom what he had just heard. "W-What? Is this true, miss?"

"…Naruto isn't _wrong_ , so yes, I suppose it's true." Raynare felt the edges of her lips twist up at the gawking faces of the exorcists that ruined her stealth mission by being idiots. "Surprised?"

Taking a second to squeeze the wielder of _Excalbur Destruction's_ shoulder in an effort to hold her back from jumping at her 'enemy', blue eyes trained themselves back onto the man ostensibly aligned with Kokabiel. "If you can help us out a bit, I'm sure that Raynare could help you out. And if that's not a guarantee enough; then I can help too. I actually have a bit of clout over Azazel as well."

"He's not lying." turned out that Raynare was pretty decent at being a wingman.

"Think he's telling the truth, Xenovia?"

"…If our assumptions about him were correct, then it's quite possible that this man has infiltrated deep into the Grigori's command structure. He must be a big deal…"

Everyone ignored the fallen's incredulous snort.

"How can I trust you to keep your word, though?"

Naruto gestured at the bodies around him. "What have you got to lose? No one will hear of your betrayal, and you don't want to keep your family at risk, right? If nothing else; I can respect that dattebayo."

This much was true; there really wasn't much for him to risk if he went through with this…he could easily play ignorant if need be. It wasn't like he was _loyal_ or anything.

"What's your name, guy?" if the shinobi was going to get some info, he -it- felt it prudent to at least hear this guy's name. Even if he was just a pawn in a larger game; a nobody that was dragged into this by sheer circumstance.

He was still a man; and deep inside…Naruto didn't want to forget that.

"You're too soft…Naruto." the blond had to smile at the pinch of concern in Raynare's voice, even if she didn't agree with his actions.

"Kiyohira."

All eyes turned to the turncoat that had just given out his last name, a hard look overcoming the man's features. "My name is Kiyohira."

Meeting the scarred man's gaze, Naruto knew that he had just gained his first insider to Kokabiel's efforts in Kuoh Town.

* * *

Naruto's clone looked down onto the fallen form of his temporary student, intrigued and impressed all at once. "You've come far, I think that you almost have the jutsu down at this point."

"Really…?" Koneko didn't sound as confident as the copy was. "How can you…tell?"

"Trust me; I can tell. You've got the general form down, but you're still gonna need some practice in using it in live combat. That being said; you learned how to utilize that technique ridiculously fast dattebayo…"

The _rook_ raised her head from the ground, her sweat sticking her bangs onto her forehead. "…How long did it take you, sempai?"

"A _long_ time." Naruto drawled, eyes glazing over at the memories that this conversation had recalled.

Sensing her de-facto teacher's attention drift; Koneko swallowed her misgivings and asked something else. "What's left?"

"To work on? Well, outside of what I mentioned; you should try to imagine their movements, since they are most effective when acting as a decoy. If clones act like you and move like you; then you've got an invaluable tool in your favor. Got it?"

"Understood." Koneko dragged her body up, her legs shook when she began to rely on them to hold her weight up, but she managed to stay upright. "…Naruto-sempai?"

Blue eyes warmly gazed into hazel. The clone had to stop himself from reaching out and petting his kohai. "Yeah?"

"…Do you think-" she faltered, tripping over herself physically and verbally. "-that I'm stronger now?"

Koneko slipped, the lack of strength in her limbs contributed in her fall and was now preventing her from catching herself before she cracked her nose on the hard floor.

She had been forcing her body to utilize chakra to an extent that she has never done before, all that after she has completely avoided using her innate power in any meaningful capacity.

The progress she has made was only possible through her determination and unwillingness to stop; as well as the mental stress she put herself through. The technique was simple in theory, but more difficult than one would expect in practice.

Creating a copy of yourself down to the last detail…a useful ability.

She only hoped that her efforts would make a difference.

Resigned to the painful collision she was about to endure, the _rook_ was surprised to feel a sense of warmth envelope her.

"Yeah." she heard the boy that was helping her say, the grin on his face obvious through his voice. "I do think you've gotten stronger. And I couldn't be prouder dattebayo."

A hint of a smile made its way onto Koneko's face, pleased to hear that from someone like her sempai.

Drawing out a smile from him in return, the whiskered teen turned away from the _rook's_ resting features to glance over the ceiling railings, focused on something far off.

Just what was going on out there? He felt the boss disappear from existence and another clone go off to do their own thing way off in the other side of town.

Whatever was going on, the clone could only hope that he wasn't missing anything important.

* * *

"So it's true….Kokabiel really is trying to start a war. That must be why he's stealing the _Excalibur_ swords."

"Can we be positive that this man is telling the truth? I also have my doubts about _you_ as well, fallen angel…"

"Now listen here…"

Naruto's clone growled audibly. "Listen, Xenoiva, right? Quit antagonizing Raynare, she's with me, alright?"

The woman known as Xenovia flushed at being called out, which deepened further at the sly smirk that the fallen woman threw her way.

"Quit antagonizing Xenovia, Raynare." the blond sounded tired. The other female exorcist probably noticed that too, since she patted him on the back so as to soothe him.

"…How the hell did you even notice that…?" the ravenette had to wonder while she scowled at the sly look _she_ was receiving from the more annoying of the two exorcists.

All of this happened while Irina stood between the two women, leaving her with a front row seat to the dark looks that were being exchanged. Her shaky smile the only proof that she was stuck in an unenviable position.

"I understand that what I claimed might be hard to believe, but I can guarantee its validity. I can also definitively say that many of his underlings are allied with him precisely so that they could reignite a war with the other Christian factions." the rogue exorcist continued to explain, disregarding the inner conflict in the young group in front of him. "There are some people who joined specifically so that they could get access to resources that they wouldn't be able to normally...especially when they aren't well liked to the main Christian factions."

At that last bit, Xenovia broke off from her glaring contest to look at her partner, seeing her realization get reflected in other exorcist's violet gaze, as well as her slight concern. Her focus then turned to the blond, who was giving her a pointed look. "...Well, this piece of information explains some things."

"Yeah, like why the _Genocide Archbishop_ is associated with Kokabiel." Irina chimed in, her distaste obvious in her tone of voice.

"The _Genocide Archbishop_?" the Naruto clone felt like he was left out of the loop, and made his displeasure known. "Who's that?"

"Judging from the title? A bad man." Raynare noted dryly, before propping her chin with a finger in thought. "It also sounds a bit familiar to me..."

"Honestly, it isn't too important in the grand scheme of things." the Church warrior with blue hair assured, more to the teenager with whiskers than to anyone else. "The main focus here should be centered on securing the _Excalibur_ fragments, seeing as that they definitely have the means to empower someone with the ability to wield one of those legendary blades."

Her gaze flickered to the unconscious form of Freed, scowling. "Even to those who are _very_ unworthy."

"Right." 'Naruto' faced the recent turncoat from Kokabiel's group, smiling. "You've definitely cleared some things up for us, but do you have any idea where the main big bad actually is?"

The gruff man had to stare at the spiky-haired youth blankly for a moment before he understood what he asked of him. "Ah...well, unfortunately I can't say. I wasn't high enough up in the food chain to know about such things. But maybe Freed might know something?"

The sole fallen in the room groaned, and the clone could empathize with her frustration. Their original plan was literally based on following Freed to a hidden base so that they could piece together Kokabiel's presence in Kuoh. From there; they could've planned a course of action that could've flushed out the other possible locations that their allies were using. It wasn't like they would've known that they were watching or anything.

All of that went out the window the second the two exorcists invaded the closed gym though.

"Well..." the clone attempted to soften the blow that his fallen friend was definitely feeling by coming with a solution. "Maybe we could interrogate him and find something out?"

Even the blond knew how unlikely it was that the insane man would even give them accurate information, let alone fold to anything they tried, no matter how distasteful. So Raynare definitely recognized that fact too.

"Well, dealing with Kokabiel is outside of our mission parameters, so we aren't exactly looking for that fight, Naruto." Xenovia walked away from the group, kneeling in front of Freed's unmoving body. "Our objective is to collect the _Excalibur_ fragments, so I hope that you don't mind that we confiscate Freed's weapon...?"

She left her words open ended, almost as if she wasn't sure what the strangely powerful human would do in response, even after he suggested as such earlier.

Turned out that she didn't have anything to worry about. "Eh, feel free. I don't really care for them to be honest."

Irina smiled brightly as her partner hastily followed through and grabbed the dangerous weapon. "Thank you so much for the assist by the way, we weren't expecting someone to be talented enough to effectively utilize an _Excalibur_ fragment here. You have our thanks, Naruto-kun! Our Most Heavenly Father smiles upon you!"

"He must certainly does." the short-haired woman beside her inclined her head in respect and smiled softly. "This wasn't the first time that you helped us in our time of need. If we're in the area, and you need our aid, feel free to ask and we'll deliver."

She paused, thinking about her statement, and then made an amendment. "Within reason, of course. Agents need to work together, right?"

Her ensuing wink left the blond befuddled and the fallen bemused. "...Sure?"

Offering nothing more than an enigmatic smile, as if she were sharing a secret, the woman turned on her heel and made her way out of the gym with her ally in tow, mighty pleased with herself. Obviously.

Watching her leave, the blond tried to make sense of certain portions of their conversation, but came out short. He eventually decided to give it up and look at the turncoat beside him. "Hey, mister? Do you think it'd be believable if we 'kidnapped' Freed after knocking you lot out, y'know...just abandoning you guys here?"

"I doubt that there'd be too many questions, since not too many people are held accountable in this rogue group of ours." the scruffy man raised his head, lips thinning once he met the blond's eyes once more. "...Can you really help me?"

"Worried, eh?" the copy nudged the fallen next to him, giving her a meaningful look. "Azazel isn't looking for war, right?"

"He most certainly isn't." Raynare allowed a scowl to mar her beautiful features once she did a quick scan of the unconscious bodies around her. "Neither am I, for that matter."

Kiyohira, the man that was merely a pawn in the grand game that was power politics, nodded carefully, his mind firmly focused on what he could do. "It... _should_ be fine then. At worst, we'll be punished for not trying hard enough...but Kokabiel is short on manpower, so I doubt that he'd kill us..."

"Try hard enough, huh?" 'Naruto' smirked, checking his surroundings. "If you want, we can make it more obvious that you lot fought long and hard, would that help your chances?"

The end of the lowly warrior's cracked lips twitched up, leading into a wide smile. "I'd like that, kid."

Maybe he could get out of this mess alive after all.

* * *

Naruto thought that all of the buildings that he has seen in the Underworld so far have been pretty ostentatious in design, and expensive. And big.

So, really, he shouldn't have been surprised to see the massive structure that essentially acted like the waiting area for the throne room, which consisted of a giant semicircular room filled to the brim with comfortable couches and seats that people could sink into.

And of course, there were the giant double doors that led to the throne room itself.

What was with devil architecture and giant double doors?

The second he and Rias had arrived to the waiting room via magic circle, the Gremory teen told him to wait as she spoke to her brother to explain the situation. So the shinobi was left to _really_ consider his situation.

No matter how he looked at it, unless the blond had Rias by his side the entire time, he might actually make this entire issue worse then before...

"Ah, there's the man I was hoping to see!"

Naruto raised his head and found himself looking at a distinguished looking man with caramel-colored skin and short blue hair, as well as strange markings that were etched onto his cheeks underneath his sharp dark eyes.

In a word, he didn't look friendly. "Uh...were you talking to me?"

"Of course, of course!" the man bowed in a flourish of movement. "It is a pleasure to meet a man of such power; which is immense, as your battle against Riser Phenex proved all too well."

Breath hitched, the teenager checked the double doors that led to the throne room, finding no help there, forcing him to face this mysterious man alone. "...How do you know me? Was it because of my fight with Riser, or-?"

"That's precisely how I recognized you, young warrior. Your battle has been quite the topic for study by many devils in the Underworld you see, and your visage has been plastered across our television screens for quite some time now."

"I-I see." Naruto didn't like the sound of that. His entire modus operandi was _based_ on hiding his powers from the wider public. If they were studied at length, then it could be countered by more and more people.

Well, at least not _all_ of his powers were displayed in that battle, so he still had some leeway, thankfully.

"If I could be frank for a moment, I was actually quite surprised to see someone as young as yourself become such a topic of contention. Beyond the wrath you probably inspired from the Phenex clan, you've also made yourself into a target by the nobility of the Underworld _and_ a figure of inspiration to the lower-class devils. That's rather impressive!" the man gushed, not aware that every word served to hammer the human's guilt deeper into his heart.

He should apologize to Rias when he sees her again. "Yeah, I suppose that that is pretty impressive dattebayo..."

The older male's countenance retained its positivity when he studied the blond's dampening mood. "Well, it's pretty obvious to me that you're not used to the way us nobles do things, if your attitude and opinions about us during the illustrious Maou Lucifer's party didn't make that clear enough. So perhaps this truly is a fortuitous meeting."

There was a twinkle in the devil's eye when the blond swerved his focus towards him. "Don't worry, I may be a noble, but I personally don't have any stake in retaining any status quo within this society of ours. As a matter of fact, I admire your straightforwardness. So much so that I'd be willing to work with you to soothe out the ruffled feathers of the nobility, if you'd let me."

Naruto's eyebrows rose above his hairline. "...Why would you help me?"

"Surely you don't find it too outrageous that there'd be nobles such as myself who'd like to see things change, right?" the man smirked now, his tatooes on his cheeks contorting. "I'm not high up the food chain myself, you see, and not many _can_ rise higher the way things are. So I'm not too adverse to the idea of shaking the apple cart a little bit, so to speak."

Seeing the doubt still dance in the teen's blue orbs, the noble made a wide gesture towards the door leading to the exit at the opposite side of the entrance of the throne room. "Perhaps I could convince you of my sincerity by taking a stroll outside? We can hammer out the details as we walk and talk, I'm sure that you'll find what I have to say most pleasing."

Taking a second to consider the noble's words, the shinobi couldn't find a reason to decline the man's words, it wasn't like he was making a commitment or anything. What did he have to lose exactly?

Getting his rear end off of the comfortable couch he was sitting on, the blond figured that a little walk wouldn't hurt, especially if he got back before Rias returned-

"Ara, and what do you seem to be doing, Naruto- _kun_?"

Speak of the devil, literally in this case.

Both men turned to see the beautiful Gremory heiress in front of the huge double doors that led to the throne room, crossing her arms with a far too pleasant smile upon her lips.

"Ah, well..." for some reason, the shinobi felt like a kid again, facing his jii-chan after getting caught in the middle of doing a prank. It was a surreal feeling. "This guy here was offering to-"

"Oh was he now?" Rias didn't bother to hear him out, resolutely turning away from him to face the noble. "Well, I appreciate your kindness, but as his guide, I can assure you that he won't have any time to deviate from his set course."

"I see." the tattoos on the other devil's face crinkled when a slightly forceful smile plastered itself onto his hard features. "That's understandable, but surely he has some time on his hands to-"

"Your enthusiasm is noted, Lord Glasya-Labolas, but my O _nii-sama_ would like to have a word with him." her arm hooped into Naruto's arm, locking them together to provide a unified front as she cocked her head with doe eyes. "I hope you don't mind?"

"...Of course." the older man uttered, his body tense. "Whatever the Maou Lucifer wishes."

Rias carefully pulled Naruto away from the noble, steering him to the throne room as the blond hissed low under his braeth. "What the hell was that, Rias!?"

Her long nails absently dug into his muscles, her focus straight ahead unwavering. "Saving you. What did he ask you to do?"

"He just wanted to talk."

"About what? Where? And how?"

"He just wanted to walk and talk, Rias. It wasn't anythings serious, just a stroll. There wasn't anything binding or anything dattebayo..."

The crimson princess bit her lip, sending her friend a sidelong glance. "You're right...but that doesn't mean that others will recognize that fact."

His blue eyes snapped to her, obviously confounded by her statement, which was why she chose to expand on her logic. "I've lived in the halls of power for my entire life, Naruto. Sometimes, appearances are more important than any kind of agreement between nobles. People around here talk, especially the servants. If anyone saw you and that man walk around the castle and whisper to one another in hushed tones, there'd be talks of you two working together...whether they were true or not. Just from that alone; you'd be tying your names together, which was probably what he wanted."

"...Wait...are you serious?" Naruto shook his head, breath a vehement whisper. "Can people seriously make that kind of assumption!?"

"Yes." Rias was deadly serious. "Any type of interaction in public can be construed as tantamount to an alliance, especially if one of those individuals just so happened to proclaim as such. That man has been petitioning my Onii-sama for the right to some of the Astaroth clan's land due to Diodora's actions and a betrothal between his son and I...amongst other things. He's a snake that's trying to crawl back to relevancy, so you should be wary, Naruto."

The shinobi didn't know what to say to that, still trying to wrap his head around what she claimed could have transpired from a fucking _stroll_ in public. It was something so out there that he couldn't quite understand it.

"Also, one more thing." the high-class devil managed to drag his consciousness back to reality once she stopped in front of the double doors. "Try to keep the fact that you're a human under wraps, would you? The less people know about the, the better. There's quite a bit of stigma against _reincarnated_ devils, the stigma against humans is...well, nothing to sneeze at. Best let people come to their own conclusions on that front."

"...Sure." Naruto drawled. "I'll try to keep that in mind, along with all of the other stuff you mentioned."

Rias shot him a reassuring smile at his dry humor, something which devolved into a playful grin by the end of her sentence. "Well that's why i'm here, isn't it? Didn't I tell you before? I said that I'd support you after you cancelled my marriage, and I meant it."

Her arm pulled his into her body, a devious tint in her curved lips when she saw his eyes snap to the locked limbs for an instant before refocusing back on her. "Let's do this together, shall we?"

Naruto, filled with self-depreciating humor, shared her deviousness with a crafty tilt of the lip. An expression that she privately admitted she adored. "Ladies first."

"Ohhhh, being a gentleman now of all times? You have impeccable timing as always, Naruto."

The shinobi laughed as he pushed against the throne room's doors, positive that he'd get out of this alive at the very least.

* * *

'Naruto' checked his surroundings, nodding firmly at the destruction he has wrought to the area around him, successfully making it look like a vicious battle has taken place across the foreclosed building, what with the shredded walls and the ripped up floor.

Now their resident exorcist turncoat should be beyond questioning, especially after Raynare helpfully knocked him out right after the clone finished.

"You're welcome by the way." the fallen called out, crouching next to Freed Sellzan as she inspected the body.

Yeah, he should've expected her to do such a thing. "Does he have anything worthwhile?"

"Maybe, actually." Raynare replied, clutching something in her palm as she smoothly stood up, her frown evolving into a scowl. "He had something in his hand."

The blond hummed, walking away from the ruined walls and the destroyed electronic scorekeeper, making his way towards the - _formerly_ \- conscious man that they were trying to help. "Probably a bomb or something, he'd be the type to blow himself up."

"No..." the woman's voice trailed off for a moment of inspection. "It looks like some kind of switch. Perhaps a device that could call for backup?" How else could the group of rogue of exorcists strewn about the area have known that Freed needed help?

It was a reasonable assumption, if nothing else, right?

'Naruto' didn't say anything about it one way or another, figuring that the fallen's musings were closer to the truth than anything he could come up with. While presumptuous, it wasn't too far out there that a base would have a device to call for backup.

Hell, it's what the shinobi would've done, if he was in a similar position...and thought about it.

Peering down at their new inside man; Kiyohira, peacefully resting after getting unceremoniously knocked out, the blond got ready to turn around and tell his ally that it was about time to go.

But he didn't turn around.

Rather, instead, he lurched forward, as if about to vomit something horrible and foul.

The clone would've preferred that to what he was feeling right at that moment, his insides had never felt more troubled. It wasn't pain that he was feeling either, it was more like...an extreme amount of discomfort.

Everything about body felt _wrong_ , and after a second or two after nearly falling over, he knew why.

Or rather, he _remembered_ why, thanks to the influx of memeories that hit him all at once.

Nothing but a hiss escaped the clone's mouth, vehement even though any sound barely left his lips. "Kumagawa...Yuki. No...that's not right...that damn lying prick..."

He shook his head and concentrated, holding his breath as he pushed out all of the senjutsu chakra that had been absorbed into him all at once. Feeling his body rumble and quake as it's human proportions nearly caved and transformed into something less... _pretty_.

Feeling his hands bulge, and then retract back to normal, 'Naruto' took a shaky breath as the last vestiges of senjutsu chakra filter out of his body, allowing the tension to leave his body and for fatigue to set in. Just like every other time he had utilized senjutsu in this world.

The clone didn't say a word, raising his hand up for inspection, flexing fingers almost reflexively, as if to check for any irregularities.

Deep inside, the blond had already figured that the natural energy of this world was...sick, at least when compared to his own world. But he never truly appreciated just how _much_ it affected him.

"Hey, Naruto?" it seems that the copy's silence had caught the ravenette's attention. "What's wrong? Are you-?"

Her query ended prematurely as the ceiling exploded above them, knocking Raynare off of her feet and onto her knees as she instinctively raised her arms to cover her face.

'Naruto', for his part, stayed as he was, already aware that the attack was incoming.

Rubble fell all around them, but the amount of debris wasn't entirely too impressive; probably due to the small hole that their new adversary made.

He was also being kind of loud, no doubt because of the barrier he had managed to set up around them, isolating them from the real world. Yes, he recognized the feeling alright.

Hearing the stifled gasp coming from the fallen woman near him, he didn't need to glance up to acknowledge who, of all people, just crashed their party.

"Well, well, well..." a deep baritone and _oily_ voice observed, sounding far too pleased with his findings for anyone's comfort. "It looks like Freed Sellzan was worth something in the end after all..."

* * *

Raynare was floored.

Right above her, for the first time, the young woman was _staring_ at the face of a man that was as old as the Bible itself...and was decidedly less friendly than her de-facto mentor for the past month or so.

That wasn't why she was left speechless though. Far more importantly for her, unusually enough, was the _visage_ of the powerful fallen angel that had appeared literally out of nowhere.

The fallen, in general, were beings that meant to have been _seductive_.

They alone represented the seduction of falling into sin, and their looks were part in parcel a part of that trait that dominated their species.

Where the angels were chaste in their beauty and good looks, the fallen were meant to be _sexy_ , beings that tempted someone to commit acts that would cause them to stray away from the Lord.

That was the dichotomy between them, with the devils standing somewhere in-between.

She had heard rumors, once, of Kokabiel's devilishly handsome looks. Looks that would tempt lonely housewives and chaste teenaged girls into a life of sin.

Well, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that time has _not_ been kind to the ancient being.

What may have once been glossy long black hair that a woman may want to comb through in the throes of passion were now lifeless and dull. What may have been a pale complexion that invited admiration was now a sickly pallor. What was once eyes that lovers could get lost in were now horribly misshapen and acted like a deterrent.

This was _not_ how a fallen angel looked like, and it genuinely frightened the woman that was on her knees, unable to try and _rationalize_ what she was looking at.

She could see why no one wanted to talk about this man within the Grigori institutes that she was attached to, who would want to contemplate about such a legendary figure and their fall from grace?

Even she, suspecting of such a thing, was almost unwilling to even _think_ about this, let alone verbalize her disgust.

"Ah...to think that I'd meet the legendary figure simply known as the 'Unknown Variable'...I've heard many things about you, and I look forward to confirming whether everything I've heard if factual."

His words, slippery like grease, made her spine shiver. The fallen woman hoped that she could regain her bearings before his attention fell upon her, or better yet, that he ignored her entirely.

And yet, reality wouldn't allow her her comfort. "...You look familiar... _girl_."

Raynare tried to put some strength into her arms, but she could barely hold herself up let alone try and stand up. Talking was an impossibility to her.

She needn't had worry though, as the man narrowed his _disgusting_ blood-tinted eyes upon her. "...Ah...now I see...you're _her_ daughter, aren't you? Yes, yes, I recognize you now. What circumstances have you gone through to end up standing side-by-side with this man, hm?"

He knew her? How? Where? Raynare never met this man in person in her life...so how did he?

"How is your mother by the way? I've heard of her recent debacle. Is she well? I hope she's not dead, I have her to thank for getting information about this unnaturally powerful human here...as well as for the key piece of information that will jumpstart the newest _Great War_."

How was he even here? How did he know? Wait, Freed's device...did it, perhaps, allow for him to find them. That was the only possible solution. Wait. Her mother. What did he-

"It seems your mother raised you well, for you to have your second set of wings at such a young age...it's truly impressive. However, I'm far more interested in your... _other_ abilities, girl."

 _What?_

For the first time since the legendary figure in the _Great War_ arrived, Raynare lifted her head, her surprise overshadowing her revulsion. "You...know about that?"

She regretted looking at him once his lips spread out into a grin, showing off sharp canines that were impossibly monstrous. "I relish in the chance to test the newest prototype weapon of my faction, especially since the balance between the light and darkness has become non-existent!"

Raynare breathed in air, shaken, lost for words and unsure of what action to take. Still wrapping her head around the idea that this man not only _knew_ about her...condition, but openly welcomed her to use it.

She clenched her fists, raised her head, opened her mouth to make a request before she made her move. Aware on some level that this man had _answers_.

But instead of seeing the twisted smirk that adorned itself onto Kokabiel's features, she saw something else.

A grimace.

And blood.

A _lot_ of blood.

 _"Hey_..."

Kokabiel clutched his stomach, coughing as Raynare snapped her head to the source of the voice, unsure of what she would find.

She knew who it was...but...

"How about you stop fucking around and _fight_ already?"

But it was _different_ somehow.

She didn't know Naruto for very long, so she couldn't claim to be an expert on his personality on any level. But even she, as ignorant as she was, knew that that was _not_ how the blond usually sounded like.

Finally on his feet after a prolonged period of sitting down, Naruto had his arms extended out as if he had thrown something, his head angled just enough to peer at the intruder through the side of his eyes.

"Because if you don't take this seriously..."

His eyes landed upon her for a fraction of a second.

Raynare didn't even notice herself taking a step back.

She had seen that look in someone's eyes before. Those were the eyes of someone who had absolutely no scruples about anything, of someone that didn't concern themselves with what was 'right'.

"...Then you'll die."

Those were the eyes of someone who could commit heinous crimes without flinching or a care in the world.

Those were the eyes of someone who had thrown away morality.

"...Because, unfortunately for you." even as he spoke, an assortment of metal stars emerged from the crevices between his fingers, glinting sharply in the low light. "I'm _done_ playing the hero."

* * *

 **AN: Ok, I underestimated the size of this chapter. But everything's set up for the battle next chapter. Did you guys like the recap btw? I figured it'd be necessary due to the gap in time since last chapter. :3**

 **Alright, politics and battles, not the most uncommon thing to happen at the same time. Why now, eh? I hope the political stuff made sense.**

 **Ok, I'm rambling, hopefully this ain't too unpolished. Cya all next time alright, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! :D**

 **Edit: Thanks to scl04, I found a plot hole I inadvertently made, thnx bro! Naruto never learned of Shiranui's name yet. :3**

 **-RekkingPride**


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